UPDATE ON PLANS TO ESTABLISH A
NATIONAL PHENOLOGY NETWORK (NPN)
SCHWARTZ, MARK D.
DEPT. OF GEOGRAPHY
UNIV. WISC-MILWAUKEE
BETANCOURT, JULIO L.,
DESERT LABORATORY
USGS & UNIV. OF ARIZONA
Why build the NPN?
Decadal Averaged Cherry
Bloom in Kyoto, Japan
•Phenology = easily observed indicator
of biotic responses to climatic change
•Links satellite green-up & surface
phenology to ground-based observations
•Phenological networks exist in Europe,
Canada and globally, but U. S. does not
have a comprehensive national (or even
regional) network
•Limitations of existing phenological
records will make it hard to distinguish
the effects of anthropogenic climate
change from natural variability or land
use
Why now?
Coincidence of various initiatives: The “Perfect Storm”
•AIBS sponsored workshop to define NEON’s potential role in
monitoring & understanding ecological implications of climate
change identifies NPN as key initiative
Proposed
NEON
Regions
NRC study: Recommended Organizing Themes
• biodiversity, species composition, and ecosystem
functioning 9
• ecological aspects of biogeochemical cycles 9
• ecological implications of climate change
• ecology and evolution of infectious disease
• invasive species 9
• land use and habitat alteration
•Workshops on Science Drivers- Summer 2004
–Identify & Prioritize organizing questions
–Identify required research infrastructure
http//www.neoninc.org
Convened by
Julio Betancourt
Pat Mulholland
Dave Breshears
James S. Clark, Duke University
Clifford M. Dahm, Univ. New Mexico
Christopher B. Field, Stanford Univ.
Catherine A. Gehring, N. Arizona Univ.
Paul J. Hanson, Oak Ridge Natl. Lab.
John Harte, Univ. California, Berkeley
Bruce P. Hayden, Univ. of Virginia
Alfredo R. Huete, Univ. of Arizona
Travis E. Huxman, Univ. of Arizona
Stephen T. Jackson, Univ. of Wyoming
Linda A. Joyce, U.S. Forest Service
Alan K. Knapp, Colorado State Univ.
W. Arthur McKee, Univ. of Montana
Steven J. McNulty, U.S. Forest Service
James A. MacMahon, Utah State Univ.
John M. Melack, Univ. Calif-SB
Barbara J. Morehouse, Univ. of Arizona
Richard J. Norby, Oak Ridge Natl Lab.
Dennis J. Ojima, Colorado State Univ.
Jonathan T. Overpeck, Univ. of Arizona
Debra P. Peters, USDA ARS, Jornada
N. LeRoy Poff, Colorado State Univ.
Eric Post, Penn State University.
Hank J. Shugart, Univ. of Virginia
Stanley D. Smith, Univ. Nevada-LV
Robert G. Striegl, USGS
Thomas W. Swetnam, Univ. of Arizona
Susan L. Ustin, Univ. California-Davis
Thomas G. Whitham, N. Arizona Univ.
Xubin Zeng, University of Arizona
Why now?
Coincidence of various initiatives: The “Perfect Storm”
•AIBS sponsored workshop to define NEON’s potential role in
monitoring & understanding ecological implications of climate
change identifies NPN as key initiative
•Establishment by Mark Schwartz of a prototype for a web-
based National Phenology Network (http://www.npn.uwm.edu)
Prototype for web-based NPN
http://www.npn.uwm.edu
Select appropriate
native species
Submit data over
the Internet
General Goals for a National
Phenology Network (NPN)
• a continental-scale network observing
regionally appropriate native plant species
and cloned indicator plants (e.g., lilac)
• designed to complement remote sensing
observations
• data collected will be freely available to
the research community and general public
What science needs to be done to enable
this capability?
• Multidisciplinary studies (climatology,
hydrology,
ecology) to understand the interplay of different
forcing factors on plant phenology
• Role of genetic diversity in plant responses to climate
variability
• Exploration of how to combine ground-based
observations with remote sensing
• How best to co-locate phenological measurements and
other observations (weather, etc.)
•
I. What might be possible with 20 years
of phenological data?
evaluate impacts of longer growing seasons on…
moisture stress, geographic ranges, insect and pathogen
outbreaks
hydrologic cycle- evapotranspiration, recharge, groundwater levels, streamflow
enhance continental carbon balance estimates
baseline to evaluate success of programs to curb global
greenhouse gas emissions
impacts on agriculture and forestry
provide foundation for parallel networks that monitor
phenology of other organisms--e.g., pests and pollinators
•
•
•
•
•
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Questions about Species and Phenological Measurements
•Which indicator species to monitor? Justification for National
vs. Bioregional decisions
•Which phenological events should be monitored? How often?
Key Challenges to Network Development
•How can a sufficient density of long-term stations be
established?
•What types of cooperative agreements and funding
arrangements are needed? (especially NWS-COOP)
•Integration of automated with traditional methods?
•What role should volunteer observers from the general
public serve?
•What type of station metadata is needed beyond that
typically recorded at a NWS station?
Why now?
Coincidence of various initiatives: The “Perfect Storm”
•AIBS sponsored workshop to define NEON’s potential role in
monitoring & understanding ecological implications of climate
change identifies NPN as key initiative
•Establishment by Mark Schwartz of a prototype for a web-
based National Phenology Network (http://www.npn.uwm.edu)
•National Weather Service updating Cooperative Weather
Station Network to National Mesonet -- opportunity to
co-locate phenological and weather observations
Data Collection and Transmission at Modernized NWS COOP Sites
National
Mesonet
~ 8000 sites
As many complementary measurements
as possible from other networks
(both federal and non-federal) will be
integrated through COOP’s Central Facility
Phenological
Observations
Organization such as NEON could Horsetrade new weather stations in natural areas
(e.g., high elev) for phenological observations
at subset of baseline & enhanced sites
Critical time
For NPN
Status of Planning for NPN
• NSF has requested a full proposal for a workshop to be
held in May/June to develop NPN blueprint
• Potential members for steering committee of six have
been contacted
• NSF proposal to be submitted by March 15
• NEON Consortium Climate Subcommittee currently
deliberating on NEON role
• Potential partnering agencies are being contacted: NOAA,
NASA, EPA, USDA, USGS, NPS, USFW, NPS, DOE, DOD
•Goal is to have a blueprint completed along with necessary
interagency agreements by September 1, 2005