Thursday, May 29, 2025

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.   



Thursday, May 22, 2025

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



Monday, May 19, 2025

Visiting Scholar in Copenhagen Part 6: Trip to Gothenburg, Sweden

 By Richard B. Primack

 

“Only that traveling is good which reveals to me the value of home and enables me to enjoy it better.” Henry David Thoreau in his Journal.

 

We took a four-day excursion to the University of Gothenburg.

 

Video 1: Crossing the bridge from Copenhagen to Malmo, Sweden. 

 


Photo 1: A huge replica of a flowering tropical tree is suspended at the top of the atrium in the Biology building. 
 

Photo 2: A field trip to the botanical garden to discuss plant ecology and conservation.
 

Photo 3: The central market is still a vibrant food market. 
 

Photo 4: An old photo of the central market as it looked when farmers brought in their produce in horse-drawn wagons. 
 

Photo 5: The interior of the market today.