Phenological Observations in Downer Woods
Mentor 1
Dr. Mark Schwartz
Location
Union Wisconsin Room
Start Date
28-4-2017 1:30 PM
End Date
28-4-2017 4:00 PM
Description
The rate at which the earth’s climate is changing is a rapidly growing concern in today’s world. This project uses phenology, the study of seasonal plant cycles, to quantify the effects of climate change. Observations are taken at multiple forested locations across Wisconsin, with Downer Woods being the focus of this part of the project. Downer Woods has a permanent grid system, upon which are located 27 sites. Each site consists of 4 trees. These trees were the focal point of the observations. The two predominant species in these observations were white ash (Fraxinus americana sp.) and basswood (Tilia americana sp.), with a significant number of red oak (Quercus rubra sp.) and white oak (Quercus alba sp.), and rather small numbers of boxelder (Acer negundo sp.), hophornbeam (Ostrya virginiana sp.), and hawthorn (Crataegus sp.). White ash, basswood, and the oak species are dominant woody species that occupy the upper emergent and canopy forest layers. Boxelder, hophornbeam, and hawthorn are smaller, woody shrub-like species that occupy the midstory forest layers. The actual observations consisted of recording leaf coloration in each individual tree, as well as leaf fall in each individual tree. Coloration was recorded as four different numerical values. These values were placed into 4 categories that were based on the percent of leaf coloration per tree. By observing the leaf change and leaf fall in Wisconsin forests, we are able to quantify plant-climate interactions and relate this seasonal data to the yearly climate trends that are being observed simultaneously
Phenological Observations in Downer Woods
Union Wisconsin Room
The rate at which the earth’s climate is changing is a rapidly growing concern in today’s world. This project uses phenology, the study of seasonal plant cycles, to quantify the effects of climate change. Observations are taken at multiple forested locations across Wisconsin, with Downer Woods being the focus of this part of the project. Downer Woods has a permanent grid system, upon which are located 27 sites. Each site consists of 4 trees. These trees were the focal point of the observations. The two predominant species in these observations were white ash (Fraxinus americana sp.) and basswood (Tilia americana sp.), with a significant number of red oak (Quercus rubra sp.) and white oak (Quercus alba sp.), and rather small numbers of boxelder (Acer negundo sp.), hophornbeam (Ostrya virginiana sp.), and hawthorn (Crataegus sp.). White ash, basswood, and the oak species are dominant woody species that occupy the upper emergent and canopy forest layers. Boxelder, hophornbeam, and hawthorn are smaller, woody shrub-like species that occupy the midstory forest layers. The actual observations consisted of recording leaf coloration in each individual tree, as well as leaf fall in each individual tree. Coloration was recorded as four different numerical values. These values were placed into 4 categories that were based on the percent of leaf coloration per tree. By observing the leaf change and leaf fall in Wisconsin forests, we are able to quantify plant-climate interactions and relate this seasonal data to the yearly climate trends that are being observed simultaneously
