Plum job: UK public asked to track fruit trees for climate study

In one of the largest studies of its kind, the British public has been asked to track flowering fruit trees in order to determine if climate change is changing their bloom patterns.

Citizen scientists can easily post their findings on the fruit recording website developed by the University of Reading and Oracle for Research. People will be asked to record the flowering cherry and plum trees near them.

Climate change may be causing trees to flower earlier. The plants they pollinate have evolved with the pollinating insects. The emergence of these insects may be too late because plants are flowering earlier.

Fruit trees such as apple, pear, cherry and plum rely on insect pollination to produce their fruit, so if this is the case, they could be adversely affected. If insect populations arrive after plants have already bloomed, it could hurt them.

Chris Wyver, the PhD researcher at the University of Reading who is leading the Fruitwatch project, said: "We need members of the public to go out into gardens, allotments, orchards or parks and tell us what they see." We want to see as many trees as possible to see if climate change is affecting fruit tree pollination. If it is, action will be required to prevent a significant impact on fruit production.

Pollination and fruit trees falling out of sync could mean supply issues and more expensive fruit. If insects are unable to pollinate fruit trees then something else will have to be done.

People are asked to provide information about the fruit trees they see. This information will be uploaded into an interactive map and will show how climate change is affecting flowering times. It will give a clear picture of the times when the flowers are in bloom.

Information required will include the type of tree, its location, and the stage of flowering, as well as photos, which will be shared on the map.

Scientists hope to use the information to target the most affected areas and help with insect pollination. The UK's apple production alone is estimated to bring in more than 36 million dollars a year.

Anyone in the UK can take part in this project. The project has been well received and we are expecting a lot of records. We will owe a huge debt of gratitude to the UK's budding citizen scientists if we get 50,000 records.