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.
Are you an early bird or a night owl? The tendency to rise early or sleep late is determined by our circadian clock, which is a biological timekeeper that makes sure our bodies are adjusted to the time of day.
Agriculture
Oct 16, 2025
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Even as autumn days grow shorter, a warming climate means Ohio winters aren't as cold as they were just a few decades ago, according to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration data. This increasing mismatch between ...
Plants & Animals
Oct 7, 2025
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43
Fall is in the air and thoughts turn to pumpkins, cider and brightly colored leaves. According to experts at the University of New Hampshire's Extension, despite drought conditions in the Northeast, there should be plenty ...
Plants & Animals
Oct 7, 2025
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23
For many plants, spring is just a really good time. They have endured a cold, dark, hard winter and in some places, winters can be murderously tough for plants.
Plants & Animals
Sep 9, 2025
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33
A collaborative research team led by Lu Fei from the Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology (IGDB) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and Guo Zifeng from the Institute of Botany of CAS, together with their ...
Molecular & Computational biology
Sep 3, 2025
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26
Plants may be stuck in one place, but the world around them is constantly changing. In order to grow and flower at the right time, plants must constantly collect information about their surroundings, measuring things like ...
Plants & Animals
Sep 2, 2025
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96
The annual clock of the seasons—winter, spring, summer, autumn—is often taken as a given. But our new study in Nature, using a new approach for observing seasonal growth cycles from satellites, shows that this notion is far ...
Environment
Aug 28, 2025
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141
Periodical cicadas have one of the strangest life cycles in the animal kingdom. The 17-year cicadas spend 99.5% of their lives underground in an undeveloped nymph state, which is the longest strictly regulated juvenile period ...
Plants & Animals
Aug 27, 2025
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44
A common data basis is the prerequisite for efficient and informed action. Up to now, this has, however, been lacking for plant health, which is of great importance for global agriculture and climate research.
Environment
Aug 19, 2025
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16
The progression of leaf coloring from green to the reds, oranges, and yellows of the fall season can be a spectacular sight to behold, but this process is also an important part of a plant's developmental cycle.
