Phenology
Temperate
Our lab is examining changes in the timing of plant phenophases in the Red River region of North Dakota and Minnesota by comparing contemporary phenological patterns of wild species to the flowering patterns of the same species 100 years ago. By using archival data on first flowering time collected by NDSU professor O.A. Stevens from 1910 to 1961 we can test the null hypothesis that flowering phenology is the same as prior to the dramatic increases in global temperatures in the 1980's.
https://doi.org/10.1139/cjb-2021-0102.
Tropical
Climate variability and anthropogenic climate change in the tropics have been predicted to negatively affect hummingbird populations due to shifts in the availability of this rich food resource for the birds because nectar production will be dependent in part on daily precipitation levels. Our lab is monitoring flowering abundance and nectar availability in the Monteverde Cloud Forest reserve to track the relationship between environment and flowering and provide a comparison to historical data collected prior to increases in global temperatures