Phenology and Climate Change
Phenology is the study of the timing of the life-cycle changes in plants and animals – for example, flowers blooming in the spring, or leaf color changes in the fall.
Changes in the timing of phases of the plant life cycle are directly affected by temperature, rainfall and day length. While these factors change throughout the year in places where there are distinct seasons, the first two—temperature and rainfall—are also changing in many regions because of climate change.
Budburst is one of many studies investigating the impacts of global change in specific places. When you report to Budburst about how and when the plants in your garden, park, town, or city are changing with the seasons, you are contributing scientific data that can help us understand how plants are responding to this year’s seasons and long-term changes in climate. Scientists are using data about the timing of seasonal changes in species in computer models to predict how climate and ecosystems will change decades and even centuries into the future (source: Budburst.org).
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