Adjusting to fluctuating temperatures

The duration of the vegetation period – i.e. the time that elapses between leafing out (the emergence of the first leaf) in spring and the initiation of leaf loss in autumn – is a highly significant ecological parameter that has a considerable influence on both plant productivity and the biogeochemical cycling of vital nutrients in ecosystems. However, the mechanisms that determine the length of the vegetation period for any given species are poorly understood. Hence, in order to ass