So far, the year 2012 has seen some disruptions in normal weather patterns. In March, we experienced some rather warm days that caused many wild flowers to appear early, foliage on trees and shrubs to emerge early, and for amphibians to start breeding early as well. This was followed by a relatively cool April. Then in June and July there were days with high temperatures and dry conditions. This report examines some of the impacts of those weather conditions on plants.

Temperature and water availability are two of the most important environmental factors that control the welfare of plants. When these are present at high or low values, then we can expect that certain stresses will start to occur or that the plants will perform at less than optimum growth rates. Not all plants will respond in exactly the same way for some are adapted for low temperatures while others prefer warmer temperatures for example.

The conditions that prevailed in the spring 2012 had major consequences for some crops, notably the McIntosh cultivar of apples. Specifically this was because of a frost or low temperature event at a critical time in flowering. As a consequence, the pollination rate was extremely low and little fruit was set. Other cultivars fared somewhat better. It is uncertain whether weather (i.e. frost) was the main factor but it was rather obvious that wild fruit loads on trees and shrubs through Northeastern Ontario were extremely poor and mostly zero by late this summer. A conversation with a wild blueberry seller confirmed that the blueberry harvest was extremely poor and pickers had a very difficult time finding enough fruit to collect and sell. Aside from the very high prices that could be commanded for the limited fruit that was available, it is easy to appreciate that wildlife such as birds and bears will have a difficult time finding food this year.

Locally, the effect of low temperatures in the early growing season did not appear to have significant impacts for native plants. Most native plants do retain some tolerance to short periods of low temperatures. Even at this, the young foliage on Alternate-leaved Dogwood showed a reddish-brown discoloration along the margins and between the veins. Reddish coloration often accompanies a physiological phosphorous deficiency that is induced by cold temperatures. This gradually disappeared as the growing season advanced. There was a small amount of acute necrosis of some Dogwood leaves but this only occurred where ice formed when rain runoff from the house roof froze on the foliage (Figure1).

Weather-stress conditions occurred later in the growing season in the form of drought. It was reported that the timing of the drought was particularly bad for corn producers. Although corn plants were widely seen to be suffering (leaves rolled up) in many parts of the Province, the plants remained alive for a long time. The yield though was impacted since the silks could not be pollinated during the critical short window when silks and pollen must come together. The overall effect was a low rate of pollination and this in turn will impact upon the amount of seed that gets set. The true impact can only be known after the harvest has been completed. It is expected that the price for corn for animal and human food will be quite high due to shortages in the crop through much of the corn-producing parts of North America.

The reported monthly totals of precipitation for the study period (March through July) may be a somewhat misleading. As shown in Figure 2, the monthly totals at Pearson Airport for March, April and May are not much more than half of the normal amounts for each month. The amount for June is very close to average while that for July is about 30% above average. But timing is everything. Of the total of the 76.4 mm for June, nearly half (37.4 mm) fell on the very first day of the month. In July, the largest rainfall that measured (38.8 mm) fell in a thunderstorm on the very last day of the month. There were a couple of light rains on July 22 and July 25 but these were not even seen in many parts of our area. This means that there was an extended time (over seven weeks from June 2 to July 21) where practically no rain fell at all. In combination with some days with rather high temperatures, most plants without an irrigation source would have been subjected to some very severe drought stress. Figure 3 shows the same data as Figure 2 but the amounts of rain that fell on June 1 and after July 22 have been excluded to provide a more realistic image of the conditions that plants would have experienced. Some native plants in our area did exhibit symptoms of weather (drought) stress. Such symptoms included drooping of the foliage and later, complete drying of the foliage. (Figs. 4 and 5).

The normal growth of plants includes uptake of water from the soil and transpiration of that water through the foliage. When there is an inadequate supply of water, the plant has several responses to help cope with the shortage. A prime reaction is to close the stomates to reduce the loss of water through the leaves. While water loss may be reduced by this action, it also reduces the amount of nutrients that can be absorbed from the soil and transported to the leaves. Closure of the stomates reduces the amount of carbon dioxide that can be taken up to become involved in the photosynthetic process. Reducedtranspiration means that the foliage does not get cooled through evaporation of the water. As a result, the leaf temperatures get raised above optimum and so the plant cannot grow at an optimal rate. Overall though, it is most desirable to the plant to conserve the water it has, rather than grow large. To compensate for the lack of water, many plants will shed their excess foliage. This effectively cuts down on the total leaf surface that is transpiring at any given time.

Hormones produced in the roots trigger the mechanisms that lead to abscission of excess leaves, much like the normal fall of foliage each Autumn. Stressed trees for example might show a high proportion of yellowed foliage (often older leaves and leaves lower on the stem. Another clue to the drought stress is an excess of recently-fallen foliage on the ground much earlier than would normally take place. Sometimes, totally dried or dead foliage will be retained on the branches.

Late in August, large patches of totally brown, necrotic trees and shrubs were seen in the area south of Parry Sound. This area has rather shallow soil soil and therefore the water reserve in the soil is quite prone to drought stress but the degree of stress in the summer 2012 in that area is the most severe that the author has witnessed in over 35 years. Whether or not the affected vegetation was killed outright will become known in 2013; however, there is little doubt that there will at least be a notable impact on the affected sites for several years to come. Locally, the stress observed will not likely have an observable enduring impact on perennial species but cumulative stress from similar conditions in future years could produce notable effects, likely as smaller plants with less flowering, lower seed set, or greater incidence of insect and disease attacks.

by W.D. McIlveen
Halton/North Peel Naturalist Club