Fairbanks Wildflower Table Exhibit: Posters

  By Richard B. Primack 

 

“I would thus from time to time take advice of the birds.”  Henry David Thoreau in his Journal.

 

At the Fairbanks Museum exhibit, six posters present information about the Wildflower Table and our analysis of the Wildflower Table data.

 

Photo 1: Since 1903, volunteers have been collecting the first plants in flower in the St. Johnsbury area and exhibiting them at the Museum’s Wildflower Table.

 

Photo 2: Weather observations collected at the Museum have documented a rising temperature over the past 122 years. 

 

Photo 3: Using records from the Wildflower Table logbooks, we determined that plants are flowering earlier now than they did in the past. 

 

Photo 4: Plants are responding to a warming climate, flowering earlier in years with a warmer spring. 

 

Photo 5: Comparing records of first arrival times of migratory birds with those of flowering times demonstrates that plants are more responsive to climate change than are migratory birds. This might result in an ecological mismatch in coming decades.

 

Photo 6: The herbarium specimens held by the Museum can be used to identify plants, and represent another potential source of data to be used in this study. 

 

Here is a video about the opening symposium for the exhibit: LINK

 

Fairbanks Exhibit: Opening Night

 By Richard B. Primack 

 

“You only need sit still long enough in some attractive spot in the woods that all its inhabitants may exhibit themselves to you by turns.”  Henry David Thoreau in Walden

 

Since 1903, volunteers at the Fairbanks Museum in St. Johnsbury, Vermont have been displaying the first blooms of the local flora on a “Wildflower Table” and recording their observations in logbooks. Volunteers have also been recording the first spring arrival dates of migratory birds. Amanda Gallinat, from Colby College, and I worked with the Museum staff to analyze how these plants and birds are affected by changes in temperature. The Museum recently mounted an exhibit to highlight our findings in a series of posters.  

 

Photo 1: Amanda Gallinat and I meeting with staff behind the Wildflower Table. Note the posters behind us.

 

Amanda Gallinat, several of her students, and I presented our results in a lecture, and met with the public afterwards during a reception.

 

Photo 2: I am presenting an overview of the project to the Museum audience.

 

Our analysis reveals a clear trend in spring-blooming wildflowers: plants are flowering earlier over time, and warmer springs lead to earlier blooming. In contrast, migratory birds are not consistently shifting their migration timing. This means some migratory birds may be out of sync with their food sources.

 

We are grateful for the many decades of committed volunteers and Museum staff who have maintained these records of first blooms and bird migration.

 

Here is a link to the exhibit: LINK

 

Do Plants use the Summer Solstice for Growth Strategies?

 By Richard B. Primack 

 

“Summer passes into autumn in some unimaginable point of time, like the turning of a leaf..” Henry David Thoreau in A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers.

 

A recent high-profile article in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences by Victor Van der Meerschvandermer and E. M. Wolkovich suggests that trees use the time of the summer solstice, the longest day of the year, to determine when to start the process of bud dormancy and leaf senescence that will end the growing season. Trees might even use the summer solstice to gauge how many flower buds will be set for the following year.  

 

Figure 1: The summer solstice is the longest day of the year.

 

I was asked to comment on the article for the Canadian newspaper Globe and Mail, and wrote the following:

 

The study is valuable in showing the potential of the summer solstice in determining major plant process. However, as the authors point out, because the summer solstice also occurs at the time of maximum temperatures, it remains unclear if plants are using day length or temperature to undergo transitions in growth. To disentangle these two factors requires further research with plants in the field and the lab.  

 

Photo 1: Trees may be responsive to the summer solstice.

 

Also, this study considers the general case of all plants, but it is almost certain that different tree species, such as beeches, pines, oaks and maples, will each have their own combinations of environmental cues and ways of responding to future climate change. This question needs to be investigated.

 

And further, we have strong evidence that later in the summer, plants use temperature (both high temperatures and low temperatures), precipitation and soil moisture, and photoperiod to determine the start of bud dormancy and leaf senescence. So perhaps we do not need to hypothesize the addition of another factor, such as summer solstice, especially since it occurs months before the end of the growing season.

 

Photo 2: Is autumn leaf color change triggered by the summer solstice months earlier? 

 

Here is a link to the scientific article: LINK

 

Here are links to two popular articles on this topic: LINK 1 and LINK 2

 

 

Seattle Woody Plants: Trees not Typically Grown in Boston

 By Richard B. Primack 

 

“I suspect that the child plucks its first flower with an insight into its beauty & significance which the subsequent botanist never retains.” Henry David Thoreau in his Journal.

 

 

On a recent spring trip to Seattle, Washington, I encountered many novel woody plants. The wetter and milder climate of the area provides welcoming conditions for many plants which can’t be found, or only found rarely, in Boston.

 

Here are some examples of these trees:

 

Photo 1: Giant redwoods (Sequoiadendron giganteum) are grown as street trees. 

 

Photo 2A: Laurel cherries (Prunus laurocerasus) are commonly grown as hedges. 

 

Photo 2B: Small plants being used to start a hedge.

 

Photo 2C: Open flowers.

 

Photo 3: Chusan palm (Trachycarpus fortunei) growing in a yard.

 

 

 

Seattle Woody Plants: Shrubs and Small Trees

 By Richard B. Primack 

 

“I suspect that the child plucks its first flower with an insight into its beauty & significance which the subsequent botanist never retains.” Henry David Thoreau in his Journal.

 

 

On a recent spring-time trip to Seattle, Washington, I encountered many novel woody plants. The wetter and milder climate of Seattle provides conditions that are amenable to many plants which are not found in Boston, or can only be found there rarely.

 

Photo 1A: Blue blossoms (Ceanothus thyrsiflorus) is a shrub with masses of soft blue flowers.

 

Photo 1B: Close-up of the blue blossoms flowers. 

 

Photo 2A: A variety of flowering dogwood tree (Cornus florida?) that has unusually wide and large bracts.

 

Photo 2B: Close-up of the bracts.

 

Photo 3A: Red claw (Escallonia rubra) is a small shrub with dramatic red flowers. 

 

Photo 3B: Close-up of the Red claw flowers. 

 

Photo 4A: Boxleaf hebe (Hebe buxifolia) is a small shrub with small, symmetrically arranged leaves and an abundance of small white flowers.

 

Photo 4B: Close-up of the Boxleaf hebe flowers. 

 

Photo 5A: Rock rose (Cistus sp.) is a small shrub with large poppy-like flowers.

 

Photo 5B: Close-up of a Rock rose flower. 

 

 

Arnold Arboretum Scenes from May

  By Richard B. Primack 

 

“All nature is doing her best each moment to make us well—she exists for no other end.” Henry David Thoreau in his Journal.

 

Our team is going to the Arnold Arboretum twice a week to make observations of flower visitors for the full range of plants growing at the garden.

 

Photo 1: Ada Fang, Matteo Finnerty, and I making observations on a lilac shrub. 

 

We often notice unusual occurrences as we walk around.

 

Photo 2: A dog walker meet up.

   

Video 1: Snowy clouds of cottonwood seeds blowing through the air. 

 

Our international colleagues are carrying out similar flower visitor surveys at gardens in Korea, India, Scotland, Nova Scotia, Missouri, Hawaii, Czechia, and two places in Germany.   

The Promise of Digital Herbarium Specimens in Large-scale Phenology Research

 By Richard B. Primack 

 

“The book exists for us perchance which will explain our miracles and reveal new ones.” Henry David Thoreau in Walden.

 

The online mobilization of herbaria has made tens of millions of herbarium specimens digitally available. This shift has revolutionized investigations of phenology (the biological study of timing), including plant responses to climate change. 

 

These specimens can be used to demonstrate that plant species are now flowering and leafing out earlier than in the past due to a warming climate.

 

Photo 1: Herbarium specimens, such as this one of a horse chestnut, are increasingly being used in climate change research.

 

Figure 1: Over 100 million digitized herbarium specimens are available online, with about 6 million more specimens being added each year. 

In a recent article published in the New Phytologist, we identify two main themes associated with this growing body of research, and highlight a selection of recent publications investigating phenology at large spatial and temporal scales and in under-studied locations. We also present publications testing long-standing theories and novel questions in ecology and evolution that could not previously be answered. 

 

Photo 2: In one recent study, plum species that flower before they leaf out were shown to live in drier climates than other species. 

 

Photo 3: In another study, male poplar and aspen trees were shown to flower earlier than female trees. These differences might become more pronounced with climate change. 

 

This field will see further breakthroughs as herbaria around the world continue to mobilize and digitally interlink their collections. 

 

Here is a link to the article: LINK