Skip to content
Home
About Us
Resources
Profiles Metrics
Authors Directory
Institutions Directory
Top Authors
Top Institutions
Top Sponsors
AI Digest
Contact Us
Menu
Home
About Us
Resources
Profiles Metrics
Authors Directory
Institutions Directory
Top Authors
Top Institutions
Top Sponsors
AI Digest
Contact Us
Home
About Us
Resources
Profiles Metrics
Authors Directory
Institutions Directory
Top Authors
Top Institutions
Top Sponsors
AI Digest
Contact Us
Menu
Home
About Us
Resources
Profiles Metrics
Authors Directory
Institutions Directory
Top Authors
Top Institutions
Top Sponsors
AI Digest
Contact Us
Publication Details
AFRICAN RESEARCH NEXUS
SHINING A SPOTLIGHT ON AFRICAN RESEARCH
agricultural and biological sciences
Advance of apple and pear tree full bloom dates in response to climate change in the southwestern Cape, South Africa: 1973-2009
Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, Volume 151, No. 3, Year 2011
Notification
URL copied to clipboard!
Description
Studies from throughout the world have demonstrated that tree phenophases are becoming earlier in spring and are closely associated with rising temperatures. Despite many such studies from the Northern Hemisphere, similar comparative work has not been forthcoming from the Southern Hemisphere or from Africa. In addition, few studies have demonstrated the possible role of changes in precipitation and associated soil moisture to driving fruit tree phenophases. Here we provide changes of mean full bloom dates for three apple Malus domestica (Golden Delicious, Sayaka, Granny Smith) and one pear Pyrus communis (Bon Chrétien) cultivars in the southwestern Cape of South Africa. These phenological changes are correlated with temperature and precipitation changes in the same region between 1973 and 2009. Significant early spring (August/September) temperature increases of +0.45. °C/decade are associated with a mean full bloom advance of 1.6. d/decade over the last 37 years. Golden Delicious apple trees have the strongest sensitivity (+4.2. d/°C) to climate change in the region, whilst Granny Smith apple trees have the lowest (+2.4. d/°C). Although winter and early spring rainfall has also decreased over this time, such decreases are not significant. However, significant correlations are found for both temperature and rainfall when comparing with the mean full bloom dates, and it is proposed that both variables operate synergistically to influence mean full bloom dates in the southwestern Cape. © 2010 Elsevier B.V.
Authors & Co-Authors
Grab, Stefan Walter
South Africa, Johannesburg
University of the Witwatersrand
Craparo, Alessandro C.W.
South Africa, Johannesburg
University of the Witwatersrand
Statistics
Citations: 113
Authors: 2
Affiliations: 1
Identifiers
Doi:
10.1016/j.agrformet.2010.11.001
ISSN:
01681923
Research Areas
Environmental
Study Locations
South Africa