Flowers to gauge climate change
Richard Gleeson
Northern News Services
Yellowknife (Dec 08/00) - A classic sign of spring -- the blooming of flowers -- is now being used to track climate change.
Volunteers are now bringing the national Plantwatch program, which will use plant blooming as a yardstick for climate change, to the NWT.
Ecology North's Jennifer Morin, who is spearheading the initiative, said blooming times are undeniable indicators of the effects of climate change -- "this is something that's solid; it's not theoretical, it's there."
Records of first bloom dates in Edmonton show some species of poplar are flowering an average of 26 days earlier than they were at the turn of the century. It takes decades of data to observe any trend in bloom times. Ecology North and Morin are aiming to begin collecting data the NWT starting this spring. A search will also begin for historical data.
"I suspect this information is available," said Plantwatch national co-ordinator Elisabeth Beaubien. "We just have to find it."
Beaubien was in Yellowknife this week to give her support to the creation of an NWT Plantwatch program.
A research associate with the Devonian Botanic Garden in Edmonton, Beaubin initiated the Plantwatch program in 1995. Since that time the program has been run largely by volunteers, with financial support from government. Beaubien said the program will soon be taken over by government.
Recording the time plants flower in Yellowknife has been a hobby of Mike Fournier's for more than a decade. He said the species he has observed are blooming an average of four days earlier than they were from 1960-64, the earliest known data available for the Yellowknife area.
Morin outlined the steps that need to be taken to develop a northern Plantwatch program, starting with establishing co-ordinators for other regions.
"I really don't want this to be a Yellowknife program," Morin said. "I'd really like to see representation from across the North." One of the first steps to establishing a Northern program will be lining up the volunteer help it will rely on.
Morin is looking for regional co-ordinators, observers, grant proposal writers, data entry and analysis helpers, and people to develop, produce and write a twice yearly report to keep volunteers updated on the results of their work. To volunteer or for more information on the program, contact Morin by calling Ecology North, or go to the next NWT Plantwatch meeting, set for Jan. 11, 7 p.m. at Ecology North's office.
