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Global climate change is known to affect the assembly of ecological communities by altering species' spatial distribution patterns, but little is known about how climate change may affect community assembly by changing species' temporal co-occurrence patterns, which is highly likely given the widely observed phenological shifts associated with climate change. Here, we analyzed a 29-year phenological data set comprising community-level information on the timing and span of temporal occurrence in 11 seasonally occurring animal taxon groups from 329 local meteorological observatories across China. We show that widespread shifts in phenology have resulted in community-wide changes in the temporal overlap between taxa that are dominated by extensions, and that these changes are largely due to taxa's altered span of temporal occurrence rather than the degree of synchrony in phenological shifts. Importantly, our findings also suggest that climate change may have led to less phenological mismatch than generally presumed, and that the context under which to discuss the ecological consequences of phenological shifts should be expanded beyond asynchronous shifts., (© 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

It is difficult to detect global warming directly because most people experience changes only in local weather patterns, which are highly variable and may not reflect long-term global climate trends. However, local climate-change experience may play an important role in adaptation and mitigation behaviour and policy support. Previous research indicates that people can perceive and adapt to aspects of climate variability and change based on personal observations. Experience with local weather may also influence global warming beliefs. Here we examine the extent to which respondents in 89 countries detect recent changes in average local temperatures. We demonstrate that public perceptions correspond with patterns of observed temperature change from climate records: individuals who live in places with rising average temperatures are more likely than others to perceive local warming. As global climate change intensifies, changes in local temperatures and weather patterns may be increasingly detected by the global public. These findings also suggest that public opinion of climate change may shift, at least in part, in response to the personal experience of climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While altitude affects climatic characteristics, terrestrial plant habitats, and species composition, few studies considered the effects of altitude on ecosystem multifunctionality (EMF). Here, we teased apart the EMF at different altitude with a linear piecewise quantile regression and explore ecosystem functions and environmental factors with EMF along the altitudinal gradient across the Tibetan Plateau. Then, we estimated the response of ecosystem functions to environmental factors, and explain the impact of environmental factors on EMF through the structural equation model. Our data revealed an EMF changepoint at an altitude of about 3900 m where the EMF could be segregated into low- and high-altitude patterns. Our results indicate that water availability drives the EMF mainly through improving soil nutrients and microbe cycling functions in low-altitude regions; conversely, water-heat and phenological conditions regulate the EMF through the role of plant productivity and soil nutrients in high-altitude regions. As such, our EMF analysis suggests that to maintain the long-term stability of the grassland ecosystem, it becomes critical to fully consider the differences in the altitudinal patterns and mechanisms, particularly under the ongoing climate change. • There was a changepoint of EMF along the altitudinal gradient. • Water condition regulates the influence of EMF in low-altitude regions. • Water-heat and phenological conditions regulates the influence of EMF in high-altitude regions. • It is critical to fully consider the differences in the altitudinal patterns and mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • There was a threshold of mean annual precipitation (MAP, ∼ 671 mm) where the ecosystem multifunctionality (EMF) could be segregated into low and high MAP patterns. • Climatic and soil factors were major drivers regulating EMF in three dominant natural ecosystems under distinct precipitation conditions. • Drivers of EMF in various ecosystems are different, but it is mainly due to the limitation from solar radiation and hydrothermal conditions. • Our findings will advance current understanding of the underlying maintenance of EMF under global climate change. The potential patterns and processes of ecosystem multifunctionality (EMF) across global ecosystems are largely unknown, which limits our understanding of how ecosystems respond to drivers. Here we compile a global dataset that consists of 973 unique sites across the forest, grassland, and shrub ecosystems. We identify a critical global pattern of hump-shaped EMF relationship with mean annual precipitation at a threshold of ∼671 mm, where low and high precipitation patterns are discriminated. We find that climatic and soil factors jointly drive the EMF in low precipitation areas, and climatic factors dominate the EMF in high precipitation regions. However, when comparing across the three dominant ecosystems and precipitation regions, the key driver in EMF differs substantially. Specifically, climatic and soil factors dominate the EMF of low and high precipitation regions across forest ecosystems, respectively. Climatic drivers dominate the EMF under different precipitation conditions across grassland and shrub ecosystems. Overall, our findings highlight the importance of climatic and soil drivers on EMF, which should be considered in ecosystem stability models in response to global climate and land-use change scenarios. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]