As global temperatures rise, phenological changes have occurred causing flowering times of plant species to occur earlier than previously recorded in the past (Bartomeus, Ascher, Wagner, Danforth, Colla, Kornbluth, Winfree, 2011). The New England Cranberry, Vaccinium macrocarpon, is not an exception to this phenomena. Cranberries act similar to wild plants in the event of phenology differing in warmer temperatures. Since cranberries have been an important part of New England culture, cultivators have kept records of cranberry growth and production. Cranberry cultivators have been spraying fungicide on the crop when 10% of the flowers have bloomed. This quantifies timing of cranberry flowering over the years. The earlier flowering times of cranberries affects not only cultivators, but other species that interact closely with cranberries. Cranberry shoots and leaves are an important food resource for the bog copper butterfly, Lycaena epixanthe. As global temperatures rise, the concern for earlier flowering times affecting both human cultivation and other species interactions continues to grow.
Comments
Word choice
Instead of using the word important to describe the relationship between cranberry shoots and leaves, and bog copper butterflies, use a specific descriptor.
Clarification
I could clarify what makes cranberries similar to wild plants in their flowering time as it compares to non wild plants
interesting topic
I think that this is an interesting topic but I think it might be best not to put all of the author names in the citation because it would make it too long.