May 20, 2016
Urban heat island impacts on plant phenology: intra-urban variability and response to land cover
by
,
Environmental Research Letters
- Shows that buds burst earlier in dense urban areas than in their suburban and rural surroundings
- Investigates the impacts of the urban heat island on plant phenology in the city of Madison WI (USA) for the 2012–2014 growing seasons
- Finds that while the growing season lasted up to a week longer in the city's densest areas, its parks subdued the warming effect and thus helped to normalize the growing season length
- Estimates median urban growing season length (GSL) from temperature sensors is ~5 d longer than surrounding rural areas, and UHI impacts on GSL are relatively consistent from year-to-year