Climate Warming Linked to Tree Leaf Unfolding and Flowering Growing Apart
Published:29 Dec.2020 Source:British Ecological Society
An international team of researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Zhejiang A & F University and the University of Eastern Finland have found that regardless of whether flowering or leaf unfolding occurred first in a species, the first event advanced more than the second over the last seven decades.
In the four European tree species the researchers looked at: horse chestnut, scots pine, alder and ash, the time interval between leaf unfolding and flowering increased at a rate of 0.6 to 1.3 days per decade between 1950 -- 2013. Similar trends were seen geographically, with the time interval between the two life-cycle (phenological) events being greater in trees in warmer areas of Europe.