Frost-damaged leaves of American Sycamore

Climate change has been advancing the start of spring in the US. While earlier springs are great for people who dislike the cold of winter, they put plants that leaf out early at higher risk of damage due to late freeze events. 

In 2020, this sycamore's new leaves were damaged by a late freeze. Not only did the tree have to start over with leaf development, its flower buds were damaged. As a result the tree did not flower or fruit at all. 

Plants vary in their susceptibility to damage based on type of plant. Our data can capture the impacts of late freeze damage by documenting how long it takes a tree to recover and fully leaf out in late freeze years vs normal years.