Shifts in the timing of life cycle events – known as phenology - of interacting species, such as predator versus prey and plant versus pollinator, are often listed as a consequence of climate change.
New research by University of Ottawa professor Heather Kharouba shows that shifts in the relative timing between key biological events are greater in magnitude than before recent climate change began. This suggests that there will be widespread climate change-related shifts in the synchrony of species interactions in the future.
“We were able to show that on average the relative timing between key biological events, such as the date of first flower vs. when insects emerge in the spring, is different than it was before the early 1980s,” explains Dr. Kharouba.
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