Phenology (pronounced with a slight emphasis on the middle syllable) is the the study of the seasonal timing of natural events.  For plants important events include flowering, fruiting, growing new leaves and losing old ones.  Birds and insects migrate, breed and raise young.  By recording the timing of these events over many years we can find out how our biota are being affected by climate change.  We can find out whether plants are flowering earlier than they were 20 years ago, whether insects are completing their development more quickly than they used to and whether birds are able to raise more or fewer young in a season.

Phenological events in the Northern hemisphere have been recorded for many years.  For example, the earliest records in Britain were started in 1736, 50 years before the First Fleet arrived in Sydney.  However, there has been little data gathered to investigate how climate change is affecting plants and animals in the southern hemisphere.

The BioWatch observations databases have had to be taken off the web due to software problems, and some related pages have been removed. However, a new website has been developed by the Earthwatch Institute in collaboration with others which very soon will allow you to help monitor climate change and report phenological observations. Click here to go to ClimateWatch!

To look at some other European and North American phenology web sites click here.