Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

The European Phenology Network

  • Original Article
  • Published:
International Journal of Biometeorology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The analysis of changes in the timing of life cycle-events of organisms (phenology) has been able to contribute significantly to the assessment of potential impacts of climate change on ecology. These phenological responses of species to changes in climate are likely to have significant relevance for socio-economic issues such as agriculture, forestry and human health and have proven able to play a role in raising environmental awareness and education on climate change. This paper presents the European Phenology Network (EPN), which aims to increase the efficiency, added value and use of phenological monitoring and research, and to promote the practical use of phenological data in assessing the impact of global (climate) change and possible adaptation measures. The paper demonstrates that many disciplines have to deal with changes in the timing of life-cycle events in response to climate change and that many different user groups are involved. Furthermore, it shows how EPN addresses issues such as (1) raising public awareness and education, (2) the integration and co-operation of existing observing systems, (3) integration and access to phenological information and (4) communication.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1.

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. See the websites of both the Dutch (http://www.natuurkalender.nl/) and the UK (http:www.phenology.org.uk/) networks

  2. The GLOBE programme, Natur-detektive, Natuurkalender, Plantwatch, Baltic Sea Project, Ecological Co-operation

References

  • Ahas R (1999) Long-term phyto-, ornitho- and ichthyophenological time-series analyses in Estonia. Int J Biometeorol 42:119–123

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ahmad QK, Anisimov O, et al (2001) Summary for policymakers. Climate change 2001: impacts, adaptation, and vulnerability. A report of Working Group II of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. IPCC, Geneva, p 17

    Google Scholar 

  • Beaubien EG, Freeland HJ (2000) Spring phenology trends in Alberta, Canada: links to ocean temperature. Int J Biometeorol 44:53–59

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Begon M, Harper JL, Townsend CR (1990) Ecology; individuals, populations and communities. Blackwell, Boston, p 945

  • Bindi M, Fibbi L, Gozzini B, Orlandini S, Miglietta F (1996) Modelling the impact of future climate scenarios on yield and yield variability of grapevine. Clim Res 7:213–224

    Google Scholar 

  • Boer MM, De Groot RS (eds) (1990) Landscape-ecological impact of climatic change. In: Proceedings of a European conference, Lunteren, The Netherlands, 3–7 December 1989. IOS Press, Amsterdam, p 429

  • Both C, Visser ME (2001) Adjustment to climate change is constrained by arrival date in a long-distance migrant bird. Nature 14:296–298

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Butts RA, Lambs RJ (1991) Seasonal abundance of three Lygus species (Heteroptera: Miridae) in oilseed rape and alfalfa in Alberta (Canada). J Econ Entomol 84:450–456

    Google Scholar 

  • Chmielewski FM, Roetzer T (2000) Phenological trends in Europe in relation to climatic changes. Agrarmeteorol Schr Heft 07:15

    Google Scholar 

  • Costanza R, D'Arge R, Groot RSd, Farber S, Grasso M, Hannon B, Limburg K, Naeem S, O'Neill RV, Paruelo J, Raskin RG, Sutton P, Belt M (1997) The value of the world's ecosystem services and natural capital. Nature 387:253–260

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Crick HQP, Sparks TH (1999) Climate change related to egg-laying trends. Nature 399:423–424

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • D'Amato G, Spieksma FTM, Liccardi G, Jäger S, Russo M, Kontou-Fili K, Nikkels H, Wüthrich B, Bonini S (1998) Pollen-related allergy in Europe. Allergy 53:567–578

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • De Groot RS, Ketner P, Ovaa AH (1995) Selection and use of bio-indicators to assess the possible effects of climate change in Europe. J Biogeogr 22:935–943

    Google Scholar 

  • Ellis WN, Donner JH, Kuchlein JH (1997) Recent shifts in phenology of Microlepidoptera, related to climatic change (Lepidoptera). Entomol Ber 57:66–72

    Google Scholar 

  • Fleming RA, Candau JN (1998) Influences of climatic change on some ecological processes of an insect outbreak system in Canada's boreal forests and the implications for biodiversity. Environ Monit Assess 49:235–249

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gallardo JF, Martin A, Regina IS (1998) Nutrient cycling in deciduous forest ecosystems of the Sierra de Gata mountains: aboveground litter production and potential nutrient return. Ann Sci For (Paris) 55:749–769

    Google Scholar 

  • Green RE, Harley M, Spalding M, Zockler C (2001) Impacts of climate change on wildlife. RSPB, Cambridge, p 71

  • Greenpeace Climate Impact Database (2002) Acces date 03-07-2002 http://archive.greenpeace.org/climate/database/records/zgpz0483.html

  • Harrison PA, Porter JR, Downing TE (2000) Scaling-up the AFRCWHEAT2 model to assess phenological development for wheat in Europe. Agric For Meteorol 101:167–186

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Houghton JT, Ding Y, Griggs DJ, Noguer M, Van der Linden PJ, Xiaosu D (2001) Climate change 2001: the scientific basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Third Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, p 944

    Google Scholar 

  • IPCC (2001) Summary for policymakers; A report of Working Group I of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. IPCC, Shanghai, p 18

  • Jones GV, Davis RE (2000) Using a synoptic climatological approach to understand climate–viticulture relationships. Int J Climatol 20:813–837

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Karlsson PS, Nordell KO (1989) Effects of leaf duration, nutrient supply, and temperature on the seasonal pattern of growth and nitrogen uptake in tree seedlings in a subarctic environment. Can J Bot 67:211–217

    Google Scholar 

  • Kato M, Itioka T, Sakai S, Momose K, Yamane S, Hamid AA, Inoue T (2000) Various population fluctuation patterns of light-attracted beetles in a tropical lowland dipterocarp forest in Sarawak. Popul Ecol 42:97–104

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kenny GH, Harrison PA (1993) The effects of climatic variability and change on grape suitability in Europe. J Wine Res 4:163–183

    Google Scholar 

  • Marques Souza AC, Absy ML, Afonso P, Conde A, De Alencar Coelho H (1993) Data on pollen collection by workers of Apis mellifera in the municipality of Ji-Parana (RO), Brazil. Acta Amazonica 23:59–76

    Google Scholar 

  • McMichael AJ, Ando M, Carcavallo R, Epstein P, Haines A, Jendritzky G, Kalkstein L, Odongo R, Patz J, Piver W (1996) Human population health. In: Climate change 1995. Impacts, adaptations, and mitigation of climate change: scientific-technical analyses. Contribution of Working Group II to the Second Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 561–584

  • McMichael AJ, Githeko A (2001) Human health. In: McCarthy JJ, Canziani OF, Leary NA, Dokken DJ, White KS (eds) Climate change 2001. Impacts, adaptation, and vulnerability. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 451–487

  • Meier U, Graf H, Hack H, Heß M, Kennel W, Klose R, Mappes D, Seipp D, Strauß R, Streif J, Boom T van den (1994) Phänologische Entwicklungsstadien des Kernobstes (Malus domestica Borkh. und Pyrus communis L.), des Steinobstes (Prunus-Arten), der Johannisbeere (Ribes-Arten) und der Erdbeere (Fragaria × ananassa Duch.) – Codierung und Beschreibung nach der erweiterten BBCH-Skala. Nachrichtenbl Dtsch. Pflanzenschutzdienst (Berl) 46:141–153

  • Menzel A, Fabian P (1999) Growing season extended in Europe. Nature 397:659

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Menzel A, Estrella N, Fabian P (2001) Spatial and temporal variability of the phenological seasons in Germany from 1951–1996. Global Change Biol 7:657–666

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Murray MB, Smith RI, Leith ID, Fowler D, Lee HSJ, Friend AD, Jarvis PG (1994) Effects of elevated CO-2, nutrition and climatic warming on bud phenology in Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis) and their impact on the risk of frost damage. Tree Physiol 14:691–706

    Google Scholar 

  • Myneni RB, Keeling CD, Tucker CJ, Asrar G, Nemani RR (1997) Increased plant growth in the northern high latitudes from 1981 to 1991. Nature 386:698–702

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Penuelas J, Filella I (2001) Responses to a warming world. Science 294:793–794

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schiller JR, Zedler PH, Black CH (2000) The effect of density-dependent insect visits, flowering phenology, and plant size on seed set of the endangered vernal pool plant Pogogyne abramsii (Lamiaceae) in natural compared to created vernal pools. Wetlands 20:386–396

    Google Scholar 

  • Schwartz MD, Reiter BE (2000) Changes in North American spring. Int J Climatol 20:929–932

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shvidenko A, Nilsson S, Stolbovoi V, Wendt D (1998) Background information for carbon analysis of the Russian forest sector. International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, Laxenburg, p 125

  • Swart R, Berk M, Janssen M, Kreileman E, Leemans R (1998) The safe landing approach: risks and trade-offs in climate change. In: Alcamo J, Leemans R, Kreileman E (eds) Global change scenarios of the 21st century; results from the IMAGE 2.1 model. Elsevier, Oxford, pp 193–218

  • Vliet AJH van, Overeem A, De Groot RS, Jacobs AFG, Spieksma FTM (2002) The influence of temperature and climate change on the timing of pollen release in The Netherlands. Int J Climatol 22:1757–1767

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yperen M van, Bellens Y, Tasker A (2002) Requirements for linking educational phenological networks. GLOBE Europe, SME/Institute for Environmental Communication, Utrecht, p 78

  • Walkovszky A (1998) Changes in phenology of the locust tree (Robinia pseudoacacia L) in Hungary. Int J Biometeorol 41:155–160

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Walther G-R, Post E, Convey P, Menzel A, Parmesan C, Beebee TJC, Fromentin J-M, Hoegh Guldberg O, Bairlein F (2002) Ecological responses to recent climate change. Nature 416:389–395

    Google Scholar 

  • Whitfield J (2001) The budding amateurs. Nature 414:578–579

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Zhou XL, Harrington R, Woiwod IP, Perry JN, Bale JS, Clark SJ (1995) Effects of temperature on aphid phenology. Global Change Biol 1:303–313

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhou L, Tucker CJ, Kaufmann RK, Slayback D, Shabanov NV, Myneni RB (2001) Variations in northern vegetation activity inferred from satellite data of vegetation index during 1981 to 1999. J Geophys Res 106:20,069–20,083

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Environmental Systems Analysis Group, Wageningen University, P.O. Box 8080, 6700 DD, Wageningen, The Netherlands

    Arnold J. H. van Vliet & Rudolf S. de Groot

  2. SME-Milieuadviseurs (GLOBE-The Netherlands), The Netherlands

    Yvette Bellens

  3. Department of Agricultural Sciences, Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University, Denmark

    Peter Braun

  4. Institute of Geography, University of Berne, Switzerland

    Robert Bruegger & François Jeanneret

  5. German Weather Service, Germany

    Ekko Bruns

  6. Centre for Geoinformation, Wageningen University, The Netherlands

    Jan Clevers

  7. Institute for Environment and Sustainability, Joint Research Centre of the European Commission, Italy

    Christine Estreguil & Marta Maggi

  8. Department of Data and Computation, Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, Germany

    Michael Flechsig

  9. International Centre for Integrative Studies, The Netherlands

    Pim Martens

  10. World Health Organisation, Italy

    Bettina Menne

  11. Lehrstuhl fuer Bioklimatologie, Technical University Munich, Germany

    Annette Menzel

  12. Centre for Ecology and Hydrology Monks Wood, United Kingdom

    Tim Sparks

Authors
  1. Arnold J. H. van Vliet
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Rudolf S. de Groot
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Yvette Bellens
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Peter Braun
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Robert Bruegger
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Ekko Bruns
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Jan Clevers
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. Christine Estreguil
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  9. Michael Flechsig
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  10. François Jeanneret
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  11. Marta Maggi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  12. Pim Martens
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  13. Bettina Menne
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  14. Annette Menzel
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  15. Tim Sparks
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Arnold J. H. van Vliet.

Additional information

Prepared in conjunction with the International Conference "The times they are a-changin". Climate change, phenological responses and their consequences for biodiversity, agriculture, forestry and human health, held in Wageningen, The Netherlands, 5–7 December 2001

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

van Vliet, A.J.H., de Groot, R.S., Bellens, Y. et al. The European Phenology Network. Int J Biometeorol 47, 202–212 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00484-003-0174-2

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00484-003-0174-2

Keywords

Search

Navigation