Phenological Studies in Tundra

Abstract

A comprehensive monograph on plant phenology in Arctic tundra was pre sented by Sørensen (1941). Many climatic data, as well as discussions of life forms of tundra flowering plant species, are included in his analysis of phenological seasons in northeast Greenland. Phenological studies in Arctic areas are being performed (e.g., Webber, personal communication 1972) in the Baffin Island area. Many papers on phenology and related topics are available, e.g., from the Rocky Mountains Alpine tundra, which has been studied botanically since early in this century (Cooper, 1908; Clements, 1920; Cox, 1933). Bliss (1956) compared plant development in microenvironments of Arctic and Alpine tundras. Billings and Bliss (1959) studied an Alpine snowbank and its effects on plant development. Mooney and Billings (1961) carried out comparative studies of physiological ecology and phenological development on Oxyria digyna from many tundra areas, both in Arctic and Alpine regions; they have correlated the carbohydrate cycle with phenological development in several Alpine species (1960). Holway and Ward (1963) considered the retarding influence of snow cover and meltwater on phenology in the Rocky Mountains, and suggested possible correlations between plant phenology and environmental data (1965). Snow cover was considered to be the primary factor influencing phenology, with soil temperature also important, while slope and exposure were distinctly secondary in the high Rocky Mountain area.