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Thesis Abstract – Hartz (2018)

Title:

Rapid Counterintuitive Phenological Changes in Three Sage Scrub Shrub Species

Author and college:

Lauren A. Hartz, Scripps College

Date:

April 2018

Degree:

Bachelor of Arts in Biology

Advisors:

Wallace M. Meyer III, Biology Department, Pomona College
David S. Smith, Keck Science Department of Claremont McKenna, Pitzer, and Scripps Colleges

Abstract:

There is growing evidence that anthropogenic induced climate change is already influencing both global and regional weather patterns. Because plants often utilize environmental cues to time life cycle events, changes in local climate regimes can produce plant-pollinator mismatches and local extirpation. To better understand how changing climates might be impacting the phenology of common Sage Scrub shrub species, Artemisia californica, Eriogonum fasciculatum, and Salvia apiana, we examined the timing of flowering for four rain years (2012-2018) at three sites along a precipitation gradient. Peak flowering for Eriogonum fasciculatum and Salvia apiana has shifted by two weeks later each year and Artemisia californica experienced a truncated growing season in the fourth year following late onset of rain. Perennial plants may delay flowering in response to unfavorable climate until conditions are suitable for this energy expenditure in comparison to annual plants.

For more information:

Contact Wallace Meyer – Wallace.Meyer@Pomona.edu