False Spring years usually feature high temperatures very early in the year, which may accelerate the development of tree crops (and most other plants). This becomes a problem when such a warm spell is followed by a frost event, which may then severely impact the sensitive growing tissue of flowers or young leaves.
The study by the Wageningen team used HortiBonn’s PhenoFlex framework to simulate apple bloom throughout the Netherlands for the past as well as the country’s “official” set of future climate scenarios. Results show that, without shifting to different varieties, growers are unlikely to see great benefits from the projected decrease in the number of frost events in the future, because tree bloom will likely advance. This means that the sensitive development phases of fruit trees will still be exposed to a considerable risk of frost damage.
We invite you to read the full paper and discover the insights and findings that this team has uncovered. Read the full paper here: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10113-024-02235-2
