Warming impacts on winter wheat phenophase and grain yield under field conditions in Yangtze Delta Plain, China

A five-year experiment with Free Air Temperature Increase facility was conducted to investigate the actual responses of winter wheat phenophase and yield to warming in Yangtze Delta Plain, China. Air temperature increase of around 1.5 degrees C in wheat canopy advanced crop phenophases significantly, leading to a reduction in length of the entire growth period by 10 days (P< 0.05). This reduction was mainly found in the length of pre-anthesis phase, while the length of post-anthesis phase was prolonged slightly. Warming increased grain yield by 16.3% (P <0.05) whereas no significant effects were found on the aboveground biomass. Warming tended to increase the numbers of productive spike and filled grain and the harvest index. The areas of flag leaf and total green leaf at anthesis and the 1000-grain weight were 36.0, 19.2 and 5.9% higher in the warmed plots than the un-warmed control (P< 0.05), respectively. Warming stimulated the filling rate of inferior grain (P< 0.05), while the rate of superior grain stayed almost unchanged. The above evidences suggest that anticipated warming may facilitate winter wheat production in East China. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.