Impact of Climate Variability on Flowering Phenology and Its Implications for the Schedule of Blossom Festivals

Many tourism destinations characterized by spring blossom festivals (e.g., cherry blossom festival) became increasingly popular around the world. Usually, spring blossom festivals should be planned within the flowering period of specific ornamental plants. In the context of climate and phenological change, whether the administrators of tourism destinations had perceived and responded to the flowering phenological variability is still unknown. Using the data of climate, blossom festival dates (BFD) of three tourist attractions, and first flowering dates (FFD) of specific species in Beijing, China, we analyzed the flowering phenological response to temperature and the impact of FFDs on BFDs from 1989 to 2016. It was shown that the flowering time of ornamental plants varied significantly among years in response to temperature variability. The administrators of Beijing Botanical Garden and Yuyuantan Park determined peach BFD and cherry BFD based on their experience rather than FFD of corresponding plants. Therefore, the mismatch between BFD and FFD occurred frequently at these two locations. However, the administrator of Jingshan Park scheduled the peony BFD following the variance of FFD of tree peony. These results revealed the various perceptions of climate change impacts for stakeholders of blossom festivals.

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