Abstract: Local microclimate changes caused by urban heat island (UHI) have increasingly impacted the patterns, processes and functions of ecosystems. Plant phenology is a sensitive and easily observed biological indicator to detect these impacts, and its responses to UHI have become hotspots in the fields of urban ecology and global climate change. This paper reviewed related researches in recent years. It points out that there are three major ways to obtain urban phenology, that is, field observation, phenology modeling and remote sensing monitoring. Through cooperating with the public and employing photos and multi-resolution images, we can enrich the phenology data. Due to the impacts of UHI, spring phenology in urban area has been earlier than the surrounding rural area; however, the impact mechanism is still controversial. At temporal scale, spring phenology has advanced and autumn phenology has delayed induced by urban warming. Urban warming is caused by UHI and climate warming, and how to quantitatively discern their contributions is difficult. In addition, biological factors (e.g. plant functional types and exotic plants) and geographical location have affected the plant phenological responses to UHI. Thus, this paper proposes that future researches need to eliminate the interference factors, and enhance the researches in response mechanisms.

Key words: growth promotion., pot experiment, solid-state fermentation, amino acids, Trichoderma guizhouense