Ecology最新文献

{"title":"Deep-sea ascending predation by king penguin and its prey reaction observed by animal-borne video camera","authors":"Leo Uesaka, Charles André Bost, Katsufumi Sato, Kentaro Q. Sakamoto","doi":"10.1002/ecy.70117","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.70117","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Certain air-breathing animals, which spend much of their lives near the ocean surface or on land, are able to capture prey in the deep ocean where the energetics and the time spent foraging are limited by their lung capacity and the amount of dissolved oxygen in their blood. Animal-borne video loggers provide a valuable tool for investigating underwater foraging behavior (Davis et al., <span>1999</span>). However, capturing video footage at dark ocean depths remains challenging, particularly for penguins. While animal-borne cameras with light sources have been successfully used on large-bodied animals such as seals (Adachi et al., <span>2021</span>; Foster-Dyer et al., <span>2023</span>; Heaslip & Hooker, <span>2008</span>), the smaller body size of penguins restricts the types of devices that can be attached. Although some studies have investigated penguin foraging behavior using video recordings (e.g., Ponganis et al., <span>2000</span>; Thiebault et al., <span>2019</span>; Tokunaga et al., <span>2023</span>), these recordings were not obtained in the low-light environment of the deep sea.</p><p>Here, we report a successful recording of deep-sea foraging behavior of a king penguin (<i>Aptenodytes patagonicus</i>) and the prey's response using a video logger with an LED light source (Figure 1). King penguins, the second largest species of penguin (Spheniscidae), rely on visual cues for foraging (Ainley & Wilson, <span>2023</span>; Bost et al., <span>2002</span>; Martin, <span>1999</span>). They can dive to depths exceeding 100 m, well below the photic zone, in search of food (max: 343 m, Pütz & Cherel, <span>2005</span>). Their diet primarily consists of myctophid fish (Myctophidae) (Bost et al., <span>2002</span>; Cherel & Ridoux, <span>1992</span>), the most abundant mesopelagic fish in the ocean (Catul et al., <span>2011</span>; de Busserolles et al., <span>2015</span>). Myctophids also serve as the main food source for other marine species in sub-Antarctic marine regions including southern elephant seals (<i>Mirounga leonina</i>) (Cherel et al., <span>2008</span>) and Antarctic fur seals (<i>Arctocephalus gazella</i>) (Cherel et al., <span>1997</span>). As king penguins forage within the constraints of diving duration, limited light availability, and interspecies competition, their foraging strategy provides a unique model for studying the complex challenges of deep-sea foraging. Additionally, video footage of predation events allows for the analysis of prey response behavior in myctophids to king penguins, which remains largely unexplored (Ainley & Wilson, <span>2023</span>).</p><p>In February 2024, we fitted five king penguins breeding at the Ratmanoff colony, Kerguelen Archipelago (southern Indian Ocean, 49°14'S; 70°33'E), with digital video loggers that included red LED light sources (LoggLaw-CAM, Biologging Solutions Inc., Japan, 38 mm diameter, 67 mm length, 128 g, 30 fps, full HD). These loggers also recorded de","PeriodicalId":11484,"journal":{"name":"Ecology","volume":"106 5","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.4,"publicationDate":"2025-05-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/ecy.70117","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144135800","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Scavenging contributes to larval food intake in fungus gnats using the Arisaema kettle trap as a brood site","authors":"Wen Huang, Xin Li, Qing-Feng Wang, Chun-Feng Yang, Jon Ågren","doi":"10.1002/ecy.70118","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.70118","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":11484,"journal":{"name":"Ecology","volume":"106 5","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.4,"publicationDate":"2025-05-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144118027","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Nature's headlamps: A unique light-focusing structure in Parasesarma de Man, 1895 mangrove crabs","authors":"Peter A. Todd, Ian Zhi Wen Chan, Wendy Yanling Wang, Zuze Boh, Hui Shan Soh, Huiwen Huang","doi":"10.1002/ecy.70107","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.70107","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Colors are used extensively in animal visual signaling, playing an important role in camouflage, aposematism, mate recognition and choice, and intrasexual competition (Laidre & Johnstone, <span>2013</span>; Pérez-Rodríguez et al., <span>2017</span>). In many cases, animals should benefit from being able to augment the intensity of the visual signals they transmit (Osorio & Vorobyev, <span>2005</span>), especially in low-light environments such as mangrove forest undergrowth and the deep sea. During multiple mangrove fieldtrips, we observed that the pigmented facial bands of the crab <i>Parasesarma eumolpe</i> de Man, 1895, were particularly eye-catching. This common Indo-Pacific crab bears two colored facial bands on the anterior surface of its body, each approximately 6 mm in width and 1.6 mm in height (Figure 1A). Previous field and manipulative studies have shown that the colors of these bands differ between sexes, with more blue reflected by bands of males compared to females (Huang et al., <span>2008</span>). Pigments are known to be derived from carotenoids in the crabs' diet, fading when the crabs are starved and brightening when they are fed, suggesting they provide a cue of physical condition (Todd et al., <span>2011</span>; Wang & Todd, <span>2012</span>). Finally, the bands are used in both intersexual signaling and intrasexual competition, affecting sex recognition and resource holding potential (Todd et al., <span>2011</span>).</p><p>However, this past research did not explain the anatomical basis of the exceptional facial band brightness we saw in the field. Understanding the mechanism of this brightness, potentially micro- or macro-morphological features, could help in determining the function of the crabs' facial bands, for example, whether they are used for communication with conspecifics or otherwise, and thereby shed light on its evolution by pinpointing the trait that has presumably been selected for. Here, we demonstrate that the concave macrostructure of these bands acts in a manner analogous to the reflector of a headlamp, increasing their apparent brightness at the same range of angles that are optimum for signaling between two crabs. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) indicated no iridescence or structural coloration (Figure 1B; Appendix S1: Figure S1). These facial bands are, to our knowledge, the first example of light-focusing, external, macro signaling structures in animals.</p><p>We first modeled the typical signaling behavior of <i>P. eumolpe</i> (Figure 1C) by recording interactions between crabs (30 male and 26 female) in situ at Mandai Kechil mangrove in Singapore. Crabs were observed from 5 to 10 m away using binoculars. A reference scale (usually a short ruler) was placed in the vicinity of the crabs so distances could be estimated. A pair of crabs was considered to be interacting when they both stopped traveling over the substrate, faced each other, and began to observe and/or respond to each ot","PeriodicalId":11484,"journal":{"name":"Ecology","volume":"106 5","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.4,"publicationDate":"2025-05-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/ecy.70107","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144100606","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"TropiRoot 1.0: Database of tropical root characteristics across environments","authors":"Amanda L. Cordeiro, Daniela F. Cusack, Nathaly Guerrero-Ramírez, Richard J. Norby, Laura Toro, Michelle Y. Wong, S. Joseph Wright, Kristine Grace M. Cabugao, Kelly M. Andersen, Lucia Fuchslueger, Colleen M. Iversen, Fiona Soper, Om Prakash Ghimire, Laynara F. Lugli, Ana Caroline Miron, Oscar Valverde-Barrantes, Marie Arnaud, Sarah A. Batterman, Lee H. Dietterich, Ming Yang Lee, Monique Weemstra, Daniela Yaffar, Shalom D. Addo-Danso, Kerstin Pierick, Ryan Bridges, Carina Easton, Isabella Felsing, Nathan B. Gonçalves, Riley Krudop, Mason R. McKinzie, Julia Perbohner, Alejandra N. Pozzoli-Oropeza, Mirna Samaniego, Alex W. Smilor, Ilana S. Vargas, Layna Webb, Jennifer S. Powers, M. Luke McCormack","doi":"10.1002/ecy.70074","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.70074","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Tropical ecosystems contain the world's largest biodiversity of vascular plants. Yet, our understanding of tropical functional diversity and its contribution to global diversity patterns is constrained by data availability. This discrepancy underscores an urgent need to bridge data gaps by incorporating comprehensive tropical root data into global datasets. Here, we provide a database of tropical root characteristics. This new database, TropiRoot 1.0, will be instrumental in evaluating an array of hypotheses pertaining to root functional ecology and plant biogeography, both within the tropics and relative to other global biomes. The data compilation was conducted by the TropiRoot Initiative, in partnership with the Fine-Root Ecology Database (FRED) and the Global Root Trait (GRooT) database, Colorado State University (CSU) and the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI). Literature search and data extraction were conducted between 2020 and 2024. Literature was identified using Web of Science, Scopus, and complemented using the expert knowledge of members of TropiRoot. To provide broad environmental and geographical distributions, literature searches included root characteristics (traits) across global change drivers, natural gradients, and from different continents. We adopted FRED standardized data columns and streamlined the format to enhance accessibility for data extraction across various user groups. This optimized framework resulted in a smaller, yet comprehensive datasheet. To make the database compatible with other global root trait initiatives, column identification was standardized following the codes provided by FRED. These efforts culminated in data extracted from 104 new sources, resulting in more than 8000 rows of data (either species or community data). Most of the data in TropiRoot 1.0 include root characteristics such as root biomass, morphology, root dynamics, mass fraction, architecture, anatomy, physiology, and root chemistry. This initiative represents a 30% increase in the currently available data for tropical roots in FRED. TropiRoot 1.0 contains root characteristics from 25 different countries, where seven are located in Asia, six in South America, five in Central America and the Caribbean, four in Africa, two in North America, and 1 in Oceania. Due to the volume of data, when ancillary data were available, including soil data, these data were either extracted and included in the database or its availability was recorded in an additional column. Multiple contributors checked the entries for outliers during the collation process to ensure data quality. For text-based observations, we examined all cells to ensure that their content relates to their specific categories. For numerical observations, we ordered each numerical value from least to greatest and plotted the values, checking apparent outliers against the data in their respective sources and correcting or removing incorrect or impossible values. Some data (s","PeriodicalId":11484,"journal":{"name":"Ecology","volume":"106 5","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.4,"publicationDate":"2025-05-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/ecy.70074","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144085331","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Deepened snow promotes temporal stability of semi-arid grasslands via improving water acquisition-and-use strategies","authors":"Ping Li,&nbsp;Zhou Jia,&nbsp;Yuntao Wu,&nbsp;Pengfei Chang,&nbsp;Nairsag Jalaid,&nbsp;Lulu Guo,&nbsp;Shengnan Pan,&nbsp;Shaopeng Wang,&nbsp;Lin Jiang,&nbsp;Shuijin Hu,&nbsp;Lingli Liu","doi":"10.1002/ecy.70105","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.70105","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Precipitation fluctuations strongly influence biomass production and its stability of terrestrial ecosystems. However, our understanding of the extent to which plant communities adjust their water-use strategies in response to non-growing season precipitation variations remains limited. Our 5-year snow manipulation experiment in a semi-arid grassland, complemented with paired stable isotope measurements of δ¹⁸O and δ¹³C for all species within the community, demonstrated that the impact of snowmelt on plant physiological activities extended into the peak growing season. Deepened snow enhanced ecosystem water use efficiency (WUE), biomass production, and its temporal stability. We further examined whether the observed increase in biomass stability was associated with the functional diversity of plant water-use strategies. Plant cellulose Δ¹⁸O_cell analysis revealed that both community-weighted mean and functional dispersion of stomatal conductance were positively associated with biomass production and its stability. The δ¹³C results further indicated that even with increased stomatal conductance, grasses were able to maintain their high intrinsic WUE by increasing photosynthesis more than transpiration. This resulted in higher biomass and greater dominance of high-WUE functional groups under deepened snow. In addition, we also found that deepened snow increased root biomass, particularly in the 0- to 5-cm and 20- to 40-cm soil layers. This increase in root biomass enhanced the uptake of snowmelt from both surface and deep soil layers, further contributing to community stability. Overall, our study demonstrates that plant communities can optimize water acquisition and utilization, thereby enhancing the stability of biomass production through coordinated changes in plant physiology, species reordering, and root distribution under altered snow regimes.</p>","PeriodicalId":11484,"journal":{"name":"Ecology","volume":"106 5","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.4,"publicationDate":"2025-05-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144091441","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"An integrated data model to estimate abundance from counts with temporal dependence and imperfect detection","authors":"Jay M. Ver Hoef,&nbsp;Brett T. McClintock,&nbsp;Peter L. Boveng,&nbsp;Josh M. London,&nbsp;John K. Jansen","doi":"10.1002/ecy.70073","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.70073","url":null,"abstract":"<p>In the spirit of so-called “sightability models” for estimating population abundance, we developed a Bayesian hierarchical model that combines survey counts for animals (or plants) and a separate data set for detection to account for individuals that were missed during surveys. Our case study consisted of harbor seal (<i>Phoca vitulina richardii</i>) aerial survey counts from 1996 to 2023 for the Prince William Sound (PWS) stock in Alaska and haul-out data from bio-logged individuals. Detection (i.e., haul-out probability) was modeled using logistic regression with temporally autocorrelated latent random effects. The probability of detection informed binomial count models, where true abundances were temporally autocorrelated Poisson models, leading to a logistic-binomial-Poisson hierarchical model. To speed computations, we coupled a two-stage sampling with first-order autoregressive (AR1) and random walk models for autocorrelation. We found time-of-year and time-from-low-tide to be the most important predictors for detection, and our population abundance analysis showed a significant decline (1996–2001), followed by an increase (2001–2015), and then another decline (2015–2023) for the PWS stock. Our approach can be used for other organisms and surveys that have separate detection and count data sets, such as those commonly used in sightability models, as part of long-term population monitoring programs.</p>","PeriodicalId":11484,"journal":{"name":"Ecology","volume":"106 5","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.4,"publicationDate":"2025-05-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/ecy.70073","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144091286","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Shifts in avian migration phenologies do not compensate for changes to conditions en route in spring and fall","authors":"Carrie Ann Adams,&nbsp;Monika A. Tomaszewska,&nbsp;Geoffrey M. Henebry,&nbsp;Kyle G. Horton","doi":"10.1002/ecy.70110","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.70110","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Several factors are known to affect bird migration timing, but no study has simultaneously compared the effects of temperature, land surface phenology, vegetation greenness, and relative humidity in both spring and fall. In addition, it is unclear whether long-term shifts in migration phenologies have kept pace with changing climates. For example, if migration shifts earlier in the spring, temperatures on migration dates may remain stable over time despite spring warming trends. If the phenologies of birds, plants, and insects shift asynchronously in response to changing climates, then birds may encounter reduced resource availability during migration. We estimated spring and fall 10%, 50%, and 90% cumulative migratory passage dates at 53 weather surveillance radar stations across the US Central Flyway. We determined which conditions (temperature, timing of green-up and dormancy, relative humidity, and enhanced vegetation index [EVI]) explained annual variation in migration phenologies. We also described decadal trends in environmental conditions and whether shifts in migration phenologies were sufficient to compensate for these changes. Annual changes to spring migration phenologies were best explained by anomalies in temperature, with earlier passage in warmer years. Fall migration occurred later on warmer, more humid years with higher EVI and later dormancy. Long-term adjustments in bird migration phenologies did not mitigate their exposure to changing environmental conditions. Although passage dates for all spring migration quantiles advanced significantly (~0.6 days/decade), temperatures on spring 10% passage dates increased, while 50% and 90% passage occurred closer to green-up. In the fall, temperatures increased on 50% and 90% passage dates. By contrast, the advancement of 10% passage (~1 day/decade) prevented early migrants from experiencing the cooling late-summer temperature trend. Warmer temperatures in mid to late fall may lead to earlier fruiting phenology and asynchronies with migratory passage, which occurred later in warmer years. Changes in temperature and land surface phenophases experienced by migrants suggest that resource availability during migration has changed and that adjustments to migration phenologies have not compensated for the effects of changing climates.</p>","PeriodicalId":11484,"journal":{"name":"Ecology","volume":"106 5","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.4,"publicationDate":"2025-05-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/ecy.70110","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144085305","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Seasonal timing of ecosystem linkage mediates life-history variation in a salmonid fish population","authors":"Rui Ueda,&nbsp;Minoru Kanaiwa,&nbsp;Akira Terui,&nbsp;Gaku Takimoto,&nbsp;Takuya Sato","doi":"10.1002/ecy.70114","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.70114","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Life-history variation can contribute to the long-term persistence of populations; however, it remains unclear which environmental factors drive life-history variation within a population. Seasonally recurring resource subsidies are common in nature and may influence variations in recipient consumers' life-history traits. In this study, we experimentally demonstrated that terrestrial invertebrate subsidies occurring early in the growing season facilitated consumer individuals to adopt fast growth. In contrast, fewer consumer individuals adopted fast growth when subsidies occurred late in the growing season. Consumer individuals that adopted fast growth matured early at age 1, suggesting that the observed variation in life history emerged along with a fast–slow life-history continuum. The estimated survival probability was lower in consumer individuals from the faster growth cluster in the no-supply treatment (control), suggesting a growth–survival trade-off. However, the growth–survival trade-off became unclear in the early-supply treatment and even reversed in the late-supply treatment. As a result, the frequency of consumer individuals maturing at age 1 was higher in the early-supply treatment than in the late-supply treatment and no-supply treatment, implying a higher short-term population growth with the early subsidies. Our findings highlight that seasonal ecosystem linkages through resource subsidies help us understand how life-history variation can be maintained within a population at the landscape scale.</p>","PeriodicalId":11484,"journal":{"name":"Ecology","volume":"106 5","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.4,"publicationDate":"2025-05-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144085307","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Predator-induced injury of a neonatal pronghorn cues abandonment of current reproductive investment","authors":"Marlin M. Dart,&nbsp;Matthew T. Turnley,&nbsp;Celine M. J. Rickels,&nbsp;Evan P. Tanner,&nbsp;M. Colter Chitwood,&nbsp;Randy W. DeYoung,&nbsp;W. Sue Fairbanks,&nbsp;Derek P. Hahn,&nbsp;Levi J. Heffelfinger,&nbsp;Robert C. Lonsinger,&nbsp;H. George Wang,&nbsp;Michael J. Cherry","doi":"10.1002/ecy.70111","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.70111","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":11484,"journal":{"name":"Ecology","volume":"106 5","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.4,"publicationDate":"2025-05-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144085254","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"All the light we cannot see: Climate manipulations leave short and long-term imprints in spectral reflectance of trees","authors":"Artur Stefanski,&nbsp;Ethan E. Butler,&nbsp;Laura J. Williams,&nbsp;Raimundo Bermudez,&nbsp;J. Antonio Guzmán Q.,&nbsp;Andrew Larson,&nbsp;Philip A. Townsend,&nbsp;Rebecca Montgomery,&nbsp;Jeannine Cavender-Bares,&nbsp;Peter B. Reich","doi":"10.1002/ecy.70048","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.70048","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Anthropogenic climate change, particularly changes in temperature and precipitation, affects plants in multiple ways. Because plants respond dynamically to stress and acclimate to changes in growing conditions, diagnosing quantitative plant-environment relationships is a major challenge. One approach to this problem is to quantify leaf responses using spectral reflectance, which provides rapid, inexpensive, and nondestructive measurements that capture a wealth of information about genotype as well as phenotypic responses to the environment. However, it is unclear how warming and drought affect spectra. To address this gap, we used an open-air field experiment that manipulates temperature and rainfall in 36 plots at two sites in the boreal-temperate ecotone of northern Minnesota, USA. We collected leaf spectral reflectance (400–2400 nm) at the peak of the growing season for three consecutive years on juveniles (two to six years old) of five tree species planted within the experiment. We hypothesized that these mid-season measurements of spectral reflectance capture a snapshot of the leaf phenotype encompassing a suite of physiological, structural, and biochemical responses to both long- and short-time scale environmental conditions. We show that the imprint of environmental conditions experienced by plants hours to weeks before spectral measurements is linked to regions in the spectrum associated with stress, namely the water absorption regions of the near-infrared and short-wave infrared. In contrast, the environmental conditions plants experience during leaf development leave lasting imprints on the spectral profiles of leaves, attributable to leaf structure and chemistry (e.g., pigment content and associated ratios). Our analyses show that after accounting for baseline species spectral differences, spectral responses to the environment do not differ among the species. This suggests that building a general framework for understanding forest responses to climate change through spectral metrics may be possible, likely having broader implications if the common responses among species detected here represent a widespread phenomenon. Consequently, these results demonstrate that examining the entire spectrum of leaf reflectance for environmental imprints in contrast to single features (e.g., indices and traits) improves inferences about plant-environment relationships, which is particularly important in times of unprecedented climate change.</p>","PeriodicalId":11484,"journal":{"name":"Ecology","volume":"106 5","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.4,"publicationDate":"2025-05-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/ecy.70048","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143949968","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}