Plant Phenology Changes and Climate Change

Phenology has recently received great prominence as it has been demonstrated that there has been considerable change in the timing of the development stages of plant species as a consequence of the relatively modest levels of climate warming so far experienced. This has been very important to demonstrate to policy makers and the general public that, using examples which they can understand, real changes have already taken place. The origin of phenology was as a branch of natural history and the study of how species react to external stimuli; it is now an important area of climate impacts research.