Phylogenetic patterns of species loss in Thoreau's woods are driven by climate change

doi:10.1073/pnas.0806446105

Phylogenetic patterns of species loss in Thoreau's woods are driven by climate change

^aDepartment of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University Herbaria, 22 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02138; and
^bDepartment of Biology, Boston University, 5 Cummington Street, Boston, MA 02215

Edited by Michael J. Donoghue, Yale University, New Haven, CT, and approved September 19, 2008 (received for review July 3, 2008)

Abstract

Climate change has led to major changes in the phenology (the timing of seasonal activities, such as flowering) of some species but not others. The extent to which flowering-time response to temperature is shared among closely related species might have important consequences for community-wide patterns of species loss under rapid climate change. Henry David Thoreau initiated a dataset of the Concord, Massachusetts, flora that spans ≈150 years and provides information on changes in species abundance and flowering time. When these data are analyzed in a phylogenetic context, they indicate that change in abundance is strongly correlated with flowering-time response. Species that do not respond to temperature have decreased greatly in abundance, and include among others anemones and buttercups [Ranunculaceae pro parte (p.p.)], asters and campanulas (Asterales), bluets (Rubiaceae p.p.), bladderworts (Lentibulariaceae), dogwoods (Cornaceae), lilies (Liliales), mints (Lamiaceae p.p.), orchids (Orchidaceae), roses (Rosaceae p.p.), saxifrages (Saxifragales), and violets (Malpighiales). Because flowering-time response traits are shared among closely related species, our findings suggest that climate change has affected and will likely continue to shape the phylogenetically biased pattern of species loss in Thoreau's woods.

Footnotes

¹To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: cdavis{at}oeb.harvard.edu
Author contributions: C.G.W. and C.C.D. designed research; C.G.W., B.R., R.B.P., A.J.M.-R., and C.C.D. performed research; C.G.W., B.R., and C.C.D. analyzed data; and C.G.W., B.R., R.B.P., A.J.M.-R., and C.C.D. wrote the paper.
The authors declare no conflict of interest.
This article is a PNAS Direct Submission.
Freely available online through the PNAS open access option.