VOLUME 16, NUMBER 1, APRIL 2013

STOCKTONIA
A Journal of Comparative Environmental Studies

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Phenology of Highbush Blueberry CELIA RODRIGUES AND MEGHAN J. HAYDEN

Phenology can be defined as the timing of when natural events occur. Examples of phenology may be what time of year a species of migrating birds return to an area, or a specific time of year that a flower blooms. Many rhythms of nature, especially in our temperate region, are driven by annual and predictable changes in temperature. One of these rhythms is a plants growing season. It is the temperature threshold that triggers a plant to begin developing its non-differentiated cells into new growth for the new year. The study of the phenology of the highbush blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum) was started on the Stockton campus fifteen years ago in 1998 and data has been collected for eleven of those years, from 1998-2003 and from 2008 to the present. Continuing the study this year will provide a twelfth year of data to continue to find a trend in whether or not the growing season for this plant, and thus likely many others, is at all changing.

Introduction The goal of this study is to observe and record the progress of the budding of high bush blueberry plants on Stockton College campus in upland, transitional, and lowland areas. Furthermore, the data will be compared with amount of growing degree days thus far in 2013 and with previous years studies to see if the data correlates with previous trends. Previous studies This particular phenology study has been conducted on Richard Stockton College campus from the years 1998-2003, and again from 2008 to present time. Early studies included other plants such as the huckleberry, however not all years of study examined other plant species. To remain consistent, only the high bush blueberry species on campus were measured for this study. Previous studies measured plants in upland, transitional and lowland areas, and a tagging system was implemented in 2008 in order to be sure that the same plants are being measured each year. In early studies, additional data was collected, but in more recent studies only the bud length and bud phase for each plant was recorded. Early studies used a weather monitoring station on campus to gather weather data, but now since defunct, more recent studies have used WeatherUnderground.com as a source for growing degree days. Previous studies have found a trend in the earlier budding and blooming of the high bush blueberry plants studied on campus over the past 14 years. For a brief description of each prior year of study from 1998 to 2010, refer to Stocktonia Volume 14, Number 1, June 2011 pp. 50-51. Hypothesis The conclusions from the previous studies on the campus suggest a marked change in how early the buds of the highbush blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum) begin their growth and transition through their phases. Based on that trend, the data from this years study will once again show the growth and transition of these buds beginning earlier than previous years.

Experimental design In order to test this hypothesis, the bud length and phase were measured for the same blueberry bushes as recorded in previous studies using the tagging system. We measured the budding progress of tagged high bush blueberry bushes in upland, transitional and lowland sites and compared the data with previous studies. We tried to include more than one blueberry plant per site to make sure our data is consistent with each area. We also used WeatherUnderground.com for the data on growing degree days to graph the average GDD and compare the total average with the past years study. We hope to prove our hypothesis by revealing a trend line of increasing number of degree growing days.

Study Areas (fig. A) A- Transitional Zone: Which consist of Pine-Oak forest. B- Lowlands: Which consist of cedar swamps and hardwood swamps. C- Uplands: Which consist of Oak-Pine forest. These are suitable sites because the high bush blueberry is found in all three locations with each having slightly different biodiversity within them. The high bush blueberry has different growth rates within each zone with past data showing the transitional zone having the most growth. (Figure A)

Methods: Measurements were taken in the field twice per week starting on April 4, 2013 to April 28, 2013. Buds were chosen on each of the 9 highbush blueberry plants selected for study. The buds of the tagged plants we decided to use were also tagged to remain sure that the same buds were being measured each time. We measured the bud length in mm of each chosen bud, and the bud phase of
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each selected bud on a scale of 1-5. The accumulated growing days were calculated for the date of bud measurements using WeatherUnderground.com. All the data was recorded for each day in the field in a notebook and then transferred to an Excel spreadsheet. Bud/Leaf Stage Values:

1 = bud/leaf scales tight

2 = bud/leaf scales open

3 = primary flower bud/leaf open

4 = secondary flower buds/leaves visible

5 = secondary flower buds/leaves open

Data analysis methods This data will be collected from three different study sites, one an uplands site, one a transitional site, and one a lowlands site. Within each site ten buds per bush, nine bushes in all for a total of ninety buds will be measured in millimeters and their phases tracked twice a week for four weeks. These are the same methods used in last years study to preserve consistency (Stocktonia, 2012). The data will then be compiled to create a timeline of growth and phase change for this year which will then be compared with growing degree days, as well as an overall timeline for all the years data was collected to note any change in growing and/or phase change timing. The cumulative graph will also be compared with one composed of the average rainfall for the study periods to ascertain any effect this may play in growing and phase change patterns.

Results To make a comprehensive graph, length measurements and bud stages were averaged for each site on every data collection date. These averages were then used for the plot points of the graph. For clarity it shall be restated that Site A denotes the Transitional zone, Site B denotes the Lowland zone, and Site C denotes the Upland zone. At the start of data collection, all buds were in stage one and measured at an average of about 5mm. Site A had the steadiest growth in length and stage, reaching an average maximum bud length of 15.54mm and had the most buds that reached stage five within the study period. The growth in Site B was the most stunted with an average maximum bud length of 12.17mm, and was the only site where no buds reached stage five within the study period. Site C had the most growth in and the fastest spikes in growth of length with a maximum bud length of 16.23mm, but the final bud stage average lagged slightly behind Site A with 4.09 and 4.19 respectively. Interestingly enough, when put in order of final average bud length from smallest to largest, a series of Lowland, Transitional, and Upland is seen. If the same is done for bud stage, the series becomes Lowland, Upland, Transitional.

Conclusion and Discussion In comparing this years data with that of past years it can not only be seen that this year does not continue a trend in earlier growth or stage development, but there seems to be no trend at all. Graphs were made from the compiled data of 2000-2003, 2008, 2010, and 2013. If there were a trend in the earlier growth and development of the buds, the data curves for each consecutive year would be slightly higher on the graph scale than the year before. Instead of this year being the fastest growth year, that distinction rests with the year 2000 followed closely by 2010. Though the years 2000 and 2003 seem to be the slowest growth years, though the growth curve for the year 2000 seems to follow that of this year (2013) relatively closely. A graph was also made from the compiled stage development data from the same years. Since not all the studies are consistent in start and end dates of the studies, a close set of dates between April 12th to April 16th was chosen for a more comparable dataset. Once again there is no visible trend. The earliest bud transition happened in 2002 with the phases never transitioning that quickly again. This years bud phase measurements are the third lowest in the Upland and Transitional sites, and the second lowest in the Lowland site.

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When a graph was made of average Degree Growing Days, a general correlation can be seen in comparison to the bud stage graph, though even then it is not exact. In general, every time the DGD are high, the bud stage development occurs faster. The closest correlations occur in 2002, 2003, 2008, 2010, and 2013, with a partial match in 2004. The years 2000, 2001, and 2011, however, dont seem to match up the same way. From this we are mostly comfortable in saying that the higher number of DGD occur, the faster the buds develop.

Questions for further Study Among the observations made during the course of the study was that several buds had been damaged by what we believe to be cranberry weevils (Anthonomus musculus). We propose adding a portion to the study to take a count of how many buds are damaged in each site due to the boreholes of these insects. Acknowledgements Written Report: Jason Szabo, Tristan Schneck and Frank Acilio Power point: MJ Mattson, Noelle Hogan, Conor Lynch, Wade Veselka
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Field Work and Data Analysis: Marissa Segarra, Kerri-Ann Matthews, Andrew Rivello, Biplob Roy

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Literature Cited Brotak, Ed EB. Growing Degree Days Science Horticulture, 108 (April 2011): 27-27. EBSCOhost. 3 Mar. 2013 Kim, Su Jin, et al. Growth and Photosynthetic Characteristics of Blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum) Under Various Shade Levels Science Horticulture, 129(2011): 486-92. Science Direct Web. 20 April. 2013 Smith, Harry and Kefford, N.P. The Chemical Regulation of the Dormancy Phases of Bud Development American Journal of Botany, 51(Oct. 1964): 1002-12. JSTOR Web. 26 Mar. 2013 Szendrei, Zsofi, et al. Response of Cranberry Weevil (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) to Host Plant Volatiles Environmental Entomology, 38(March 2009): 861-69. BioOne Web. 15 April. 2013

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