Is Spring Getting Longer? Research Points to a Lengthening “Vernal Window”

This type of changing timetable for spring may have potential ecological, social, and economic consequences that Contosta and her team are currently investigating. Agriculture, fisheries, and even outdoor recreation activities can be highly dependent on the timing of springtime climate conditions. A longer spring could mean a longer mud season requiring more road repairs and truck weight restrictions, a possible shift in the duration of the sugar maple season, or earlier lake thaw which might have implications with migratory birds. The ice melts earlier, but the birds may not have returned yet, causing a delay, or lengthening, in springtime ecological events.

New Hampshire EPSCoR’s Ecosystems & Society project team and co-authors include Alden Adolph and Mary Albert, Dartmouth College; Denise Burchsted, Keene State College; Mark Green, Plymouth State University; David Guerra, St. Anselm College; Elizabeth Burakowski, Jack Dibb, Mary Martin, William H. McDowell, Michael Routhier, Cameron Wake, Wilfred Wollheim, University of New Hampshire; and Rachel Whitaker, White Mountains Community College.

This research was supported by award EPS-1101245 from the National Science Foundation.
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