Plant Phenology Models

In this chapter, we provide an overview of plant phenology modeling, focusing on mechanistic phenology models. After a brief history of plant phenology modeling, we present the different models, which have been described in the literature and highlight the main differences between them, i.e. their degree of complexity and the different types of response function to temperature they use. We also discuss the different approaches used to build and parameterize such models. Finally, we provide a few examples of applications mechanistic plant phenology models have been successfully used for, such as the modeling of frost hardiness, forest growth and distribution, evolutionary dynamics of phenological traits, and the reconstruction of temperature during the last millennium.