[Ctleps-l] Steep Rock Today

[CharlieBrownCB5 .]

Very interesting observation Peary!  Especially in the context of
global climate change.  My thoughts are that plants and insects tend
to be more thermally regulated, and therefore are more capable of
staying relatively in sync with one another. Of course, there are
always exceptions.  However birds for example, rely solely on length
of day for their migratory and breeding behavior, which does not
necessarily coincide with daily temperature, and so can easily fall
out of sync with plant and insect food sources. Warm/early springs
probably don't have a great impact on insects, but do have the
potential to seriously impact birds, especially migratory birds.
I also found myself worrying this spring for the amphibians that
emerged to lay their eggs during the warm snap, only to have a week of
snowfall and freezing temperatures. I would be interested to know how
they have fared.
-Charlie

On Wed, Apr 13, 2016 at 10:06 PM, Peary Stafford
<pearydstafford at gmail.com> wrote:
> So here's my contribution to the firsts of today:
>      Scouting for a wildflower walk we are supposed to host on the 7th of
> May, I found a bunch of flowers we were hoping to see then in bud or in
> bloom today. (Trailing Arbutus, Bloodroot, Round-leaved Violet, Round-lobed
> Hepatica, Dentaria).  Made me concerned that we were well ahead plant-wise
> but on schedule lep-wise which would create problems for butterflies and
> their hosts.
>      I ran into our Land Steward and we talked about the question; he
> suggested that if species evolved together they would react similarly to
> external stimuli like temperature and length of day.  If so, we needn't
> worry about a lack of synchronicity between the insect and its host plants.
>      Unconvinced, I started back to the truck and what pops up but a West
> Virginia White, lover of the nearly-blooming Dentaria. (April 26 is the
> first I've had it here before at Steep Rock, but the earliest date in the
> state seems to be APRIL 13, 2002 according to an old list I have.)  Seems my
> friend was right about plants and animals being in tune with each other!
>    One shot attached.
> Peary
> PS. I'd love to hear others' thoughts on whether warm or cold springs or
> summers can get things out of synch between the plants and animals.
>
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