On April 26th, I set out on campus to collect data on a few trees.
Things seemed pretty on track for a beautiful spring and summer… just after I leave campus 😂
Heres a map marking the 5 trees:
There were no new leaves on the trees, but the abundance of buds and flowers assures me that there will be some soon. I didn’t notice much pollen, but I’m sure there was some, especially on the maple trees, as these had the most flowers. The oaks seemed to be struggling to catch up with spring. They still had some leaves left from last fall! I also had trouble finding any buds or signs of spring at all!
I wonder why the maples are quicker to spring back to life compared to the oaks… could it be because of age? (The oaks looked much younger and less established compared to the maples) Or location on campus? (The maples were near academic buildings like Old Mill and Innovation/Discovery, but the oaks were closer to the Davis Center and main street) Or just the type of tree itself?
Even with my remaining questions, I liked this assignment, walking around campus and getting a little nature in on a Saturday.
After finishing the data collection, I explored the NPN’s website, specifically the News & Publications page and the status of spring map , and I noticed some interesting things. Across the country, there was banding. It was very noticeable in the spring first leaf index map, which records how early the first leaf appears. In the very southern part of the country (lower Texas, Florida, etc.), the leaves came 10-20 days late. Once you reached northern Texas and the south through the top of North Carolina, the leaves were 10-20 days early. This pattern continues, switching again around Washington DC and New Hampshire, ending in 20 days late around Vermont and Maine. This was super interesting to me because, based on the other maps, the leaves changed gradually, starting in the south and moving upward. What previous data is there that this is late/early for some places? As for Vermont, the trees are leafing relatively late and aren’t expected to get leaves until early/mid-May. This checks out! As I said before, the trees had buds and flowers, but no leaves (except for the old ones on the oaks). I’ve never had a spring in Vermont before, so. I cannot say whether this feels late for the leaves in Vermont (as the map said), but it feels late for me, coming from the south!