Weather Station

The rich plant communities here are often used for research. This weather station is helping Cornell researchers better understand how climate change is affecting plants. By knowing the exact exposure plants here have to temperature, relative humidity, and moisture, researchers can look into which plants are responding to climate trends, why some are sensitive to temperature, and some are not. They can also look into how climate change impacts plant development and how that is affecting wildlife that depend on them.

Throughout the garden, you may see colored flags like the one across from this weather station, which mark research plots. Botanic Gardens staff conduct on-going research here and in other natural areas to understand how deer affect the health of plant communities.