ABSTRACT: We investigated the influences of changes in the flowering dates of ornamental plants on the dates of visitors’ spring outings. We collected messages (2010-2014) posted on Sina Weibo (one of the most popular social networks in China) as an indicator of the number of visitors per 10 d period for 5 popular locations in Beijing, China. Subsequently, we compared the flowering duration with visitor high seasons for these locations. Results showed that visitors adjusted their plans to see the flowers in accordance with the phenology for locations with specific ornamental plants. However, for locations with multiple ornamental plants, visitors used their experience rather than phenological change to plan outings, because there were always flowering plants to see in the spring. Interannual changes in the flowering date of ornamental plants were mainly triggered by temperature changes. Our results clearly revealed that the visitors’ responses were connected to climate-induced flowering phenological change, especially in locations focusing on 1 species.
KEY WORDS: Flowering phenology · Ornamental plants · Human response · High season
Full text in pdf format Supplementary material | Cite this article as: Wang L, Ge Q, Ning Z, Cui H, Dai J, Zhong S, Wang H
(2017) Effect of phenological change in ornamental plants on the dates of spring outings to popular locations, Beijing, China. Clim Res 72:177-182. https://doi.org/10.3354/cr01470
Export citation Share: Facebook - - linkedIn |
Previous article Next article |