Volunteers across the United States have begun searching for clues about rising temperatures on Earth. A nationwide study is seeking volunteers to look for changes in flowers and flowering plants. They are being asked to keep records of their observations in a database on the Internet. Study organizers say the information will give scientists a better understanding of climate change.
The study, called Project Budburst, is to continue all year. This will permit the observation of all plants in different parts of the country. Plant lovers, students and other people in every state are welcome to take part.
The goal of the study is to help people of all ages understand the changing link between climate, seasons and plants. It also gives them a way to share their findings with others through the Internet.
The University Corporation of Atmospheric Research is supervising Project Budburst. The group says thousands of people in twenty-six states recorded their observations during the project’s first launch last year. Scientists received information about hundreds of different kinds of plants. Volunteers provided details about the appearance of their plant’s first bursts of growth for the season.
This is how Project BudBurst works. Each volunteer agrees to watch one or more plants, usually a flower, plant or tree. Volunteers can get help from the project’s Web site. It suggests more than sixty trees and flowers with information about each of them. Volunteers can also add their own choices.
Next, they begin examining their plants at least one week before the usual time when the new flower, or bud, bursts and leaves begin to form. This is known as budburst. Volunteers continue to observe their plant or flower for events following budburst. They look for the first leaf, first flower and later, the spreading of seeds. When volunteers record their findings on the Web site, they can see maps of other results across the United States.
Sandra Henderson is project coordinator for Project BudBurst. She says climate change may be affecting our communities in ways that we do not notice.
Many different kinds of plants and animals are affected by climate change. Rising temperatures cause some plants to extend their growing periods. Many insects reproduce and develop because of increasing sunlight instead of temperature. This can cause a difference between the behavior of insects like bees and flowers that open much earlier than the insects expect. This problem has already been reported across many parts of the world.
