When Henry David Thoreau chronicled life on Walden Pond in the mid-19th century, the nearest town—Concord, Massachusetts—was approximately four degrees cooler than it is today. Thanks to climate change, the whole region is warmer than it was 168 years ago, when the writer-botanist-philosopher started observing New England’s plant species. And those rising temperatures have caused drastic shifts in the blooming schedule of native trees and wildflowers.
Now, a group of scientists studying the effects of climate change in Massachusetts are mimicking Thoreau’s methodology and using his historic observations as early data sets for their research
"Thoreau made very detailed, helpful observations on bird arrival times for more than 50 species of birds [and] hundreds of [plant] species between 1851 and 1858,” says Richard Primack, a biologist at Boston University and the director of the Primack Lab. “His observations were clearly very informed and accurate. He would go out every day of the week in Concord for four hours a day, [observe] the leafing of trees, and compile it into tables. It was an extraordinary effort for that time."
Primack and his team have been conducting research at Walden every spring since 2004, visiting the same places Thoreau did. Their low-tech method for studying when these trees and wildflowers begin to flower involves simply hiking around near Concord with a notebook and pencil, writing down their observations of each individual plant, and taking photographs of the area’s flora. Then they organize Thoreau’s observations and their modern field notes into tables for further study.
- How Thoreau’s 19th-Century Observations Are Helping Shape Science Today
Now, a group of scientists studying the effects of climate change in Massachusetts are mimicking Thoreau’s methodology and using his historic observations as early data sets for their research
"Thoreau made very detailed, helpful observations on bird arrival times for more than 50 species of birds [and] hundreds of [plant] species between 1851 and 1858,” says Richard Primack, a biologist at Boston University and the director of the Primack Lab. “His observations were clearly very informed and accurate. He would go out every day of the week in Concord for four hours a day, [observe] the leafing of trees, and compile it into tables. It was an extraordinary effort for that time."
Primack and his team have been conducting research at Walden every spring since 2004, visiting the same places Thoreau did. Their low-tech method for studying when these trees and wildflowers begin to flower involves simply hiking around near Concord with a notebook and pencil, writing down their observations of each individual plant, and taking photographs of the area’s flora. Then they organize Thoreau’s observations and their modern field notes into tables for further study.
- How Thoreau’s 19th-Century Observations Are Helping Shape Science Today
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