Linking plant phenology to conservation biology

• Published in: Biological conservation Vol. 195; pp. 60 - 72
• Main Authors: Morellato, Leonor Patrícia Cerdeira, Alberton, Bruna, Alvarado, Swanni T., Borges, Bruno, Buisson, Elise, Camargo, Maria Gabriela G., Cancian, Leonardo F., Carstensen, Daniel W., Escobar, Diego F.E., Leite, Patrícia T.P., Mendoza, Irene, Rocha, Nathália M.W.B., Soares, Natalia C., Silva, Thiago Sanna Freire, Staggemeier, Vanessa G., Streher, Annia Susin, Vargas, Betânia C., Peres, Carlos A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 01.03.2016; Elsevier
• Subjects: anthropogenic activities; bioclimatology; Biodiversity and Ecology; cameras; Climate change; ecosystem services; Environmental Sciences; evolutionary biology; invasive species; land use change; Management; Monitoring; natural resources conservation; phenology; Plant–animal interactions; prediction; Resource availability; Restoration ecology; satellites; species diversity; time series analysis; tropics; wildlife management; Resource availability; Climate change; Management; Plant–animal interactions; Restoration ecology; Monitoring
• DOI: 10.1016/j.biocon.2015.12.033
• ISSN: 0006-3207

Phenology has achieved a prominent position in current scenarios of global change research given its role in monitoring and predicting the timing of recurrent life cycle events. However, the implications of phenology to environmental conservation and management remain poorly explored. Here, we present the first explicit appraisal of how phenology — a multidisciplinary science encompassing biometeorology, ecology, and evolutionary biology — can make a key contribution to contemporary conservation biology. We focus on shifts in plant phenology induced by global change, their impacts on species diversity and plant–animal interactions in the tropics, and how conservation efforts could be enhanced in relation to plant resource organization. We identify the effects of phenological changes and mismatches in the maintenance and conservation of mutualistic interactions, and examine how phenological research can contribute to evaluate, manage and mitigate the consequences of land-use change and other natural and anthropogenic disturbances, such as fire, exotic and invasive species. We also identify cutting-edge tools that can improve the spatial and temporal coverage of phenological monitoring, from satellites to drones and digital cameras. We highlight the role of historical information in recovering long-term phenological time series, and track climate-related shifts in tropical systems. Finally, we propose a set of measures to boost the contribution of phenology to conservation science. We advocate the inclusion of phenology into predictive models integrating evolutionary history to identify species groups that are either resilient or sensitive to future climate-change scenarios, and understand how phenological mismatches can affect community dynamics, ecosystem services, and conservation over time. [Display omitted] •We establish phenology as key research endeavour in applied ecology and conservation.•We show that climate-change phenological mismatches affect conservation of mutualisms.•Phenology supports managing impacts such as fire, invasive species or fragmentation.•New technologies improve spatial and temporal coverage of phenology monitoring.•The relevance of phenology as a tool for conservation education and citizen science