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Whenua considerations

Grow Degree Days (GDD) under climate change

  • Growing degree days (GDD), or heat units, are used to estimate the growth and development of certain crops and pests during the growing season.

    The dataset - what is it?

    GDD are the total number of degrees Celsius that the mean daily temperature is above a base threshold temperature (10 degrees Celsius) in a year.

    This data set presents a series of maps that show how the frequency of the growing degree days may alter for a mid-century and an end of century timeframe under various climate change scenarios.

    Why it's important

    GDD can be a useful tool for farmers, gardeners, and researchers to predict plant growth and development, and make informed decisions about when to plant, fertilize, and harvest their crops.

    • How to use this information safely

      • Fitness for purpose / limitations

        This table indicates whether the dataset is suitable for different types of questions at different scales.

        Note: Users should carefully consider their purpose as this dataset may not be suitable.

         

        Operational

        Absolute

        Relative

        Screening/scoping

        Block/farm

        No

        No

        No

        Maybe

        Multi-farms(5+)

        Maybe

        Maybe

        Maybe

        Yes

        Catchment

        Yes

        Yes

        Yes

        Yes

        National/regional

        Yes

        Yes

        Yes

        Yes

        Caveats

        The climate information is too coarse for use at finer scales.

        How to interpret this table (opens in a new tab)

Read more about...
Grow Degree Days (GDD) under climate change (opens in a new tab)
  • Please note:

    You can use this information to help form an understanding of how Growing Degree Days may impact on a land use option in your rohe (locality). However, you should seek further advice from a suitably qualified person before making land-use decisions.

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