JDJCSET | Sigma Xi Poster Competition
Examining the Relationship Between Temperature and Vegetation Phenology: what is the role of soil temperature and its measurement depth?
Academic Level at Time of Presentation
Junior
Major
Geosciences
Minor
Marketing
List all Project Mentors & Advisor(s)
Bassil El Masri, PhD.
Presentation Format
Poster Presentation
Abstract/Description
Plant phenology is the seasonal development of the annual cycle of a plant, driven by temperature, photoperiod, and precipitation. Observations of plant phenology over time will clarify the interactions and feedbacks between climate changes and vegetation. The objective of this research is to examine the relationship between soil temperature and vegetation growing season length. The start and end dates of the vegetation growing season were estimated using soil temperature data from six sites representing different vegetation types (deciduous forest, grassland, and shrubland). Also, vegetation phenology metrics were modeled using air temperature for the same sites, and the results were compared to determine if the soil temperature based vegetation phenology is more accurate than the air temperature method. The effectiveness of those methods was assessed by comparing both soil and air temperature data results to site phenology derived from measured productivity. Results showed that the start of season model performed better when driven by soil temperature. The estimated end of growing season showed less accurate results in predicting the observed end of the growing season. More research is needed to improve the end of season phenology models.
Spring Scholars Week 2018 Event
Sigma Xi Poster Competition
Examining the Relationship Between Temperature and Vegetation Phenology: what is the role of soil temperature and its measurement depth?
Plant phenology is the seasonal development of the annual cycle of a plant, driven by temperature, photoperiod, and precipitation. Observations of plant phenology over time will clarify the interactions and feedbacks between climate changes and vegetation. The objective of this research is to examine the relationship between soil temperature and vegetation growing season length. The start and end dates of the vegetation growing season were estimated using soil temperature data from six sites representing different vegetation types (deciduous forest, grassland, and shrubland). Also, vegetation phenology metrics were modeled using air temperature for the same sites, and the results were compared to determine if the soil temperature based vegetation phenology is more accurate than the air temperature method. The effectiveness of those methods was assessed by comparing both soil and air temperature data results to site phenology derived from measured productivity. Results showed that the start of season model performed better when driven by soil temperature. The estimated end of growing season showed less accurate results in predicting the observed end of the growing season. More research is needed to improve the end of season phenology models.