It is a well documented phenomena that flowering times of plants have been occurring earlier while global temperatures continue to rise (Bartomeus, Ascher, Wagner, Danforth, Colla, Kornbluth, Winfree, 2011). The New England Cranberry, Vaccinium macrocarpon, is not astray to this phenomenon (Ellwood, Playfair, Polgar, et al. Int J Biometeorol 2014). Cranberries in New England have long been important to New England culture, economy, and ecosystems. With cranberries requiring specific cooling hours between the temperatures 32 °F and 45 °F, the climate of southern Massachusetts provides perfect ecological conditions for cranberries. These conditions allowed Massachusetts to be the second largest producer of cranberries in the United States. With global temperatures rising, flowering of cranberries have been occurring earlier (Tikuma, Liepniece 2015). This has proposed issues for cultivators and pollinators alike. Earlier flowering times may be affecting Lycaena epixanthe, the bog copper butterfly (Ellwood, Playfair, Polgar, et al. Int J Biometeorol 2014). A mismatch in flowering times and emergence of the butterflies may have negative impacts on both the livelihood of the butterflies, but also cultivators. After using records of flowering times from the nineteenth and twentieth century, it was found that indeed flowering times occur earlier (Ellwood, Playfair, Polgar, et al. Int J Biometeorol 2014). A total of 43 species were studied to have shown that those species are flowering earlier with warmer temperatures. The cranberry is also flowering earlier with warmer temperatures (Miller-Rushing, Primack 2008). Earlier flowering times have brought on both ecological and economical concerns.
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