Do you love Phenology?

Whether you answer with an emphatic “Yes!” or you think phenology is a silly word I made up, I hope you’ll become a “Phenology Phan” by the end of this post! At the Urban Ecology Center, we love phenology so much that we formed a phenology team just to help you understand and appreciate phenology.

What is Phenology, anyway?

Now before I get ahead of myself, let’s take a moment to introduce Phenology and its importance.

Phenology is the study of how plants and animals are affected by the annual cycles of nature.

Since many of nature’s most interesting events can be linked to the weather, and predictable fluctuations in temperature, air pressure, and daylight prompt many plants and animals to change their behaviors and sometimes even their appearance. Since every species has its purpose, place and season, phenology can help us appreciate and understand a species’ role in its habitat.

By tracking these phenology occurrences, we can begin to understand how events and species are inter-related and help piece together the fascinating mosaic of the seasons.