Science Source

Phenology as a bio-indicator of climate change impacts on people and ecosystems: towards an integrated national assessment approach

States phenology the study of the timing seasonal life cycle events in plants and animals (e.g., timing of leafout, blooming, hibernation, migration), is a well-recognized indicator of climate variability and change
Conducts a review of the recent phenology literature to document regional variation in species’ response to changes in climate and the environment
Reviews 175 studies and selects 64 studies that covered a variety of taxonomic groups, spanned a range of scales, and that analyzed the relationship between phenological observations and climatic variables
Reports this peer-reviewed information in a series of short, self-contained regional syntheses that will be periodically updated and used as communication pieces by the USA National Phenology Network
Introduces a new bioclimatic model for evaluating regional to continental trends in the timing of the onset of spring
Finds a growing body of research focused on examining trophic mismatch, a phenomenon that can result from differential phenological responses to climate or other cues
States that—though few studies documented the specific consequences of asynchronous species interactions—most predicted population declines, local extirpations, and the emergence of novel biotic interactions
Finds most studies documented an advance in timing of springtime phenological events across species in response to climate warming