JDJCSET | Sigma Xi Poster Competition

Urban Heat Island Effects Seen through Acer rubrum Phenology

Presenter Information

Christopher AcredFollow

Academic Level at Time of Presentation

Senior

Major

Wildlife Biology

Minor

Wildlife and Conservation

List all Project Mentors & Advisor(s)

Dr. Paul Gagnon; Dr. Bassil El-Masri

Presentation Format

Poster Presentation

Abstract/Description

The Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect can raise average temperatures around urban areas, especially those with a lot of impervious surfaces that act as heat sinks. The hypothesis explored here is that UHIs will have an effect on dates of leaf bud-break in red maples (Acer rubrum). The USA National Phenology Network (USANPN) brings together citizen scientists, researchers, educators, students, and anyone else with an interest in living organisms. These people record phenological data across the United States and add it to the USANPN’s database. We plotted entries for red maple from the database using GPS coordinates and grouped them into urban and rural categories at matching latitudes. We then compared the average date of leaf bud-break for each group of urban trees to the average leaf bud-break date for rural trees at the same latitude. The data for more than half of our samples went back 7 seasons, allowing our samples to not be skewed by an abnormally warm or cool spring. If the hypothesis is valid, the data will show significantly earlier leaf bud-break dates for the urban red maples than for the rural red maples. This would demonstrate that urban environment can influence the phenology of red maples. Some UHIs could be strong enough to change hardiness zones and allow for certain species of trees to be grown at colder latitudes than nature would allow without human intervention.

Affiliations

Sigma Xi Poster and General Posters

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Urban Heat Island Effects Seen through Acer rubrum Phenology

The Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect can raise average temperatures around urban areas, especially those with a lot of impervious surfaces that act as heat sinks. The hypothesis explored here is that UHIs will have an effect on dates of leaf bud-break in red maples (Acer rubrum). The USA National Phenology Network (USANPN) brings together citizen scientists, researchers, educators, students, and anyone else with an interest in living organisms. These people record phenological data across the United States and add it to the USANPN’s database. We plotted entries for red maple from the database using GPS coordinates and grouped them into urban and rural categories at matching latitudes. We then compared the average date of leaf bud-break for each group of urban trees to the average leaf bud-break date for rural trees at the same latitude. The data for more than half of our samples went back 7 seasons, allowing our samples to not be skewed by an abnormally warm or cool spring. If the hypothesis is valid, the data will show significantly earlier leaf bud-break dates for the urban red maples than for the rural red maples. This would demonstrate that urban environment can influence the phenology of red maples. Some UHIs could be strong enough to change hardiness zones and allow for certain species of trees to be grown at colder latitudes than nature would allow without human intervention.