The 2007 eastern US spring freeze: increased cold damage in a warming world?
- ORNL
Plant ecologists have long been concerned with a seemingly paradoxical scenario in the relationship between plant growth and climate change: warming may actually increase the risk of frost damage to plants. The hypothesis behind this concern is that mild winter and warm early spring, which are expected to occur as the climate warms, may induce premature plant development, resulting in the exposure of vulnerable plant tissues and organs to subsequent late season frosts. The April 2007 Freeze in the eastern United States provides an excellent opportunity to test this hypothesis. Here we report the dramatic post-freeze phenological setback and complicated plant freeze damage patterns. We demonstrate that this freeze event has the hallmark of the scenario that has been concerning plant ecologists and its widespread damage to crops and natural vegetation requires treating plant frost damage as a real threat to terrestrial ecosystem structure and functioning in a warming climate.
- Research Organization:
- Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC)
- DOE Contract Number:
- DE-AC05-00OR22725
- OSTI ID:
- 944839
- Journal Information:
- BioScience, Vol. 58, Issue 11; ISSN 0006-3568
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Ecosystem warming extends vegetation activity but heightens vulnerability to cold temperatures
RECONSTRUCTION OF FALSE SPRING OCCURRENCE OVER THE SOUTHEASTERN U.S., 1901–2007: INCREASING RISK OF SPRING FREEZE DAMAGE?