Dr. Andrew Richardson’s latest research was featured in the journal Nature, this research provides some of the first evidence that a warmer world will significantly shift ecosystem-wide growing seasons, putting plants at higher risks during extreme temperature swings. Using digital repeat photography—in which conventional digital cameras are programmed to take multiple images of a specific frame each day—researchers measured green-up and green-down. Simulating five levels of warming in different chambers, ranging from zero to 16.2 degrees F (zero to 9 degrees C) above ambient temperature, scientists used both photographic data and direct observation to track responses in each plant species. This whole-ecosystem approach makes the SPRUCE experiment unique.