Evaluating Beech Phenology in a Natural Mountain Forest Using Ground Observation and Satellite Data

Phenology refers to seasonal biological life stages driven by environmental factors, and is considered to be a sensitive and precise indicator of climate change. The proposed study attempted to quantify changes in Fagus orientalis phenology of natural forest between the years 2003 and 2006. Phenological studies were fulfilled during four years, from January 2003 to December 2006, by using ground observations and IRS1C/1DLISS-II3 data. Ground observations of beech tree growth processes from January to December in 15 day intervals were performed both visually and by measuring leaf chlorophyll concentration (chlorophyll meter SPAD-502). Six sample plots were selected in the study area. Leaves in this species begin to fall from the beginning of the fourth week of November and will continue up to the end of first week of December. Furthermore there were significant negative correlations between average precipitation and average air temperature and thereby some phenological characteristics. The correlation between average air temperature and leaf maturation and fall dates was significantly negative. The present study specified that among the factors studied, altitude has the most obvious role on the timing of phenological events. Also, the results show that over the study period, the growing season duration has lengthened by 1.8 days/year in the study region. Results for the regression analysis showed that the leafed period was positively correlated with the air temperature (r=0.894). Regression analysis further showed that there is a positive relationship between NDVI and SPAD measurement (chlorophyll contents) in beech trees (r=0.823).

並列關鍵字

Air temperature ； anthesis ； leaf abscission ； leaved period ； NDVI

國際替代計量

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