Authors:

Holly Gustavsen

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About Paper:

Bouteloua dactyloides, also known as buffalograss, is a dioecious short grass native to the United States, Mexico, and Canada. Known for its drought tolerance, buffalograss is an important wildlife and livestock grazing grass and is commonly used as a low-maintenance lawn grass. Previous studies have determined climate change is significantly affecting the phenology of both perennial and annual grass species. Considering its broad flowering period (May to September) and geographical range, the phenology of buffalograss should be studied to improve our understanding of grassland communities. However, few studies have included dioecious grasses like buffalograss, which provide unique opportunities to study phenological mismatch which can lead to reduced growth and reproduction, in their investigations. Using two data sources, preserved specimens and citizen science images collected between 1901 and 2022, we annotated the sex and phenophase of over 3000 images. Preserved herbarium specimens provide long-term historical data while citizen science data contains coordinates and is more abundant. This study creates a linear mixed model of buffalograss flowering time as a function of climate change. The data suggests that flowering time varies across buffalograss' wide range and between sexes. Additionally, the models will be used to predict future change in buffalograss phenology under different climate projections which could increase understanding of how climate change affects prairie and grassland ecosystems. Keywords: Bouteloua Dactyloides; Phenology; Climate Change; Linear Mixed Modeling

Source:

Purdue University / 2024

Topics:

No topics listed

Co-authors:

Holly Gustavsen