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1. A Global Meta‐Analysis of Passive Experimental Warming Effects on Plant Traits and Community Properties

   https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.70306  

   Dobson, Kara C; Zarnetske, Phoebe L (June 2025, Global Change Biology)

   ABSTRACT In order to better predict climate change effects on plants and their communities, we need to improve our understanding of how various plant traits and community properties respond to warming, as well as what contexts contribute to variation in these responses. To address this knowledge gap, we compiled data from 126 in situ passive experimental warming studies on 13 different plant trait and community property responses. We then collected metadata from these studies to define 9 different study contexts spanning environmental, experimental, and plant‐level scales. We find that, globally, some traits decrease when warmed (e.g., aboveground N content), while others increase (e.g., plant biomass). We also identify contexts that contribute to variation in plant responses to warming, such as latitude, distance from northern range edge, and plant functional group, but the importance of these contexts varies based on the trait or community property measured. For example, as latitude increases, the effect of warming on reproductive traits becomes stronger, but this latitude‐trait relationship did not hold for all traits. Our study highlights how multiple plant traits and community properties respond to warming across the globe, the importance of carefully designing and interpreting the outcomes of climate change experiments, and the need for coordinated warming experiments across varying environmental contexts in order to mechanistically understand and predict plant community responses to climate warming. 

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2. Volatile Organic Compound Emissions From Solidago altissima Under Experimental Warming and Drought

   https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.72422  

   Dobson, Kara C; Zarnetske, Phoebe L (November 2025, Ecology and Evolution)

   ABSTRACT Plant volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions are important mediators for plant interactions with biotic and abiotic factors in the environment. Changes in VOC emissions can be caused by factors associated with climate change, such as warming and drought. However, we currently lack an understanding of how warming and drought affect plants' emissions in their natural environment, let alone how these climate factors may interact to synergistically affect emissions. To fill these knowledge gaps, we measured VOC emissions from tall goldenrod (Solidago altissima) in an early successional plant community under four climate treatments: ambient control, warmed, drought, and warmed + drought. Treatments were applied in situ using open‐top chambers for warming and rainout shelters for drought. Drought treatments (drought and warmed + drought) have a stronger effect on VOC emissions compared to nondrought treatments (ambient and warmed). Furthermore, while the overall abundance of VOCs did not differ between treatments, there were specific compounds associated with one or more climate treatments. For example, diisopropyl adipate was more abundant in the drought and warmed + drought treatments. Our study shows that in goldenrod, drought may have a stronger effect than warming on VOC emissions, but moreover, that specific compounds are especially sensitive to certain climate treatments. However, additional experimentation is necessary to validate the functions associated with the affected compounds. These findings demonstrate that climate change alters chemical emissions, which in turn could have implications for ecosystem functioning via changes in plant–plant communication, plant–insect interactions, and overall plant fitness. 

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3. Data from: Genetic divergence along a climate gradient shapes chemical plasticity of a foundation tree species to both changing climate and herbivore damage

   https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.rn8pk0pd3  

   Eisenring, Michael; Best, Rebecca J; Zierden, Mark R; Cooper, Hillary F; Norstrem, Madelyn; Whitham, Thomas G; Grady, Kevin; Allan, Gerard J; Lindroth, Richard L (January 2022, Dryad)

   Climate change is threatening the persistence of many tree species via independent and interactive effects on abiotic and biotic conditions. In addition, changes in temperature, precipitation, and insect attacks can alter the traits of these trees, disrupting communities and ecosystems. For foundation species such as Populus, phytochemical traits are key mechanisms linking trees with their environment and are likely jointly determined by interactive effects of genetic divergence and variable environments throughout their geographic range. Using reciprocal Fremont cottonwood (Populus fremontii) common gardens along a steep climatic gradient, we explored how environment (garden climate and simulated herbivore damage) and genetics (tree provenance and genotype) affect both foliar chemical traits and the plasticity of these traits. We found that: 1) Constitutive and plastic chemical responses to changes in garden climate and damage varied among defense compounds, structural compounds and nitrogen. 2) For both defense and structural compounds, plastic responses to garden climate depended on the climate in which a population or genotype evolved. Specifically, trees originating from cool provenances showed higher defense plasticity in response to climate changes than trees from hotter provenances. 3) Trees from cool provenances growing in cool conditions expressed the lowest constitutive defense levels but the strongest induced (plastic) defenses. 4) The combination of hot growing conditions and simulated herbivory switched the strategy used by these genotypes, increasing constitutive defenses but erasing the capacity for induction. Because Fremont cottonwood chemistry plays a major role in shaping riparian communities and ecosystems in the southwestern US, the effects of changes in phytochemical traits can be wide-reaching. As the southwestern US is confronted with warming temperatures and insect outbreaks, these results improve our capacity to predict ecosystem consequences of climate change and inform selection of tree genotypes for conservation and restoration purposes. 

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4. Genetic divergence along a climate gradient shapes chemical plasticity of a foundation tree species to both changing climate and herbivore damage.

   https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.16275  

   Eisenring, Michael; Best, Rebecca J; Zierden, Mark R; Cooper, Hillary F; Norstrem, Madelyn A; Whitham, Thomas G; Grady, Kevin; Allan, Gerard J; Lindroth, Richard L (May 2022, Global change biology)

   Climate change is threatening the persistence of many tree species via independent and interactive effects on abiotic and biotic conditions. In addition, changes in temperature, precipitation, and insect attacks can alter the traits of these trees, disrupting communities and ecosystems. For foundation species such as Populus, phytochemical traits are key mechanisms linking trees with their environment and are likely jointly determined by interactive effects of genetic divergence and variable environments throughout their geographic range. Using reciprocal Fremont cottonwood (Populus fremontii) common gardens along a steep climatic gradient, we explored how environment (garden climate and simulated herbivore damage) and genetics (tree provenance and genotype) affect both foliar chemical traits and the plasticity of these traits. We found that (1) Constitutive and plastic chemical responses to changes in garden climate and damage varied among defense compounds, structural compounds, and leaf nitrogen. (2) For both defense and structural compounds, plastic responses to different garden climates depended on the climate in which a population or genotype originated. Specifically, trees originating from cool provenances showed higher defense plasticity in response to climate changes than trees from warmer provenances. (3) Trees from cool provenances growing in cool garden conditions expressed the lowest constitutive defense levels but the strongest induced (plastic) defenses in response to damage. (4) The combination of hot garden conditions and simulated herbivory switched the strategy used by these genotypes, increasing constitutive defenses but erasing the capacity for induction after damage. Because Fremont cottonwood chemistry plays a major role in shaping riparian communities and ecosystems, the effects of changes in phytochemical traits can be wide reaching. As the southwestern US is confronted with warming temperatures and insect outbreaks, these results improve our capacity to predict ecosystem consequences of climate change and inform selection of tree genotypes for conservation and restoration purposes 

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5. Genetic divergence along a climate gradient shapes chemical plasticity of a foundation tree species to both changing climate and herbivore damage

   https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.16275  

   Eisenring, Michael; Best, Rebecca J.; Zierden, Mark R.; Cooper, Hillary F.; Norstrem, Madelyn A.; Whitham, Thomas G.; Grady, Kevin; Allan, Gerard J.; Lindroth, Richard L. (April 2022, Global Change Biology)

   Climate change is threatening the persistence of many tree species via independent and interactive effects on abiotic and biotic conditions. In addition, changes in temperature, precipitation, and insect attacks can alter the traits of these trees, disrupting communities and ecosystems. For foundation species such as Populus, phytochemical traits are key mechanisms linking trees with their environment and are likely jointly determined by interactive effects of genetic divergence and variable environments throughout their geographic range. Using reciprocal Fremont cottonwood (Populus fremontii) common gardens along a steep climatic gradient, we explored how environment (garden climate and simulated herbivore damage) and genetics (tree provenance and genotype) affect both foliar chemical traits and the plasticity of these traits. We found that (1) Constitutive and plastic chemical responses to changes in garden climate and damage varied among defense compounds, structural compounds, and leaf nitrogen. (2) For both defense and structural compounds, plastic responses to different garden climates depended on the climate in which a population or genotype originated. Specifically, trees originating from cool provenances showed higher defense plasticity in response to climate changes than trees from warmer provenances. (3) Trees from cool provenances growing in cool garden conditions expressed the lowest constitutive defense levels but the strongest induced (plastic) defenses in response to damage. (4) The combination of hot garden conditions and simulated herbivory switched the strategy used by these genotypes, increasing constitutive defenses but erasing the capacity for induction after damage. Because Fremont cottonwood chemistry plays a major role in shaping riparian communities and ecosystems, the effects of changes in phytochemical traits can be wide reaching. As the southwestern US is confronted with warming temperatures and insect outbreaks, these results improve our capacity to predict ecosystem consequences of climate change and inform selection of tree genotypes for conservation and restoration purposes. 

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