Seasons and Life Cycles
A conceptual framework. This table is a guide to determining how individual species are responding to an extended growing
season by observing the duration of peak season. The life history of a species—from the onset of greening through the end of
senescence—is illustrated by the length of the solid lines. Each case represents a shift in the timing (columns) and duration
(rows) of one or more species in a hypothetical three-species community that includes an early-, mid-, and late-season species.
The growing season begins when the first species greens and ends when the last species senesces. The peak season (gray shaded
area) occurs when all species have started and none have completed their life history. Reproductive life history events likely
begin before the peak season and are completed before its end. The final row and column list changes that can be observed
through frequent observations of surface greenness.
Publication Date: 2009
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