This paper examines the mean flowering times of 11 plant species in the British Isles over a 58-year period, and the flowering times of a further 13 (and leafing time of an additional 1) for a reduced period of 20 years. Timings were compared to Central England temperatures and all 25 phenological events were significantly related (P<0.001 in all but 1 case) to temperature. These findings are discussed in relation to other published work. The conclusions drawn from this work are that timings of spring and summer species will get progressively earlier as the climate warms, but that the lower limit for a flowering date is probably best determined by examining species phenology at the southern limit of their distribution.

1. Temperature pairs of x, the coldest and y, the warmest months of the year for Nw= 1872 world-wide meteorological stations, were plotted with y as ordinates and x as abscissae. This produced a subelliptical scatter with its Major Principal Axis inclined at tan-1 0 34 relative to the x-axis. 2. Distribution maps of biological species were considered in terms of the same two temperatures, recorded at a subset N, of the meteorological stations representing the total world distributions of each particular species. 3. When y was plotted against x, the scatters so obtained for 35 species, had Major Principal Axes inclined at angles in the range tan--0.02 to tan' 0.85 relative to the x-axis. Subelliptical confidence regions, representing a measure of the temperature distribution for each species, were constructed about calculated points on the Major andMinor Principal Axes. 5. These subelliptical confidence regions in turn permitted the representation, on a geographical map, of that part of the total world area in which temperatures would be suitable for each species. 6. The technique is applicable wherever detailed knowledge of the effective temperature limits for a biological species are required-whether in agricultural planning, the interpretation of the consequences of climate change, or the estimates of past temperatures at fossil sites.

Four hundred and thirty records of the numbers of bees in honeybee colonies and of the amounts of brood and pollen present have been kept during various months of the years 1945‐53, and the data have been used to calculate total and partial regression coefficients showing the influence of stored pollen and of colony size on brood rearing throughout the year.It was found that pollen storage and colony size were correlated but that, even allowing for this, colony size and pollen both independently influenced brood rearing.The annual distribution of the total regression coefficients of brood on pollen was somewhat similar to the brood curve itself, rising from a minimum in October and November to a maximum in midsummer, while the partial regression coefficients showed less clearly marked but similar features.Both total and partial regression coefficients showing the influence of colony size on the amount of brood reared were also at a minimum in October and November, but reached their peaks in May.The quantities of brood present in these colonies at Aberdeen, Scotland, followed a pattern similar to that given by Nolan for colonies near Washington, D.C.

No abstract

No abstract