“Flowers were made to be seen not overlooked.”
-Henry David Thoreau in his Journal, June 15, 1852
In late November, Richard Primack and I attended a
meeting of botanical gardens at the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity
Research in Leipzig to discuss establishing an international network to monitor
wildflower phenology.
Meeting participants came together from Austria, Canada, China, Germany,
Norway, Scotland, and the United States.
Phenology is the timing of biological events, like
flowering and fruiting. These events are
important for the survival and reproduction of wildflowers, as well as for
other species that interact with wildflowers, including insects and birds. This
field has taken on added significance due to the effects of climate change.
Insects visit a Campanula species
Participants shared their experiences with phenological
research and citizen science. As a
network, we plan to monitor a shared list of species that we can then compare
across botanical gardens in different countries and climates.
Curator Martin Freiberg leads a tour of the Leipzig Botanical Garden
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