Reproductive Strategies In Response To Climate Change In Alpine Plants:a Meta-Analysis

Climate change and its impacts on the ecosystem has been a topic of discussion in the recent years.Insightful research has been conducted to examine how different species respond to warming climate in different biomes.Alpine communities are considered to be the most susceptible under global climate change,and thus ideal for detecting the effect of climate change on the ecosystem.These habitats have by far attracted much scientific attention from different disciplines.As a result,the number of studies examining how species respond to global climate change is increasing by day.Phenological shifts,species distributional patterns and ecological interactions are among the frequently discussed themes under the trending topic of global climate change.Recently,the interaction between climate change and plant mating patterns are also gaining attention.However,whether different taxa of alpine plants have general rules in change of flowering strategies and mating patterns under climate change still remains a challenge.The aim of this synthesis is to summarize the previous and current studies examining the impact of climate change on flowering strategies,plant mating patterns and biological interactions in alpine communities and determine the general response patterns.Whether and how climate change influences flowering phenology,flower abundance,flowering duration and reproductive output is discoursed.How climate change can influence plant mating patterns and plant-pollinator interactions in alpine ecosystems is also highlighted.A literature search using Internet database was conducted.Keywords such as;"flower phenology","flower abundance","flower longevity or duration","fruit-set or see-set","mating pattern","breeding system","phenological mismatch","trophic mismatch","phenological shift","mutualistic interaction","ecological interactions","climate change or global warming" and "alpine or alps*" were set up by searching from 'google scholar','web of science',and 'PubMed'.Several important findings were found after a deep analysis of the results of these case studies.Findings from these studies vividly show that climate change is likely to shift flower phenology and abundance,flowering duration and reproductive success of alpine plants although the pattern of responses may vary.Phenological response of alpine plants to temperature rise is inconsistent.Species show early,delayed or no response to warming temperature.Majority of species(72%)advanced flowering time with climate warming.Similarly,warming climate positively affected flowering duration in most(72%)of the species.In contrast,58%of species showed a reduction in flower production with climate warming.For reproductive success,species exhibited comparable responses to rising temperature.In 41%of the species,high temperatures reduced fruit or seed set while in 38%of the species reproduction increase with temperature rise.These findings may suggest that climate change affects flowering strategies and reproduction of alpine species,but the pattern in responses is variable.In summary,flowering phenology and duration tend to respond positively to temperature rise while flower abundance is likely to respond negatively.The response for reproductive success seems to balance each other.Phenological shifts and changes in floral traits with climate change may have demographic effects on alpine communities.Results from available studies hint that climate change may influence plant mating patterns.Climate change can modify floral traits such as flower size,herkogamy,dichogamy and floral displays and this is likely to promote autogamous and geitonogamous self-pollination.High temperatures are likely to reduce flower sizes,and spatial and temporal separation of male and female reproductive functions and thus decreasing outcrossing potentials.Moreover,increased pollen limitation and reduced pollinator abundance and diversity with climate change can enhance self-fertilization either through autogamy or geitonogamy.Evidence from studies also reveals that changing climate can result in disruption of trophic relationships.However,how climate change influences plant-pollinator interaction is dependent on individual species'response.In some interactions,climate change can shift phenological schedules of plants and pollinators through advancement or delay of flowering time and pollinator emergence/flight activity.Findings from other studies also show that the effect of climate change on phenological timing may be minimal or absent altogether.Trophic mismatches can have negative effects on interacting partners.Plants that flower earlier than their pollinators are exposed to reduced pollen availability and consequently low reproductive performance.Pollinators that advance their emergence or activity time relative to flowering time of their resource plants may be subjected to low floral resources hence reducing pollinator fecundity.However,it is possible that some species may escape the negative effects of climate-mediated trophic mismatches.Generalist plants and pollinators,for example,may shift to other new sources for pollination services and food resource,respectively.Also,species may benefit from overlap as a result of extended flowering and flight periods under warming climate.Large communities have been shown to reduce the effects of trophic mismatch in some species because of the overlap in flowering time.In conclusion,the effects of climate change on flowering strategies,mating pattern and plant-pollinator interactions can have ecological implications.Important ecological relations between plants and plants,plants and animals or plants and other micro-organisms may be disrupted especially where species responses to climate change differ.For instance,climate change is likely to reduce plant and pollinator populations as a result of increasing trophic mismatches.Proposed increase in selfing rates with climate change may further reduce plant reproductive and adaptive capacity in the future warming regimes thus species extinction.Climate change can also produce new interactions that may be beneficial or detrimental to interacting partners.Put together,all these may imply that changing climate could alter species population and diversity in alpine ecosystems.Thus,understanding reproductive strategies in alpine plants is crucial in estimating future plant populations and community structures in a warming world.This therefore,calls for more alpine studies on this issue across the globe.