Search

Whereas temporal variability of plant phenology in response to climate change has already been well studied, the spatial variability of phenology is not well understood. Given that phenological shifts may affect biotic interactions, there is a need to investigate how the variability in environmental factors relates to the spatial variability in herbaceous species' phenology by at the same time considering their functional traits to predict their general and species-specific responses to future climate change. In this project, we analysed phenology records of 148 herbaceous species, which were observed for a single year by the PhenObs network in 15 botanical gardens. For each species, we characterised the spatial variability in six different phenological stages across gardens. We used boosted regression trees to link these variabilities in phenology to the variability in environmental parameters (temperature, latitude and local habitat conditions) as well as species traits (seed mass, vegetative height, specific leaf area and temporal niche) hypothesised to be related to phenology variability. We found that spatial variability in the phenology of herbaceous species was mainly driven by the variability in temperature but also photoperiod was an important driving factor for some phenological stages. In addition, we found that early-flowering and less competitive species characterised by small specific leaf area and vegetative height were more variable in their phenology. Our findings contribute to the field of phenology by showing that besides temperature, photoperiod and functional traits are important to be included when spatial variability of herbaceous species is investigated., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Introduction: Proximal humeral bone loss in total shoulder arthroplasty (TSA) is more frequent than in hemiarthroplasty. Factors such as age, gender, inclination angle, and radiolucent lines may also contribute. Additionally, current bone loss grading systems are often not sensitive enough to detect slight bone changes, especially at the medial calcar where bone loss is commonly observed. This study uses a new, more detailed bone loss grading system to evaluate factors that could influence bone loss at the proximal humerus., Materials and Methods: In this single-center prospective study, patients underwent hemiarthroplasty or TSA with an anatomic stemless prosthesis. Bone loss was measured at the proximal humerus using the new grading system. The effect of treatment type, age, gender, radiolucent lines, and inclination angle on bone loss was evaluated. The Constant-Murley score of patients was assessed and complications recorded., Results: Ninety-one shoulders were available for the final follow-up examination at a median of 85.0 months (range 82.6-121.1 months). Bone loss was found at the proximal humerus in approximately one-third of shoulders, and significantly more shoulders had bone loss in TSA than in hemiarthroplasty (P = 0.03). However, this difference was no longer significant after stratifying by gender and age (P > 0.05). Bone loss significantly correlated with gender (P = 0.03) but not with treatment type, radiolucent lines, and the postoperative inclination angle (P > 0.05). Most Constant-Murley score components did not differ significantly between shoulders with and without bone loss (P > 0.05). Lastly, six complications and four revisions were reported., Conclusions: Results showed gender had the greatest influence on bone loss after stemless shoulder arthroplasty. Furthermore, both patients with or without bone loss can expect similar clinical outcomes with the stemless prosthesis used in this study. Lastly, the new grading system is simple and straightforward to use., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Phenology has emerged as key indicator of the biological impacts of climate change, yet the role of functional traits constraining variation in herbaceous species' phenology has received little attention. Botanical gardens are ideal places in which to investigate large numbers of species growing under common climate conditions. We ask whether interspecific variation in plant phenology is influenced by differences in functional traits. We recorded onset, end, duration and intensity of initial growth, leafing out, leaf senescence, flowering and fruiting for 212 species across five botanical gardens in Germany. We measured functional traits, including plant height, absolute and specific leaf area, leaf dry matter content, leaf carbon and nitrogen content and seed mass and accounted for species' relatedness. Closely related species showed greater similarities in timing of phenological events than expected by chance, but species' traits had a high degree of explanatory power, pointing to paramount importance of species' life-history strategies. Taller plants showed later timing of initial growth, and flowered, fruited and underwent leaf senescence later. Large-leaved species had shorter flowering and fruiting durations. Taller, large-leaved species differ in their phenology and are more competitive than smaller, small-leaved species. We assume climate warming will change plant communities' competitive hierarchies with consequences for biodiversity., (© 2022 The Authors. New Phytologist © 2022 New Phytologist Foundation.)