Hebrew University scientists have discovered that drought can shorten the amount of time that certain Israeli wildflowers will bloom — but instead of flowering closer together to make the most of the limited time and water, the species spread their flowering out.

An autumn drought delayed flowering, while a spring drought brought it to an earlier end. When five species were grown together, each bloomed for a shorter period and at a slightly different time.

“Each species used the available water at a slightly different stage,” explained PhD student Barel Tsafon.

Tsafon said the discovery was made through a long-running greenhouse experiment, which will enter its fifth year this fall. Noting that nature is far more complex than greenhouse conditions, he explained that further repetitions of the experiment will yield more information on the impact of drought on the population size of each species.

The research, whose findings should help scientists who follow the effects of climate change on ecosystems, was published Monday in Ecology Letters.

Tsafon said the next step is a long-term project to gather worldwide data via the citizen science organization, iNaturalist.

The database has already been built, and Tsafon and fellow PhD student Or Gross will shortly formulate questions........

© The Times of Israel