All Staff
Miss Helen Wilkinson, BA (Hons) (Oxon), MSc
Contact Miss Helen Wilkinson (email at h.r.wilkinson@durham.ac.uk)
Research Topic
Understanding Spatial and Temporal Phenological Variability in Orchard Ecosystems
Overview
Microclimatic variation within orchard trees: Investigating the microclimate variation of flowering and fruiting orchard trees at the individual tree level.
The relationship between within tree microclimate and fruiting/flowering phenology; and insect abundance: Investigating the biological implications of the physical environmental changes described above.
Large-scale relationships between flowering and fruiting phenology and climate across the UK: Using UK wide survey data, information will be gathered on tree variety, flowering times and durations, and management practices. This data will be compared with climate data, to produce a model describing the responses of different tree varieties to climate, and to different management practices.
Large-scale analysis of temporal pollination gaps vs. spatial pollination holes: By combining spatial and temporal data, it should be possible to develop a model to predict the temporal flowering dynamics of traditional orchards as a function of climate, community composition, and landscape structure. We will model and map the timing of key phenological events in orchards across Britain under current and future climate conditions. This will allow us to highlight areas of limited spatial connectivity and temporal asynchrony for pollination.