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Males and females are ecologically distinct in many species, but whether responses to climate change are sex-specific is unknown. We document sex-specific responses to climate change in the plant Valeriana edulis (valerian) over four decades and across its 1800m elevation range. Increased elevation was associated with increased water availability and female frequency, likely due to sex-specific water use efficiency and survival. Recent aridification caused male frequency to move up-slope at 175 m/decade, a rate of trait shift outpacing reported species range shifts by an order of magnitude. This increase in male frequency reduced pollen limitation and increased seedset. Coupled with previous studies reporting sex-specific arthropod communities, these results underscore the importance of ecological differences between the sexes in mediating biological responses to climate change.
Knowledge graph centered on Data from: Sex-specific responses to climate chang with 18 nodes and 113 connections. Top connected: climate change, Valeriana, Hemacytometer pollen counting, Amy M. Iler, K. A. Mooney.
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