Abstract
Canada enjoys a wealth of phenological studies, starting with early applications by First Nations and continued today by naturalists, gardeners, students and scientists. Environment Canada has now embraced phenology via its “NatureWatch” programs, to involve the public in finding out what is changing in the environment and why. Plantwatch has a bright future in engaging the public as “eyes of science”, tracking nature’s plant calendar and boosting awareness of the biotic response to climate change. Historically, many Canadians have enjoyed noting down the timing of seasonal events such as the appearance of wildflower blooms, spring birds, calling of frogs, and melt or freeze-up of lakes and rivers. If the reader is aware of records of such “closet phenologists”, or of other phenology studies in Canada not mentioned in this article, the author would be delighted to learn of these (see Beaubien’s address). These data are important as a baseline against which to compare current timing in our increasingly variable climate.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References Cited
Bassett, I. J., R. M. Holmes, and K. H. MacKay, Phenology of several plant species at Ottawa, Ontario, and an examination of the influence of air temperatures, Can. J. Plant Sci., 41, 643–652, 1961.
Beaubien, E. G., Phenology of vascular plant flowering in Edmonton and across Alberta, MSc. thesis, Dept. of Botany, University of Alberta, Edmonton, 1991.
Beaubien, E. G., Plantwatch: Tracking the biotic effects of climate change using students and volunteers. Is spring arriving earlier on the prairies?, in Ecological Monitoring and Assessment Network Report on the 3rd National Science Meeting, pp. 66–68, Environment Canada, Saskatoon, January 1997.
Beaubien, E. G., and H. J. Freeland, Spring phenology trends in Alberta, Canada: links to ocean temperature, Int. J. Biometeorol., 44, 53–59, 2000.
Beaubien, E. G., and D. L. Johnson, Flowering plant phenology and weather in Alberta, Canada, Int. J. Biometeorol., 38, 23–27, 1994.
Blair, R. J., J. E. Newman, and J. R. Fenwick, Phenology Gardens in Indiana, in Phenology and Seasonality Modeling, edited by H. Lieth, pp. 45–54, Springer-Verlag, New York, 1974.
Bird, C. D., 1973 flowering dates, Alta. Nat., 4(1), 7–14, 1974.
Budd, A. C., and J. B. Campbell, Flowering sequence of a local flora, J. Range Manage., 12, 127–132, 1959.
Caprio, J. M., Phenology of lilac bloom in Montana, Science, 126, 1344–1345, 1957.
Caprio, J. M., The Solar Thermal Unit Concept in Problems Related to Plant Development and Potential Evapotranspiration, in Phenology and Seasonality Modeling, edited by H. Lieth, pp. 353–364, Springer-Verlag, New York, 1974.
Castonguay, Y., and P. A. Dubé, Climatic analysis of a phenological zonation: a mutivariate approach, Agric. and Forest Met., 35, 31–45, 1985.
Cayan, D. R., S. A. Kammerdiener, M. D. Dettinger, J. M. Caprio, and D. H. Peterson, Changes in the Onset of Spring in the Western United States, Bull. Amer. Met. Soc., 82, 399–415, 2001.
Criddle, N., A calendar of flowers, Can. Field Nat., 41, 48–55, 1927.
Dubé, P. A., and J. E Chevrette, Phenology applied to bioclimatic zonation in Québec, in Phenology: an aid to agricultural technology, Vt. Agric. Exper. Sta. Bull., 684, edited by R.J. Hopp, pp. 33–43, Vermont Agricultural Experiment Station, Burlington, 1978.
Erskine, A. J., Some phenological observations across Canada’s boreal regions, Can. Field Nat., 99(2), 185–195, 1985.
Flint, H. L., Phenology and Genecology of Woody Plants, in Phenology and Seasonality Modeling, edited by H. Lieth, pp. 83–97, Springer-Verlag, New York, 1974.
Glendenning, R., Phenology, the most natural of sciences, Can. Field Nat., 57, 75–78, 1943.
Henry, G. H. R., and U. Molau, Tundra plants and climate change: The International Tundra Experiment (ITEX), Global Change Biol., 3(Suppl. 1), 1–9, 1997.
Hopkins, A. D., Bioclimatics—A science of life and climate relations, U.S. Dept. Agr. Misc. Publ. 280, 1938.
Hopp, R. J., Plant Phenology Observation Networks, in Phenology and Seasonality Modeling, edited by H. Lieth, pp. 25–43, Springer-Verlag, New York, 1974.
Hopp, R. J., ed., Phenology: an aid to agricultural technology, Vt. Agric. Exper. Sta. Bull., 684, Vermont Agricultural Experiment Station, Burlington, 51 pp., 1978.
Hough, F. B., 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, Rept. of the Commissioner of Patents, Vol. 2, Part 1, Exec. Doc. 55, 36th Congress, 1st Session, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, 1864.
Hunter, A. F., and M J. Lechowicz, Predicting the timing of budburst in temperate trees, J. Appl. Ecol., 29, 597–604, 1992.
Johnston, A., Plants and the Blackfoot, Occas. Paper No. 15, Lethbridge Historical Society, Historical Society of Alberta, Lethbridge, 1987.
Lantz, T. C., and N. J. Turner, Traditional phenological knowledge (TPK) of aboriginal peoples in British Columbia, Jour. of Ethnobiol., (in press), 2003.
Lechowicz, M. J., Seasonality of flowering and fruiting in temperate forest trees, Can. J. Bot., 73, 175–182, 1995.
Lechowicz, M. J., Phenology, in Encyclopedia of Global Environmental Change, vol. 2, Biological and ecological dimensions of global environmental change, edited by J. G. Canadell, pp. 461–465, Wiley, London, 2001.
MacKay, A. H., Phenological observations in Canada, Can. Record of Sci., 8(2), 71–84, 1899.
MacKay, A. H., The phenology of Nova Scotia, 1923, Trans. Nova Scotia Inst. Sci., 16(Pt. 2), 104–113, 1927.
Martin, S. D., Register of Meteorological Observations, Pine Grove, Kentucky, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, April 1865.
Minshall, W. H., First dates of anthesis for four trees at Ottawa, Ontario, for the period of 1936 to 1945, Can. Field Nat., 61, 56–59, 1947.
Mitchener, A.V., Nectar & pollen producing plants of Manitoba, Sci. Agric., 28, 475–480, 1948.
Moss, E. H., Spring phenological records at Edmonton, Alberta, Can. Field Nat., 74, 13–118, 1960.
Parry, D., W. J. A. Volney, and C. R. Currie, The relationship between trembling aspen phenology and larval development of the large aspen tortrix, Information report NOR-X-30, Canadian Forest Service, Natural Resources Canada, Edmonton, 1997.
Proceedings, Proc. and Trans. of the Royal Soc. of Canada, 10 (Session 3), 53–55, 1893.
Reader, R., J. S. Radford, and H. L. Lieth, Modeling Important Phytophenological Events in Eastern North America, in Phenology and Seasonality Modeling, edited by H. Lieth, pp. 329–342, Springer-Verlag, New York, 1974.
Russell, R. C., Phenological records of the prairie flora, Can. Plant Disease Survey, 42(3), 162–166, 1962.
Schwartz, M. D., The Advance of Phenological Spring Across Eastern and Central North America, Ph.D. dissertation, Dept. of Geography, University of Kansas, Lawrence, 1985.
Schwartz, M. D., Phenology and Springtime Surface Layer Change, Mon. Wea. Review, 120(11), 2570–2578, 1992.
Schwartz, M. D., Monitoring global change with phenology: the case of the spring green wave, Int. J. Biometeorol., 38, 18–22, 1994.
Schwartz, M. D., Green-wave phenology, Nature, 394(6696), 839–840, 1998.
Schwartz, M. D., and T. M. Crawford, Detecting Energy-Balance Modifications at the Onset of Spring, Phys. Geography, 21(5), 394–409, 2001.
Schwartz, M. D., and B. E. Reiter, Changes in North American Spring, Int. J. Climatology, 20(8), 929–932, 2000.
Schwartz, M. D., G. J. Carbone, G. L. Reighard, and W. R. Okie, Models to Predict Peach Phenology from Meteorological Variables, HortScience, 32(2), 213–216, 1997.
Smith, J. W., Phenological dates and meteorological data recorded by Thomas Mikesell between 1873 and 1912 at Wauseon, Ohio, Mon. Wea. Review Suppl., 2, 23–93, 1915.
Vasseur, L., R. L. Guscott, and P. J. Mudie, Monitoring of spring flower phenology in Nova Scotia: comparison over the last century, Northeast. Nat., 8(4), 393–402, 2001.
Vittum, M. T., and R. J. Hopp, The N.E.-95 lilac phenology network, in Phenology, an aid to agricultural technology, Vt. Agric. Exper. Sta. Bull., 684, edited by R.J. Hopp, pp. 1–5, Vermont Agricultural Station, Burlington, 1978.
Weather Bureau, Instructions for Voluntary Observers, U. S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, 1899.
Zhao, T., and M. D. Schwartz, Examining the Onset of Spring in Wisconsin, Clim. Res., 24(1), 59–70, 2003.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2003 Kluwer Academic Publishers
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Schwartz, M.D., Beaubien, E.G. (2003). North America. In: Schwartz, M.D. (eds) Phenology: An Integrative Environmental Science. Tasks for Vegetation Science, vol 39. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-0632-3_5
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-0632-3_5
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-1-4020-1580-9
Online ISBN: 978-94-007-0632-3
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive