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Herbarium collections have proven to be irreplaceable information base in recent studies directed towards revealing shifts in plants phenology and morphology caused by climate change. We examined eight parameters of morphological traits in the perennial herb species Plantago lanceolata L. collected in the wild between 1905 and 2019 and stored at the KW-herbarium (Kyiv, Ukraine) to find out if there were changes in plants' organ sizes during the last 114 years. For this period, we also calculated 13 climatic parameters obtained from meteorological records from the State archive that gave us the opportunity to check if there are any relations between the climate change in Kyiv region and shifts in morphological parameters of plants. Our results have shown Plantago lanceolata leaf blades, petioles and spikes had become significantly longer with time, increasing 3.0 cm, 2.1 cm and 0.6 cm respectively. The Co-inertia analysis revealed that 34% of the morphological changes was attributed to climate change. The analysis also demonstrated that leaf length correlated more with raised temperatures when plants were in flower, while spike length depended on the temperatures during bud development. Received knowledge can be used to reveal rapid evolutionary processes of the Plantago species and predicting their further course for the construction of historical climate models based on the leaves traits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change has a significant impact on natural ecosystems, particularly on floodplain forests that are among the most transformed ecosystems in the world. The climate sensitivity of dominant species is likely to play a key role in determining the susceptibility of flooded forests to climate changes. Here, we use dendrochronological approaches and local climate records from 1880 to 2015 to assess the response in pedunculate oak (Quercus robur L.) trees growing in a floodplain of the Dnipro River near Kyiv to climatic variables. Correlation analysis reveals the strongest positive association of the Q. robur tree-ring width chronology with May-June precipitation, May-June temperature, and May self-calibrating Palmers drought severity indices (scPDSI). The moving-window correlation analysis points to positive association with the scPDSI after the 1950s, when local river regulation was implemented. The positive correlation with current March precipitation is the least expected change in the oak growth-to-climate relationship that occurred in the aftermath of human alterations in the local river and regional climate changes. This study discusses the probable ecological consequences and ecophysiological mechanisms of observable climate-to-growth relationships and their temporal stability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]