Plant Phenology Observation Networks

Abstract

Phenological observations and calendars were used in agriculture thousands of years ago in both China and Rome. The term ``phenology'' was first proposed by the Belgian botanist Charles Morren in 1853, but the father of modern plant phenology and phenological observation networks is the Swedish botanist Carolus Linnaeus (or Carl von Linné). In Philosophia Botanica Linnaeus (1751) outlined methods for compiling annual plant calendars of leaf opening, flowering, fruiting, and leaf fall, together with climatological observations ``so as to show how areas differ.'' Linnaeus' simple statement of the purpose of phenology is still valid today, although the potential uses of phenology have expanded considerably.