Phenology

[Tom Humphrey]

I've added a field to the documentation form 'fruits/flowers'.
The categories are:

• buds or immature flowers
  
• flowers
  
• seeds/fruits
  
• none please use this category if growth is wholly vegetative (non-reproductive)
  
• not applicable please use this category if you cannot determine the flowering state (e.g. if only leaves or only roots are present)
  

If there are multiple stages present e.g. both flowers and seeds then please record the most mature form that is present (i.e. 'seeds/fruits').

The aim of collecting this phenological information is to see if we can observe differences in seasonal changes in development using historical data. If consistent changes are observed, then these might be a tangible example of an effects of climate change.

To examine this we will need large data sets, with reliable data collected from similar localities over a number years, I hope we can get this for at least some species.

I'll follow-up this post with preliminary results as soon as there is sufficient data to work with.