May 12, 2008 6:04 pm US/Eastern
Students Studying Leaves For Climate Change Clues
BOSTON (WBZ) ―
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Significant contributors to O'Keefe's research are kids -- hundreds of them across the state like high school students from Tewksbury Memorial.
WBZ
If you listen closely, you can hear the rustling leaves, but if you look closely, the leaves tell a story about climate.
Welcome to Harvard Forest located in Central Massachusetts.
Forest ecologist John O'Keefe has been studying specific trees in an outdoor lab for almost two decades. "I observe the emergence and development of the leaves in the spring."
From ground observations to Web cameras, he carefully records the number of leaves that have emerged starting from bare branch. When 50 percent of the buds are open, its called
bud break. "Bud break is extremely sensitive to weather," said O'Keefe.
In particular, spring warmth. And according to O'Keefe, bud burst happens between the last week of April and the first two weeks of May. "If anything, there has been perhaps a slight delay in emergence over the 17 years, although it is not statistically significant."
Significant contributors to O'Keefe's research are kids -- hundreds of them across the state like high school students from Tewksbury Memorial.
All of the buds and branches tagged for study.
"We are connected to a real scientist," said teacher Elaine Senechal. "That means a lot to them."
"As you put all of these data from a number of these schools together, we get a sense of the pattern across the landscape," said O'Keefe.
Several school involved in this research study were honored at the statehouse on Monday for excellence in environmental education.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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