Monitoring the Spring Phenology of Flowering Dogwoods on the University of Lynchburg’s Campus.
Location
Access Type
Campus Access Only
Entry Number
60
Start Date
4-7-2021 10:00 AM
End Date
4-7-2021 10:15 AM
Abstract
Phenology is the study of seasonal changes that occur in the environment and how external factors may affect them. The National Phenology Network tracks seasonal changes in Flowering Dogwoods (Cornus florida) in order to more accurately predict future climate change. Our study will contribute to previous data and compare how differences of sunlight, age, and size affect the timing of leaves and flowers emerging. To achieve the project’s goals, we plan to manually observe eight dogwood trees around the Dell on campus twice a week. Each time we return to the trees, we will track any noticeable changes in the leaf and flower buds. While there are no concrete results yet, we will continue to study the trees throughout the month of March. Since phenology is a metric of measuring climate change, the dogwoods can provide important insight into the health and stability of the local environment. Furthermore, as the current data set of dogwoods in Virginia collected by the National Phenology Network is so small, contributing results would be beneficial to the organization.
Faculty Mentor(s)
Dr. Jennifer Styrsky
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Monitoring the Spring Phenology of Flowering Dogwoods on the University of Lynchburg’s Campus.
Phenology is the study of seasonal changes that occur in the environment and how external factors may affect them. The National Phenology Network tracks seasonal changes in Flowering Dogwoods (Cornus florida) in order to more accurately predict future climate change. Our study will contribute to previous data and compare how differences of sunlight, age, and size affect the timing of leaves and flowers emerging. To achieve the project’s goals, we plan to manually observe eight dogwood trees around the Dell on campus twice a week. Each time we return to the trees, we will track any noticeable changes in the leaf and flower buds. While there are no concrete results yet, we will continue to study the trees throughout the month of March. Since phenology is a metric of measuring climate change, the dogwoods can provide important insight into the health and stability of the local environment. Furthermore, as the current data set of dogwoods in Virginia collected by the National Phenology Network is so small, contributing results would be beneficial to the organization.