Skip to main content

Abstract

Plant phenological observations and networks in North America have been largely local and regional in extent until recent decades. In the USA, cloned plant monitoring networks were the exception to this pattern, with data collection spanning the late 1950s until approximately the early 1990s. Animal observation networks, especially for birds have been more extensive. The USA National Phenology Network (USA-NPN), established in the mid-2000s is a recent effort to operate a comprehensive national-scale network in the United States. In Canada, PlantWatch, as part of Nature Watch, is the current national-scale plant phenology program.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 169.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 219.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 219.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Bassett IJ, Holmes RM, MacKay KH (1961) Phenology of several plant species at Ottawa, Ontario, and an examination of the influence of air temperatures. Can J Plant Sci 41:643–652

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Beaubien EG, Freeland HJ (2000) Spring phenology trends in Alberta, Canada: links to ocean temperature. Int J Biometeorol 44(2):53–59

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Beaubien EG, Hall-Beyer M (2003) Plant phenology in western Canada: trends and links to the view from space. Environ Monit Assess 88(1–3):419–429

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Beaubien E, Hamann A (2011a) Plant phenology networks of citizen scientists: recommendations from two decades of experience in Canada. Int J Biometeorol 55(6):833–841. doi:10.1007/s00484-011-0457-y

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Beaubien E, Hamann A (2011b) Spring flowering response to climate change between 1936 and 2006 in Alberta, Canada. BioScience 61(7):514–524

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bird CD (1974) 1973 flowering dates. Alta Nat 4(1):7–14

    Google Scholar 

  • Blair RJ, Newman JE, Fenwick JR (1974) Phenology Gardens in Indiana. In: Lieth H (ed) Phenology and seasonality modeling. Springer, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Bonney R, Cooper C, Dickinson J, Kelling S, Phillips T, Shirk JL (2009) Citizen science: a developing tool for expanding science knowledge and scientific literacy. Bioscience 59:977–984

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Budd AC, Campbell JB (1959) Flowering sequence of a local flora. J Range Manage 12:127–132

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Caprio JM (1957) Phenology of lilac bloom in Montana. Science 126:1344–1345

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Caprio JM (1974) Solar thermal unit concept in problems related to plant development and potential evapotranspiration. In: Lieth H (ed) Phenology and seasonality modeling. Springer, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Castonguay Y, Dubé PA (1985) Climatic analysis of a phenological zonation: a mutivariate approach. Agr Forest Meteorol 35:31–45

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cayan DR, Kammerdiener SA, Dettinger MD, Caprio JM, Peterson DH (2001) Changes in the Onset of Spring in the Western United States. Bull Am Met Soc 82:399–415

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Criddle N (1927) A calendar of flowers. Can Field Nat 41:48–55

    Google Scholar 

  • Dubé PA, Chevrette JE (1978) Phenology applied to bioclimatic zonation in Québec. In: Hopp RK (ed) Phenology: an aid to agricultural technology. Vt Agric Exper Sta Bull 684. Vermont Agricultural Experiment Station, Burlington

    Google Scholar 

  • Erskine AJ (1985) Some phenological observations across Canada’s boreal regions. Can Field Nat 99(2):185–195

    Google Scholar 

  • Flint HL (1974) Phenology and Genecology of Woody Plants. In: Lieth H (ed) Phenology and Seasonality Modeling. Springer, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Futter M (2003) Patterns and trends in Southern Ontario Lake ice Phenology. Environ Monit Assess 88(1–3):431–444

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gazal R, White MA, Gillies R, Rodemaker E, Sparrow E, Gordon L (2008) GLOBE students, teachers, and scientists demonstrate variable differences between urban and rural leaf phenology. Global Change Biol 14:1–13

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Glendenning R (1943) Phenology, the most natural of sciences. Can Field Nat 57:75–78

    Google Scholar 

  • Henry GHR, Molau U (1997) Tundra plants and climate change: the International Tundra Experiment (ITEX). Global Change Biol 3(suppl 1):1–9

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hopkins AD (1938) Bioclimatics – a science of life and climate relations. US Dept Agr Misc Publ 280

    Google Scholar 

  • Hopp RJ (1974) Plant phenology observation networks. In: Lieth H (ed) Phenology and seasonality modeling. Springer, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Hough FB (1864) Observations upon periodical phenomena in plants and animals from 1851 to 1859, with tables of the dates of opening and closing of lakes, rivers, harbors, etc. In: Results of meteorological observations, made under the direction of the United States Patent Office and the Smithsonian Institution, from the year 1854 to 1859, inclusive, report of the Commissioner of Patents, vol 2, part 1, Exec. Doc. 55, 36th congress, 1st session, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC

    Google Scholar 

  • Hunter AF, Lechowicz MJ (1992) Predicting the timing of budburst in temperate trees. J Appl Ecol 29:597–604

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Johnston A (1987) Plants and the Blackfoot, occasional paper no. 15, Lethbridge Historical Society. Historical Society of Alberta, Lethbridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Kross A, Fernandes R, Seaquist J, Beaubien E (2011) The effect of the temporal resolution of NDVI data on season onset dates and trends across Canadian broadleaf forests. Remote Sens Environ 115:1564–1575

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lantz TC, Turner NJ (2003) Traditional phenological knowledge (TPK) of aboriginal peoples in British Columbia. J Ethnobiol 23:263–28

    Google Scholar 

  • Lechowicz MJ (1995) Seasonality of flowering and fruiting in temperate forest trees. Can J Bot 73:175–182

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lechowicz MJ (2001) Phenology, in encyclopedia of global environmental change. In: Canadell JG (ed) Biological and ecological dimensions of global environmental change, vol 2. Wiley, London

    Google Scholar 

  • MacKay AH (1899) Phenological observations in Canada. Can Rec Sci 8(2):71–84

    Google Scholar 

  • MacKay AH (1927) The phenology of Nova Scotia, 1923. Trans Nova Scotia Inst Sci 16(2):104–111

    Google Scholar 

  • Martin SD (1865) Register of meteorological observations, Pine Grove, Kentucky. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC

    Google Scholar 

  • Minshall WH (1947) First dates of anthesis for four trees at Ottawa, Ontario, for the period of 1936 to 1945. Can Field Nat 61:56–59

    Google Scholar 

  • Mitchener AV (1948) Nectar & pollen producing plants of Manitoba. Sci Agric 28:475–480

    Google Scholar 

  • Monson (2008) Trends in spring flowering dates from Churchill, Manitoba and Northern Labrador: an assessment of PlantWatch North Phenological Data. www.ec.gc.ca/Publications/9C760386-CD1C-4B5C-87A3-044BECEF17BD%5CTrendsInSpringFloweringDatesFromChurchillMaintobaAndNorthernLaborador.pdf

  • Moss EH (1960) Spring phenological records at Edmonton, Alberta. Can Field Nat 74(13):118

    Google Scholar 

  • Pouliot D, Latifovic R, Fernandes R, Olthof I (2011) Evaluation of compositing period and AVHRR and MERIS combination for improvement of spring phenology detection in deciduous forests. Remote Sens Environ 115:158–166

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Royal Society of Canada (1893) Proceedings for 1892. Proceedings and Transactions of the Royal Society of Canada 10(3):53–55

    Google Scholar 

  • Reader R, Radford JS, Lieth HL (1974) Modeling important phytophenological events in Eastern North America. In: Lieth HL (ed) Phenology and seasonality modeling. Springer, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Schwartz M D (1985) The advance of phenological spring across Eastern and Central North America. Dissertation, University of Kansas

    Google Scholar 

  • Schwartz MD (1992) Phenology and springtime surface layer change. Mon Wea Rev 120(11):2570–2578

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schwartz MD (1994) Monitoring global change with phenology: the case of the spring green wave. Int J Biometeorol 38:18–22

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schwartz MD (1998) Green-wave phenology. Nature 394(6696):839–840

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Schwartz MD, Crawford TM (2001) Detecting energy-balance modifications at the onset of spring. Phys Geogr 21(5):394–409

    Google Scholar 

  • Schwartz MD, Reiter BE (2000) Changes in North American Spring. Int J Climatol 20(8):929–932

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schwartz MD, Carbone GJ, Reighard GL, Okie WR (1997) Models to predict peach phenology from meteorological variables. HortSci 32(2):213–216

    Google Scholar 

  • Schwartz MD, Ahas R, Aasa A (2006) Onset of spring starting earlier across the northern hemisphere. Glob Change Biol 12(2):343–351

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schwartz MD, Betancourt JL, Weltzin JF (2012) From Caprio’s Lilacs to the USA National Phenology Network. Front Ecol Environ 10(6):324–327

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schwartz MD, Ault TR, Betancourt JL (2013) Spring onset variations and trends in the continental USA: past and regional assessment using temperature-based indices. Int J Climatol. doi:10.1002/joc.3625

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith JW (1915) Phenological dates and meteorological data recorded by Thomas Mikesell between 1873 and 1912 at Wauseon, Ohio. Mon Wea Rev Suppl 2:23–93

    Google Scholar 

  • Vasseur L, Guscott RL, Mudie PJ (2001) Monitoring of spring flower phenology in Nova Scotia: comparison over the last century. Northeast Nat 8(4):393–402

    Google Scholar 

  • Vittum MT, Hopp RJ (1978) The N.E. 95 lilac phenology network. In: Hopp RJ (ed) Phenology, an aid to agricultural technology. Vt Agric Exper Sta Bull, 684. Vermont Agricultural Station, Burlington

    Google Scholar 

  • Weather Bureau, Instructions for Voluntary Observers, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, DC (1899)

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhao T, Schwartz MD (2003) Examining the onset of spring in Wisconsin. Clim Res 24:59–70

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

United States section: Thanks to Glen Conner for information on Dr. Samuel D. Martin and other early phenological observers and networks. We appreciate careful reviews provided by E. Denny, S. Newman, S. Phillips, and E. Stancioff. Erin Posthumus provided content for Table 5.1.

Canada section: Thanks to these regional coordinators for their contributions: S. Bailleul, M. Bishop, B. Charles, N. Iwanycki, K. Monson, M. Priesnitz, S. Ripley, V. Roy McDougall, D. Trowsdale-Mutafov. M. Doyle and R. McLeman contributed information from Environment Canada and the University of Ottawa respectively.

L. Seale and M. Hall-Beyer kindly edited the article. Thanks to Environment Canada and Nature Canada for their help in coordinating and promoting the PlantWatch program. A bouquet of flowers to each of the almost 700 Albertans who observed and reported over the years starting in 1987!

This chapter complies with US Geological Survey Fundamental Science Practice standards. It has undergone peer and policy review and approval.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mark D. Schwartz .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2013 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Schwartz, M.D., Beaubien, E.G., Crimmins, T.M., Weltzin, J.F. (2013). North America. In: Schwartz, M. (eds) Phenology: An Integrative Environmental Science. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6925-0_5

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics