Hot Early Spring In Vienna Shows Just What Happens When Plants, Pollinators Get Out Of Synch
VIENNA, AUSTRIA — In a patch of scruffy prairie near Vienna, marbled white butterflies hover near clusters of unopened globe thistles. They uncurl their long proboscises to probe the spiky buds—without success. It'll be a couple more weeks before the flowers open, but some of the butterflies may not survive that long if they don't find something else to eat.
Two months of unusually high spring temperatures in Europe have thrown the ecosystem in this urban wilderness meadow out of whack, says butterfly expert Marion Jaros. The warm temperatures accelerated the hatch of many butterflies and other pollinating species, but the flowers they depend on for nectar are not responding in sync.
"Here, too, you can see climate change," Jaros says, as a hot, dry wind rustles the tall grass, dried to golden straw a month sooner than usual. Important pollinator species are being affected across Europe, she adds. In a nearby forested wetland area, scientists documented how one of our most beautiful and rare butterflies, the Osterluzeifalter, is affected by global warming," Jaros said. "The research showed that the sharp rise in spring temperatures in Austria makes the butterflies emerge from their cocoons several weeks before their host plants have any nectar or pollen to offer."
That's also a problem for the plants that rely on butterflies and other insects for pollination. In some cases, the flowers are opening too far ahead of their pollinators; in others, the pollinators, like Jaros's butterflies, arrive too early.
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https://insideclimatenews.org/news/15062018/climate-change-impacts-pollen-pollination-flowers-bees-butterflies-europe-heat-wave-global-warming-research
