How do climate change experiments alter plot-scale climate?
Résumé
Drought sensitivity is known to affect plant species distribution. However, since every stage of plant life cycle
has its own water requirements, plant performance and productivity is largely influenced by the timing of water
stress. Variation in drought sensitivity between stages might explain recently observed changes in tree age
structure along environmental gradients as well as species-specific responses to drought, yet it has poorly been
taken into account in species distribution models (SDMs). In this paper we discuss how plant responses to water
availability during various life stages influence species distribution and abundance. We define the role of water
availability at the stage of gametophyte, zygote, seed and seedling and explain the nature of drought-related
injuries. Moreover, we review examples that illustrate how plants adjust their phenology to cope with water
stress at early stages of plant life cycle. We also discuss possible ways forward of incorporating the effect of water
availability on different stages of the reproductive cycle into correlative and process-based plant species distribution
models (SDMs) in order to improve the accuracy of their predictions