<
https://theconversation.com/southern-africas-namaqualand-daisies-are-flowering-earlier-why-its-a-red-flag-174724>
"In late August each year, the normally barren landscape of the Namaqualand,
along the western boundary of South Africa, is transformed into a vista of
brightly coloured daisies as far as the eye can see. The flowering of the
Namaqualand daisies attracts close to 10,000 tourists per season to a part of
the country that doesn’t get many visitors otherwise. But climate change poses
a threat to the flowering event, and to the tourist arrivals which generate
regional income.
The Namaqualand daisies (
Dimorphotheca sinuata) are endemic to the Northern
Cape and Western Cape provinces of South Africa, and have evolved to survive
the harsh, dry climatic conditions. During the early spring, flowering of the
daisies is triggered by the change in temperature and rainfall. This is an
example of what is termed a phenological event.
Phenological events – such as the timing of spring blossoming, fruit
development in summer and the hibernation, hatching, and mating of animals –
are among the most sensitive bioindicators of climate change. Across the world,
the timing of phenological events is shifting as a result of climate change.
Plants and animals experience “spring” as happening in what used to be “late
winter”. Simply put, temperatures in the late winter months are increasingly
higher than they used to be.
The rate of change in the timing of phenological events is, however, highly
species and location specific. For this reason, it’s important to study as many
different plants and animals, in as many places, as possible. When we know the
rate of change for a particular species and location, we can tailor our
adaptation. This is particularly important for the Namaqualand daisies so that
we know when to book tourist visits.
Phenological research is sparse in Africa, compared to Europe, North America
and East Asia. This is largely due to a lack of deliberately collected
phenological data to analyse.
Recent studies of shifts in the timing of flowering of jacarandas in Gauteng,
and of the migration of the sardines along the east coast of South Africa, have
revealed the importance of traditional news media and social media records as
sources of data. We used the same approach to study changes in the timing of
the Namaqualand daisies. This is important for planning tourism and for
understanding more about nature’s responses to climate change."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
