Abstract:

Based on the long-term phenology observation data of 114 agro-meteorological stations in the maize growing areas of China, the temporal and spatial differentiation characteristics of 8 consecutive phenology periods and the corresponding phenological stages length were quantitatively analyzed. The results showed that the average temperature and GDD (Growing degree days) during the growing seasons from 1981-2010 showed an increasing trend, and the precipitation and sunshine duration showed a decreasing trend in national scale. The maize phenology has changed significantly under the climate change background：Spring maize phenology was mainly advanced, especially in Northwest inland and Southwest mountain hills maize zone. While summer maize and spring-summer maize phenology were all delayed, and the delay trend of summer maize in the Northwest inland changed more than that in the Huanghuai plain. The variations of maize phenology changed the corresponding phenological stages length, the length of vegetative growth period (days from sowing date to tasseling date) of spring/summer/spring-summer maize all showed a trend of shorten in different degrees, and the corresponding reproductive growth period (days from tasseling date to mature date) showed a trend of extension. The whole growth period (days from sowing date to mature date) of spring maize were prolonged, but the whole growth period of summer/spring-summer maize shortened.

Key words: maize, phenology, climate change, spatio-temporal variation, China