Thoreau as Climatologist: Tracking 160 Years of Climate Change November 18, 2010

Over 160 years ago, Henry David Thoreau initiated a study of flowering times at Walden Pond. Today, a research team, including Charles Davis (Harvard) and Richard Primack (Boston University), has updated Thoreau’s records with current data and analyzed them with the tools of modern evolutionary biology. The results reveal how climate change and earlier flowering times have affected Walden’s plants: many charismatic native wildflower species have declined, while many invasive species are thriving. Davis will explore how an approach that integrates observational and genomic data may be successful in mitigating the impacts of climate change on biodiversity. Davis is an Assistant Professor of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology and Curator in the Harvard Herbarium. Part of the Asa Gray Bicentennial Series.

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