Phenology Citizen Science and Natures Notebook Lori Anne
Phenology, Citizen Science, and Nature’s Notebook Lori. Anne Barnett Education Director USA-NPN National Coordinating Office February 19, 2020 usanpn. org
usanpn. org
What is phenology? From the Greek phainō meaning "to show, to bring to light, make appear" Recurring plant and animal life cycle stages and their timing and relationships with climate and other abiotic factors usanpn. org
usanpn. org
September – Harvest Moon usanpn. org November -Beaver Moon Photo Credits: Wikimedia Commons February – Worm Moon May – Flower Moon www. farmersalmanac. com/full-moon-names/ Phenology is nature’s calendar
Tradition and lore Harvest corn when oak leaves are the size of a mouse’s ear Once lilac flowers have faded, plant squash and cucumbers When crabapple and wild plum are at budbreak, eastern tent caterpillars are hatching usanpn. org
Why is phenology important? • Health • Resource management • Conservation • Agriculture • Understanding hazards • Recreation usanpn. org
Phenology as an indicator “Phenology…is perhaps the simplest process in which to track changes in the ecology of species in response to climate change. ” (IPCC 2007) usanpn. org
What drives phenology? Tom Grey usanpn. org
What drives phenology? Tom Grey usanpn. org
What drives phenology? From the California Phenology Project usanpn. org Photos: Alisa Hove, Jose Montalva Flowering phenology of elegant clarkia, Clarkia unguiculata
usanpn. org
Invasives change the story… usanpn. org
Phenology Shifts Cara. Donna et al 2014 usanpn. org
Phenology Shifts • Earlier leaf-out of trees (Menzel 1999, 2000, 2001, Carter et al 2017) • Earlier flowering (Bowers 2007, Inouye 2008, Kimball et al. 2009, Crimmins et al. 2011) • Earlier arrival of migratory birds and butterflies (Ahas 1999, Bradley et al 1999, Roy and Sparks 2000, Mc. Kinney et al. 2012, Wood and Kellermann 2015) • Earlier breeding and egg laying in birds and amphibians (Beebee 1995, Brown et al. 1999) • Earlier animal emergence from hibernation (Inouye et al. 2000, Forister & Shapiro 2003, Ozgul et al. 2010) usanpn. org
Phenology Shifts • Range limits moved 6. 1 (± 2. 4) km per decade northward/m per decade up in elevation • Earlier spring timing of 2. 3 days per decade • 62% of 677 species showed trends towards spring advancement in phenology Parmesan and Yohe 2003 usanpn. org
usanpn. org Both et al. 2006 Graphic: Phenological Mismatch
Phenological Mismatch Mayor et al 2017 usanpn. org
Phenological Mismatch Zimova et al 2016 usanpn. org
Deacy et al 2017 usanpn. org Photo: Juneauempire. com Phenological Mismatch
Broad-tailed hummingbird, Photo: Tom Grey Mc. Kinney, et al 2012 usanpn. org
usanpn. org Broad-tailed hummingbird, Photo: Tom Grey Mc. Kinney, et al 2012
Finger Rock Trail t n die ion t a a gr v 0 20 m ele 1 usanpn. org Crimmins et al. 2009
Finger Rock Trail 25 years later, 93 of 363 plants shifted t n die ion t a a gr v 0 20 m ele 1 usanpn. org Crimmins et al. 2009
Southwest phenology = it’s complicated Driven by precipitation and not always temperature Predicted Southwest climate changes: • Warmer • Precipitation harder to predict • Longer growing seasons? • More extreme heat events • Freezes still possible Take home: we need more data! usanpn. org
Citizen Science usanpn. org
What is citizen science? Scientific research conducted, in whole or in part, by amateur or nonprofessional scientists Also known as: • crowd science • crowd-sourced science • civic monitoring • volunteer monitoring • networked science • participatory monitoring/research usanpn. org
History of citizen science • Known by other names throughout history • Term first entered into Oxford English Dictionary in 2014 usanpn. org Photo: Albert Herring, Wikimedia commons • Great increase in programs in the 1990 s – why?
The increasing prevalence of citizen science Dramatic growth between 1997 to 2014 in publications featuring citizen science Follet and Strezov 2015, PLo. S ONE usanpn. org
The value of citizen science Significance of citizen science to research greater than perceived “Quality of data collected by volunteers, on a project-by-project basis, has generally been found as reliable as the data collected by professionals" usanpn. org Cooper et al 2014, PLo. S ONE
The value of citizen science Volunteers contribute ~$2. 5 B annually to biodiversity research Theobald et al 2015, Biological Conservation usanpn. org
Audubon’s Christmas Bird Count The value of citizen science usanpn. org www. epa. gov/climatechange/science/indicators/ecosystems/birdranges. html
Flowering plants 7 da y av erag e 2012. Primack, R. B, Miller-Rushing, A. J Sandhill crane and geese Day of Year 2 -3 w eek a vera ge 61 years usanpn. org 1999. Bradley, N. L. , Leopold, C. A. , Ross, J. , Huffacker, W. Photos: Brian F Powell, Thoreau image from the National Portrait Gallery, Washington, Nina Leopold Bradley photo from Journal Sentinel files The value of citizen science
Citizen Science Opportunities usanpn. org
usanpn. org
What is USA-NPN all about? Collect • Store • Share Phenology data and information Advance Science Inform Decisions Communicate & Connect Create an Equitable and Inclusive Network usanpn. org
How do we get the data? ● ● >20 M records 13 K sites 1, 400 species Recently imported NEON data ● Accessible via APIs, R package, data download tool usanpn. org
How do we observe phenology? Observable life cycle events or PHENOPHASES ANIMAL Activity Reproduction PLANT Leaves Flowers usanpn. org Development Fruits
Types of Phenology Data Collected Activity Reproduction Event Status & Abundance Day of year usanpn. org Development
Nature’s Notebook: Protocols *as of 2017 usanpn. org
Nature’s Notebook: Mobile Apps Paper datasheets and a web browser OR mobile apps usanpn. org
Nature’s Notebook: Training Resources online and in print, including a one-hour training course usanpn. org
Nature’s Notebook: Quality Control Quality assurance – for the data coming in Quality control – for the data in the National Phenology Database usanpn. org Available at www. usanpn. org/pubs/reports
Nature’s Notebook: Data Visualization usanpn. org
Nature’s Notebook: Data Visualization usanpn. org
Nature’s Notebook: Data Visualization usanpn. org
Data freely available for download www. usanpn. org/results/data usanpn. org
usanpn. org
Where do the data go? usanpn. org
Start of Spring forecasts ● Maps appeared in national media every spring 2017+ ● NYT, Washington Post, Today Show, Weather Channel, etc ● Climate change indicator: EPA usanpn. org
What we’ve learned so far Phenology observations help manage invasive species (Wallace et al. 2016, Chapman et al 2014) Warmer winters affect timing of spring leaf out in plants (Fu et al. 2015, Mazer et al 2015) Springs are arriving earlier (Allstadt et al 2015) and the growing season is getting longer (Yue et al 2015) Spring is advancing in 76% of National Parks; 53% of parks are experiencing springs that exceed 95% of historical conditions and more! Visit www. usanpn. org/nn/vignettes. usanpn. org
Join Us! usanpn. org
Opportunities to get involved Nature’s Notebook sites: Tohono Chul Tucson Botanical Gardens Cienega Creek Mission Garden Watershed Management Group usanpn. org
Buffelgrass green-up forecast usanpn. org
Buffelgrass green-up forecast usanpn. org
Adopt a Trail: • Molino Basin on Mt Lemmon • Oracle State Park • Wasson Peak Trail • Pusch Peak Trail • Baby Jesus Trail (east of Catalina) • And others! usanpn. org Photo: Merlin D. Tuttle, Bat Conservation International Flowers for Bats campaign
Nectar Connectors campaign Species in Arizona: broadleaf lupine (Lupinus latifolius) broadleaf milkweed (Asclepias latifolia) bull thistle (Cirsium vulgare) butterfly milkweed (Asclepias tuberosa) Canada thistle (Cirsium arvense) cardinalflower (Lobelia cardinalis) common sunflower (Helianthus annuus) Coulter's lupine (Lupinus sparsiflorus) horsetail milkweed (Asclepias subverticillata) Missouri goldenrod (Solidago missouriensis) pineneedle milkweed (Asclepias linaria) purple prairie clover (Dalea purpurea) rush milkweed (Asclepias subulata) showy milkweed (Asclepias speciosa) spider milkweed (Asclepias asperula) spotted joe pye weed (Eutrochium maculatum) white heath aster (Symphyotrichum ericoides) whorled milkweed (Asclepias verticillata) wild bergamot (Monarda fistulosa) usanpn. org
Green Wave campaign Species in Arizona: boxelder (Acer negundo) Fremont cottonwood (Populus fremontii) quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides) usanpn. org
Questions? Contact lorianne@usanpn. org
- Slides: 59
