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Course Description

Summary

Human activities have rapidly altered the climate at a global scale. Writer Lynda Mapes notes, “the climate is changing and with it, our seasons.” Ecosystems and the organisms they support are facing warmer and earlier springs, shifts in precipitation patterns, and altered growing seasons. The timing of seasonal activities of animals and plants are known to ecologists as “phenology.” Studies noting shifts in phenology were some of the earliest research to document the ecological impacts of anthropogenic climate change. In this class, we will explore research on climate change, ecology, and phenology across ecosystems and observational and experimental methods. How do organisms know when to bloom, leaf out, hatch, hibernate or change fur color? What happens if the cues for these phenological events shift with climate change? What happens if they don’t (ex: some trees leaf out in response to day length, which doesn’t change with climate change)? We will read the peer-reviewed literature, explore historical accounts of phenology and compare them to today, and consider the implications of changing phenologies on ecological interactions (ex: plants and their pollinators), ecosystem processes (ex: nutrient cycling), and ecosystem services (ex: maple sugaring). We will make our own phenological observations on the local landscape and design phenology experiments with a focus on climate change, ecology, and seasons in Vermont.