Long-term observations have shown that many plants and above-ground animals have changed their phenological patterns due to higher temperatures in recent decades. However, empirical evidence for phenological shifts in alpine organisms, especially below-ground organisms, is lacking. Here, we investigate how the activities and phenology of plants, soil microbes, and soil fauna will respond to warming in an alpine meadow on the Tibetan Plateau and whether their potential phenological changes will be synchronized. We experimentally simulate a 2–4 °C increase in soil temperature as projected for the future for this region. We find that warming promotes plant growth, soil microbial respiration, and soil fauna feeding by 8%, 57%, and 20%, but causes distinct changes in their phenology during the growing season. Specifically, warming promotes the feeding of soil fauna in spring and delays it in autumn, while their maximum activity does not change; while warming increases the maximum activity of plant growth and soil microbial respiration, but with only small changes in their phenology. Such phenological asynchrony in alpine organisms can alter ecosystem functioning and stability.

(Rui Yin, Wenkuan Qin, Xudong Wang, Dong Xie, Hao Wang, Hongyang Zhao, Zhenhua Zhang, Jin-Sheng He, Martin Schädler, Pavol Kardol, Nico Eisenhauer and Biao Zhu)