In the Neighborhood: Phenology, Species Interactions, and Community Engagement in Ecological Research
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Date
2024
Authors
Callie, Bryn
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of Oregon
Abstract
Phenology, the timing of biological life cycles, is a key indicator of global climatic change and a powerful tool for generating public awareness surrounding environmental issues. Multiple studies have shown that species are shifting their phenology in response to climate change, causing spring events such as leaf-out and flowering onset to arrive earlier and altering the way humans relate to the natural environment. Furthermore, although many studies have suggested that phenological differences influence the way that species within ecological communities interact, there has been minimal empirical consensus surrounding the impact of phenology on species interactions and even more limited research surrounding the reciprocal relationship — how species interactions impact phenology. This presents a significant knowledge gap as unprecedented rates of climate change and land-use change are altering plant community composition, diversity, and dynamics globally. As such, we studied the reciprocal relationship between flowering phenology, fitness, and competitive neighborhoods among annual plant species. We chose to utilize prairie species native to the Willamette Valley, reintroducing them to areas around the city of Eugene, OR and aiming to advance future restoration efforts by contributing to our understanding of their survival and persistence. Recognizing that public awareness and interest are key to the success of restoration and conservation initiatives, we embedded our experiments within urban natural areas and aimed to generate direct engagement with our research by encouraging community participation in phenological data collection. We found that increased competitor species richness was correlated with the advancement and shortening of flowering periods. We also found that plant fecundity was negatively correlated with competitor density but was unrelated to changes to competitor identity or species richness. Lastly, we observed that the strength of competition tended to vary by competitor identity, but that this variation did not seem to be related to the phenological differences present between species. Our research offers unique evidence that species interactions may impact plant phenology and fitness in complex ways and consequently species’ persistence and coexistence conditions in our changing global environment. Reflecting on the public engagement we witnessed, our project also demonstrates how ecological experiments can be used as an implement for both restoration and education.
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Keywords
Phenology, Species interactions, Community engagement, Restoration, Prairie ecology