The Watchers: Early Buds And Global Warming

The current warm weather has gardeners itching to get out onto the fire escape or out into the backyard. From Sumatra to Norway, the blossoming of plants is triggered by environmental cues that, until recently, have been relatively constant. Across the temperate climes average annual temperatures continue to creep up the mercury, bringing earlier springs, and earlier spring flowers.

In England, dedicated naturalists have been recording the breaking of spring buds since the 1700s. Released by Britain’s Royal Society of Biological Sciences, a 250 year index shows the flowering dates of 405 species and demonstrates the impact of climate change on growth. The current index shows that for every 1C rise, bud burst occurred five days earlier.

On the U.S. side, Project BudBurst monitors the timing of phenological plant events (such as leafing, blooming and fruiting) by collecting data from citizen scientists across the country. The data they collect will help scientists understand how the alteration of to the climate will affect things like bird and insect diversity, pollination, and our own food production. The red maple and other ultra-early spring bloomers are the most doggedly watched by BudBurst’s team. Other ubiquitous, easy-to-identify plants such as common yarrow and trout lily open the study up to anyone – like maybe you?