Willows (genus Salix) Budding in March

Observation by Jimmy Evak:

Our willows usually begin budding in end of April and June but these were observed in March, 30 miles above the Arctic Circle at Kotzebue, Alaska.

Katie Spellman, Research Assistant Professor UAF International Arctic Research Center, writes:

Hi Jimmy,

This is Katie from the International Arctic Research Center at UAF. I study plant phenology (or timing of plant life with the seasons). Some species of willows are very sensitive to spring temperatures. Here where I grew up, in Interior Alaska, Salix alaxensis (feltleaf willow) is the very first flowering plant to pop its buds when the temperatures warm up, even when snow still remains on the ground! In some international warming chamber experiments on tundra willows across the Arctic, the warmer spring temperatures made some species of willow flower earlier, but not all (Jones et al. 2003). I checked out what I could find on reports of Salix flowering in Alaska. Just like your report on what is normally seen in Kotzebue, I found other reports of flowering of Salix alexensis in May 30 – June 10 in Atkasook, (Williams and Batzli 1982) and May through June on the UAF campus (West and Salo 1979). At Toolik Field Station on the North Slope, they have monitored Salix pulchra for 12 years, and the earliest they have recorded it flowering was May 22 (in 2016 and 2017). March is early for the northern parts of Alaska! I also learned that the fuzz on the catkins (those soft white hairs) can actually trap heat, and keep the bud warmer than the air temperature when the sun is not hitting it (Krog 1955)! This is good news, because early flowering puts plants at a greater risk of frost damage. The pussy willow fuzz adds protection from that risk. The bad news is, if the buds have popped open and ptarmigan haven’t come through yet, they lose out on some of the nutrition of the buds (mostly lipids) which are spent by the willow plant developing the catkin. Timing is everything!

Comment from Jimmy Evak:

I think our people see ptarmigan all year long up here and that's traditionally.

Comments from LEO Editors:

Wunderground Weather history for Kotzebue shows warmer temperatures during March 2019 than in March 1999. During March 2019, temperatures ranged between 8 and 33 degrees Fahrenheit. During March 1999, temperatures varied between -17 and 22 degrees Fahrenheit.