Why Do Temperate Deciduous Trees Leaf Out at Different Times? Adaptation and Ecology of Forest Communities

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
The time of spring leaf emergence varies consistently among deciduous tree species in the north temperate forests of both eastern North America and Eurasia. The time of bud break among different tree species growing together in the same forest typically spans several weeks and the taxonomic sequences of leaf emergence are very similar from region to region. The traits of temperate trees that evolved in diverse and poorly known paleoenvironments do not necessarily represent optimal adaptations to contemporary conditions. While the ecological implications of variation in leaf phenology can be analyzed, it should not assume that a tree''s phenological characteristics necessarily lead to its maximum potential growth and reproduction. The Quaternary history of the temperate forests has been one of repeated disruptions by glaciations such that present forest communities must be seen as transient assemblages rather than stable sets of coevolved species. Evolutionary disequilibrium should be anticipated not only in leaf phenology but also in many other traits of temperate forest trees.

This publication has 23 references indexed in Scilit: