A new research, led by Dr Annette Menzel from the Technical University Munich in Germany and Dr Tim Sparks of the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire focused on phenology - the timing of natural events.
The analysis of 125,000 records with observations of 542 plant species and 19 animals in a time range from 1971 and 2000 shows that leafing, flowering and fruiting happens now earlier in the year. Migratory birds suffer from late arrival, because they do not find the food needed after the long journey.
The seasons are shifting, in Spain with the greatest increases in temperature, spring starts now 14 days earlier than 30 years ago. As a result the report concludes, that the pattern of observed change in spring efficiently matches measured national warming across 19 European countries
Unlike some studies that record individual species, this is the first comprehensive examination of all available data at the continental scale, using around 550 plant species, and the timing change is clear, very clear.
Annette Menzel from the Technical University Munich in Germany
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