Phenology: "the study of periodic events in biological life cycles and how these are influenced by seasonal and interannual variations in climate, as well as habitat factors (such as elevation). (...) Examples include the date of emergence of leaves and flowers (...), the date of leaf colouring and fall in deciduous trees (...). In the scientific literature on ecology, the term is used more generally to indicate the time frame for any seasonal biological phenomena, including the dates of last appearance (e.g., the seasonal phenology of a species may be from April through September). (...) In addition to providing a longer historical baseline than instrumental measurements, phenological observations provide high temporal resolution of ongoing changes related to global warming."
Image by Monica Pinheiro, license CC BY-NC-SA (CC).
20220105: text was changed from book citation to definition of «phenology», maintaining the photo showing a tree, displaying all 4 seasons at time of capture (December, Cacem, Portugal), with nude parts, white flowers, green leafs, fruits and yellow and red leafs in other parts of the same tree.
