Abstract
Phenological phenomena have been said to indicate environmental conditions relating land potential and microcl imate. In the present study a procedure to evaluate phenological status is proposed in order to establish the methodology of land evaluation based on plant phenology. Field surveys were carried out in the western part of Chiba Prefecture from 1994 to 1995. The periods of foliation and florescence of four arbor species were recorded to calculate phenological index. The periods of foliation and florescence of deciduous trees were recorded to calculate phenological indices. From these indices a phenological contour map was obtained. The map indicated that the process of phenological phenomena was accelerated in urbanized area, where the existence of “heat island” was estimated. Multiple regression analysis between the phenological index and climatic parameters and landuse parameters indicated that average temperature in April and several landuse parameters may influence plant phenology: open spaces covered with arbors to delay the phenological processes while artificial landuses such as housing, bare lands and areas covered by artificial materials accelerate the phenological processes.
