Abstract
Spring leaf phenology marks the onset of the photosynthetic period, shaping functioning and climate feedback of deciduous forests. Despite recent advances, climate models can still not capture the spatial variability in budburst timing of forests. This is mainly due to a poor understanding of stand level non-climatic drivers of budburst timing. A key barrier hampering our understanding of these dynamics is a lack of integrative frameworks jointly testing multiple non-climatic drivers and their interactions. This project aims to overcome this barrier by examining how soil fertility, stand structure and tree species diversity interact to drive variability in budburst timing in temperate deciduous forests. We will explicitly test a nutrient-mediated framework in which local resource limitation delays budburst. Budburst dynamics will be quantified across settings ranging from a factorial mesocosm experiment to mature forests, ensuring both mechanistic control and ecological realism. By linking nutrient status, competition and budburst timing, this project will advance fundamental understanding of tree functioning and make it possible to improve future predictions of forest dynamics under global change.
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