Vegetation activity is sensitive to climate change, but relatively few studies have quantified this across large spatial extents. A team of Ecoinformatics researchers used a large dataset of leaf color derived from digital images to look at how the timing of green‐up and fall senescence vary in relation to environmental factors across North America. They found that green‐up is more sensitive to temperature at warmer sites, but fall is more sensitive to moisture availability. If the climate continues to change as currently projected, the study predicts that the timing of spring will exhibit more dramatic swings in onset, but the timing of autumn will likely become less sensitive to moisture availability in the next 50 years. Click here for more information.
