02-11-14 Phenology Report

02-11-14 Phenology Report

February 11, 2014

Rebecca Durham, Dan Mummey, and Philip Ramsey present plant development data that shows that exotic species exhibit different phenology patterns than native species.

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We collected species-level plant phenology data in the Northern Sapphire Mountains of the Bitterroot Valley, Montana. Species at 15 sites were monitored weekly from March 10 to November 23, 2013, for plant developmental stage.

Table 1 displays the range of flowering period by species across all plots. Species flowered from March to November.

We compared growth phases of 3 functional groups of plants with native and exotic representatives: short-lived forbs, perennial forbs, and perennial graminoids. Budding, senescence, fall growth, and fall emergence data did not show meaningful differences among groups.

Native species richness ranged from 7 to 40 across the study plots. We compared the phenology of an intact community at Plot 105 (Fig 2a) with the degraded community at Plot 151 (Fig 2b, pg.7).

The tables below display pollinator resources and flowering timing of insect- and birdpollinated forbs and shrubs at the two plots.

Pollinator resources at Plot 105. Plot 105 shows a typical phenology distribution of a native community, with natives flowering with a right skewed distribution across the temporal gradient. The majority of native species bloom in May and June.

These data show that exotic species exhibit different phenology patterns than native species. Diverse native plant communities provide pollinator resources from March to September. Future work will explore how the differing phenology of native and exotic species influence plant community dynamics, pollinator communities, and community function.

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02-11-14 Phenology Report

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