Earthwatch-supported research in Colorado Rocky Mountains finds sunflowers vulnerable to frost damage
Earthwatch Institute, Maynard, MA, September 22, 2006-Changes in climate around the world are influencing the ecology of both plants and animals, including the timing of migration, hibernation, and pollination. Dr. David Inouye, professor of biology at University of Maryland, reports that changes in the climate of the Colorado Rocky Mountains are also disrupting the flowering of aspen sunflowers, Helianthella quinquenervis.
Inouye presented his findings on aspen sunflowers at the MTNCLIM conference in Mt. Hood, Oregon, on Friday, Sept. 22. In each of the past seven years, frost has killed between 64 and 100 percent of aspen sunflower buds in his study site at the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory.
"This means that they are not producing flowers, and therefore not producing seeds," said Inouye, former principal investigator of Earthwatch Institute's Rocky Mountain Wildflowers project. "If they don't produce seeds for many years, the population of plants won't replace itself."
In 1998, following a year with relatively little frost damage, 737 seedlings were recorded; during the past six years, when frost has killed almost all flower buds, only five seedlings were recorded. Although the plants are long-lived perennials, if this pattern continues populations of this species will be at risk. One population of sunflowers declined from the original 1,376 to 493 in seven years.
"The increasing frequency of frost damage appears to be a consequence of climate change," continued Inouye. "Specifically, the decline in winter snowfall and increasing spring temperatures are causing plants to begin growth earlier in the spring, and then to have sensitive flower buds at the time in mid-June when we are still likely to have hard frosts."
Earthwatch volunteers contributed to the data collection in this long-term project, assisting Inouye and his graduate students from 1982 through 1998. Teams of volunteers monitored the population biology of wildflowers and helped document that global warming affects lower altitudes differently than higher ones.
"High altitudes are one of the areas expected to show early effects of global climate change," said Inouye. "So the kinds of ecological effects we are seeing in the Rockies give us an early warning that the effects of climate change can be unexpected and significant, such as finding that frost is having a greater effect than it used to."
The MTNCLIM 2006 research conference was sponsored by the Consortium for Integrated Climate Research on Western Mountains (CIRMOUNT), and was held September 19-22, 2006 at Timberline Lodge, Mt. Hood, Oregon. The conference is dedicated to mountain climate sciences and effects of climate variability on ecosystems, natural resources, and conservation in western North American mountains. For more information, including a webcast of the conference, go tohttp://www.fs.fed.us/psw/mtnclim/
Earthwatch Institute is a global volunteer organization that supports scientific field research by offering members of the public unique opportunities to work alongside leading field scientists and researchers. Earthwatch's mission is to engage people worldwide in scientific field research and education to promote the understanding and action necessary for a sustainable environment. The year 2006 marks Earthwatch's 35th anniversary.
For a full interview with Dr. Inouye, go to the University of Maryland site at:http://www.newsdesk.umd.edu/scitech/release.cfm?ArticleID=1332
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