This dataset focuses on monitoring plant phenology. It serves to verify the variation in time of flowering and leafing dates of different species and to measure the impact of climate change on the Park’s forest ecosystem. The degrees of advancement of the flowering criteria are established in spring, on average twice a week, based on field observations at various sites.
The choice of species at Forillon National Park was based on the plants recommended on the PlantWatch site, how easy it was to observe them (proximity to the operations centre) and their location (i.e., not in a sunny patch or an area with an unusual temperature, such as close to a paved road, concrete foundation, etc.). The following species were thus chosen: Red Maple (Acer rubrum), Trembling Aspen (Populus tremuloides, also known as Aspen Poplar), Wild Strawberry (Fragaria virginiana/vesca), Crackerberry (Cornus canadensis, also known as Bunchberry) and Clintonia Borealis (Clintonia borealis, also known as Blue-Bead Lily).