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.
The word "nemotia" is a neologism, a newly coined term that in this case, describes the sense of overwhelmingness and disconnect accompanying the thought that nothing you do will ever make a difference. If this describes ...
Ecology
Mar 24, 2026
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Plants, like people, have a circadian clock and they sense seasonal changes to light and temperature. Plants that bloom in the spring use the longer days and warmer temperatures as seasonal cues that it's time to bloom.
Plants & Animals
Mar 18, 2026
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South of Fall Creek by the edge of the woods, the moths would gather. They were, of course, drawn by light—set out by a researcher working in Cornell University's old Insectory building. In 1889, the lure came from a kerosene ...
Plants & Animals
Mar 17, 2026
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If you were a bee, how would you choose a flower to land on? You might go to the most beautiful one, as pollination biologists have long suggested that flowers with striking colors attract pollinators more easily. Or perhaps, ...
Plants & Animals
Mar 13, 2026
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The warming world has disrupted the timing for plant and animal reproduction, and it's usually bad news for species that depend on each other—like flowers blooming too early and pollinating bees arriving too late. But researchers ...
Plants & Animals
Mar 11, 2026
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New research from the University of Oxford shows that cold snaps and heavy rain can stunt growth and reduce survival prospects in UK great tit nestlings. However, breeding earlier within a season appears to buffer against ...
Plants & Animals
Mar 11, 2026
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Thousands of birds, including beloved purple martins, died in "The Great Texas Freeze" of 2021. A study published in Nature Ecology & Evolution led by biologists at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, reveals not only ...
Plants & Animals
Mar 6, 2026
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77
Climate change has caused some tropical plants to flower earlier or later than they used to; in some cases by a matter of weeks or even months, according to a study of 8,000 flowers across more than two centuries, published ...
Plants & Animals
Feb 25, 2026
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21
Biodiversity is changing across the planet, yet governments still lack the robust, consistent data needed to track these changes and guide effective conservation. Now, a new study led by the University of Amsterdam (UvA), ...
Plants & Animals
Feb 23, 2026
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12
How will a warming Arctic affect plant growth on Svalbard? Researchers encased plant plots in a thick layer of ice during the winter and used little greenhouses to heat up those plots in the summer. The surprise? The plants ...
Plants & Animals
Feb 18, 2026
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