Research Article

Impact of urban warming on earlier spring flowering in Korea

  1. Jee-Hoon Jeong1,
  2. Chang-Hoi Ho2,*,
  3. Hans W. Linderholm1,
  4. Su-Jong Jeong2,
  5. Deliang Chen1,
  6. Yong-Sang Choi3

Article first published online: 4 JUN 2010

DOI: 10.1002/joc.2178

Issue

International Journal of Climatology

International Journal of Climatology

Volume 31, Issue 10, pages 1488–1497, August 2011

Additional Information

How to Cite

Jeong, J.-H., Ho, C.-H., Linderholm, H. W., Jeong, S.-J., Chen, D. and Choi, Y.-S. (2011), Impact of urban warming on earlier spring flowering in Korea. Int. J. Climatol., 31: 1488–1497. doi: 10.1002/joc.2178

Author Information

  1. 1

    Department of Earth Sciences, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden

  2. 2

    School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Seoul National University, Seoul, Republic of Korea

  3. 3

    Department of Environmental Engineering, Ewha Womans University, Seoul, Republic of Korea

*Climate Physics Laboratory, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Seoul National University, Seoul 151-742, Republic of Korea.

Publication History

  1. Issue published online: 25 JUL 2011
  2. Article first published online: 4 JUN 2010
  3. Manuscript Accepted: 29 APR 2010
  4. Manuscript Revised: 17 MAR 2010
  5. Manuscript Received: 15 JUN 2009

Funded by

  • Korea Meteorological Administration Research and Development Program. Grant Number: CATER 2006-4204
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Keywords:

  • climate change;
  • earlier flowering;
  • urban warming;
  • South Korea

Abstract

Using long-term (1954–2004) observations of four selected species in South Korea: goldenbell (Forsythia koreana), azalea (Rhododendron mucronulatum), cherry (Prunus yedoensis), and peach (Prunus persica), the impact of urban warming on spring flowering was investigated. Trends of early spring temperatures and first-flowering dates (FFDs) of the four plants were cross-compared among nine differently urbanized cities. It was clearly observed that urban warming has led to an advance in the timing of first-flowering of several days to weeks during recent decades, while the intrinsic physiology of plants to sense thermal energy has not been changed. The degree of advancement of the FFD was observed to be roughly proportional to degree of urbanization. Moreover, the sensitivity of the FFD to urban warming was estimated to be higher for the shrub species (−9.07 and −6.64 days °C−1 for goldenbell and azalea, respectively) than the tree species (−2.46 and −2.90 days °C−1 for peach and cherry, respectively). Our results suggest that the impact of urban warming should be considered as an influential factor which drives changes in the regional natural environment, especially in regions of rapid urbanization. Copyright © 2010 Royal Meteorological Society

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