Population and Community-Level Consequences of Early-Summer Frosts, A Phenomenon That May Decrease as the Global ClimateChanges

9814509井上有越来越多的证据表明全球气候正在发生变化，并对这将对自然生态系统造成的后果产生相应的担忧。气温和降水的预测变化可能会影响霜冻对植物造成损害的频率，植物或花蕾和树叶等植物部位的霜冻死亡可能会变得或多或少发生。霜冻损害会影响依赖它们的植物和动物，如草食动物、种子捕食者和传粉者。例如，由于毛虫吃的植物被霜冻杀死，当地的蝴蝶已经灭绝。如果植物通过种子库的替换、受损叶片的再生或只是在第二年再次开花来迅速从这种损害中恢复，那么霜冻损害的长期后果可能对植物有利，如果它导致相关草食动物或种子捕食者减少的话。这笔赠款将用于研究霜冻对一种多年生向日葵的影响。自1974年以来，霜冻每隔2-6年就会导致部分或全部向日葵花蕾死亡。在花蕾中产卵的种子捕食者(粉蝇)受到花头损失的极大影响，当它们的数量在霜冻后减少时，植物能够产生更多的种子和幼苗，直到苍蝇数量恢复。因此，霜冻频率的减少实际上可能对植物有害，因为种子捕食者的数量永远不会减少。

Inouye 9814509 There is growing evidence that the global climate is changing, and a matching concern for the consequences this will have for natural ecosystems. Predicted changes in temperature and precipitation are likely to influence the frequency of frost damage to plants, and frost kills of plants or plant parts such as flower buds and leaves may become either more or less common. Frost damage can impact both the plants and animals such as herbivores, seed predators and pollinators that depend on them. For example, there have been local extinctions of butterflies as a consequence of frost killing plants the caterpillars eat. If the plant recover quickly from this damage by replacement from a seed bank, regrowth of damaged leaves, or simply flowering again the next year the long-term consequence of frost damage can be beneficial for the plants if it results in the less of associated herbivores or seed predators. This grant will support research on the consequences of frost for a long-lived perennial sunflower. Since 1974 frost has killed some or all sunflower buds every 2-6 years. The seed predators (tephritid flies) that lay eggs in the buds are greatly affected by the loss of flower heads, and when their populations are reduced after a frost, the plants are able to produce many more seeds and seedlings until the fly populations build back up. Thus, a decrease in the frequency of frost might actually be detrimental to the plants because seed predator populations would never be reduced.