Explore the Efficiency of Festuca Species as a Long-Term Data Set in British Isles

We explored the efficiency of Festuca species flowering dates from Reading University herbarium (RNG) as a representative of the British Isles plant populations by comparing it to the actual flowering data sets from the Chinnor data set. In order to determine the significant value of the comparison, two samples t-tests were constructed for each species individually to see if there is no significant value between RNG and Chinnor data sets or not. The only years that were presented in both data sets (Chinor and RNG) were depended on this comparison. The result of the two samples equal variances t –test, created a comparison between RNG and Chinnor flowering dates of the selected Festuca species: F. arundinacea, F. gigantea, F. pratensis, and F. rubra. The total results of all t- test analysis except for F. rubra presented significant p- values (<0.05). Herbarium data presented by Reading University herbarium may present a rich resource of flowering date data. Analysis of herbarium data may provide one route to determine the individual phenological responses of different grasses to changing climate.