Phenology is the study of the timing of recurring biological events in organisms, particularly plants and animals, and the environmental drivers that regulate these events. It focuses on phase transitions such as leaf-out, flowering, fruiting, migration, and reproduction, and quantifies their relationships with abiotic factors like temperature, photoperiod, and precipitation. As a research topic, phenology integrates field observations, remote sensing, and modeling to analyze interannual variability, long-term trends, and spatial patterns. It is central to understanding organismal responses to climate variability and change, trophic synchrony or mismatch, and feedbacks between biosphere processes and the climate system.
AI optimists will be encouraged by a recent report on the state of the world's plants and fungi by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
Ecology
19 hours ago
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Researchers from Michigan State University's Department of Entomology found that automated camera traps often detected codling moth activity in orchards several days earlier than standard monitoring methods, potentially helping ...
Ecology
Aug 6, 2026
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Artificial light at night (ALAN) can cause plants to open their buds and sprout leaves earlier in the spring. ALAN can also cause trees to delay changing the color of their leaves in the fall. These changes can ripple through ...
Environment
Aug 4, 2026
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Every spring, millions of people around the world head outdoors to admire wildflowers. But flowering is much more than a beautiful seasonal display. It is one of the most important stages in a plant's life cycle, determining ...
Plants & Animals
Jul 20, 2026
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Tree swallows in the northern U.S. and Canada face the greatest risk from climate change despite responding to temperature the same way as tree swallows in the southern U.S., according to a new study led by Cornell researchers ...
Plants & Animals
Jul 12, 2026
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If we want to dismiss something as irrelevant, we'd say that it's "as boring as watching the grass grow." And yet grasses—including corn, wheat and rice—make up most of the plant-based calories humans eat, as well as most ...
Plants & Animals
Jul 11, 2026
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You may be spotting dead bumblebees lying on pavements near you during the summer months. There are several reasons for this, some related to the weather and some very much due to humans.
Plants & Animals
Jul 10, 2026
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Facing both climate change and a crashing pollinator population, plants may be evolving to attract pollinators rather than adapting to a warming climate, and the trade-off has resulted in a steep decline in plants' rate of ...
Evolution
Jul 9, 2026
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In Europe, trees are increasingly dying prematurely. A new study by the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (WSL) on French forests now shows that it is not only drought but also unusually warm ...
Ecology
Jul 7, 2026
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Spring migration has taken flight, but with rising temperatures and shifting seasons, birds are adjusting when and how they migrate to keep up with a rapidly warming climate. Morgan Tingley, a professor of ecology and evolutionary ...
Ecology
Jul 6, 2026
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