Nature’s exquisite timing:
Using Nature’s Notebook to track seasonal &
long term environmental change
November 18, 2015
LoriAnne Barnett
Education Coordinator
Seasonal changes in the Mid-Atlantic
Objectives of today’s discussion:
 Define phenology and explain its
applicability to understanding changes in the
natural world
 Understand the importance of recordkeeping.
 Understand long-term phenology monitoring.
 Apply citizen science and phenology!
 Learn where to find resources to get started.
phRenology – a
phOnology – a
pseudoscience focused on
measurements of the
human skull and size of
the brain
branch of linguistics
concerned with the
organization of sounds in
language
Just to be clear…
PHENOLOGY
What do I KNOW about PHENOLOGY?!
What do I WANT TO KNOW?
THINK, PAIR, SHARE
5 minutes
What is phenology?
The science of the seasons
• Blooms and buds
• Hibernation, migration,
emergence
• Easy to observe
Photo credit: P. Warren
…it is the study of the timing of
recurring plant and animal lifecycle stages, or phenophases,
and their relationship to
environmental conditions.
Photo credit: L. Barnett
Who observes phenology?
Photo credit: P. Warren
• Scientists
• Gardeners/Agriculturists
• Land managers
• Educators
• Youth
Photo credit: S. Schaffer
Photo credit: C. Enquist
Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons
Primary goal
• Create a standardized, long-term
dataset for use in multiple types
of research.
UNDERSTAND HOW SPECIES AND
LANDSCAPES ARE RESPONDING TO
CLIMATE CHANGE.
Mission
• Make phenology data, models
and related information
available.
• Encourage people of all ages and
backgrounds to observe and
record phenology.
Photo credit: C. Enquist
Photo credit: L. Romano
PLANT
Leaves
Flowers
Fruits
Observable life cycle events or
PHENOPHASES
ANIMAL >> Mammal, Bird, Snake, Insect
Activity
Reproduction
Development
Method
Why are the timing of life-cycle
events important?
• SEASONAL CHANGE
• Species interrelations
Shifting weather and climate affect all of these
"Bagatelle potager02" by Spedona (Spedona) - Cliché personnel - own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Vegetable Gardening
Understanding outdoor recreation
schedules
• Feeding times
• Following brackish
waters
• Water
temperature
• Spawning times
related to temp 55° - 68° F in
Chesapeake Bay.
April peak?
Chesapeake Bay Spring
Season for Striped Bass =
May 16 – June 16
Photo credit: E. Stemmy
Image credit: John McColgan –U.S. Department of Agriculture. Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia
Land management decisions
Observations
RECORD KEEPING
Using nature as a guide
Tradition and Lore
November -Beaver Moon
September – Harvest Moon
Photo credit: B. Powell
February – Full Worm Moon
May – Full Flower Moon
“Tribes kept track of seasons by
giving distinct names to each
recurring full moon.”
http://www.farmersalmanac.com/full-moon-names/
Photo Credits: Wikimedia Commons unless otherwise noted
Photo credit: L. Barnett
Jefferson
Thoreau
Powell
Photo credit: Monticello
Garden re-created
Cloned lilac program
Photo credit: L. Barnett
HISTORIC LILAC NETWORK
ESTABLISHED IN THE 1950S
Photo credit: L. Barnett
SANTA RITA
EXPERIMENTAL RANGE,
GREEN VALLEY, AZ
Photo credit: L. Barnett
Photo Credit: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Southeast Region,
via Wikimedia Commons
Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons
David Bertelsen,
Naturalist
Finger Rock – Santa Catalina Mtns, Tucson
Finger Rock Trail,
Santa
Catalina
Mtns
What’s Phenology
Tucson, AZ
Courtesy: T.M. Crimmins
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Collected by a single individual
1984-present
1480+ round-trip hikes (10 miles), 4158’ elevation gain
Approximately weekly
587 flowering plant taxa (group of species)
155K+ records of plant flowering.
73,000 vertebrate records
Photo credit: B. Wilder
Acer rubrum (red maple); Photo credit: D. Hartel
Observing the same individual through the seasons
Acer rubrum (red maple); Photo credit: D. Hartel
Observing the same individual through the seasons
ECOLOGY & PHENOLOGY
-Mark Twain
Climate
Long-term average
of daily
weather in a given
area.
It is about…
…time
Weather
Day-to-day changes in the
Earth’s atmosphere.
BIOMES –World’s Major Communities
Classified by major vegetation, adaptations to environment
Optimum conditions=
NICHE
Desert
Aquatic
Forest
Grassland
Tundra
Why is climate important to ecology?
Climate drives what
occurs where, what
lives where, and how
those species
respond to their
environment.
PHENOLOGY
CLIMATE CHANGE
Phenology and Climate Change
Research, spring timing and range
A three-way mismatch
EARLIER
English Oak
Winter Moth
SAME TIME EACH YEAR
Pied Flycatcher
Both et al. 2006 Nature
EARLIER
Do migrating barnacle
geese (Branta leucopsis)
surf the “green wave”?
(1)
The findings:
Timing their arrival yields the best survival rate.
(2)
Why do we care?
We may be able to apply this info to other
species. Can predict potential mismatch of food
resources.
(3)
https://www.usanpn.org/natures_notebook
2015, Si, Y. et al. Scientific Reports.
Photo: (1) Peter van der Sluijs, Wikimedia Commons; (2) Jamain,
Wikimedia Commons; (3) Erik Christensen, Wikimedia Commons
The study:
The study:
Changing climate poses a greater threat to
some species than others. What are
phenological mismatches caused by?
(1)
Species have a hard time finding each other.
Interaction times are short.
Generalized pollinators are affected.
(2)
Why do we care?
All species are interdependent in the
ecosystem. Mutualistic relationships are critical
and migrating species are most at risk.
https://www.usanpn.org/natures_notebook
(3)
2014, Rafferty, N.E., et al. Oikos.
Photo: (1, 2, 3) Biran Forbes Powell
The findings:
2012. Primack, R. B, Miller-Rushing, A.J
Sandhill crane and geese
61 years
1999. Bradley, N.L., Leopold, C.A., Ross, J., Huffacker, W.
CHANGES in:
• Arrival, birth, feeding
• Shifting range boundaries
Changing morphology
• Extirpation or Extinction
• Economic impacts
http://www.ipcc.ch/
www.globalchange.gov
How Will Climate Change Affect the
Mid-Atlantic Region?
Birds winter ranges will change – how? Where?
Reduction in biodiversity
oaspub.epa.gov/eims/eimscomm.getfile?p_download_id=4011
Sea level
rise 1-2
inches per
decade
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chesapeake_Bay
Frequent
and severe
floods and
drought
Invasive species that thrive in warmer and wetter
environments could displace beneficial Mid-Atlantic
species and create pest control problems.
Observations
SHARED FOR SCIENCE
Citizen science …
 scientific research conducted, in whole or in part,
by amateurs or nonprofessionals
 public participation in scientific research
 (also known as) crowd science, crowd-sourced
science, or networked science
Quercus alba, Q. falcata, D. Hartel
www.scistarter.com
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~6,200 active observers
~7,700 active sites
6.3+ records
Lilac data from 1956
1016 taxa from 2009
https://crowdsourcing-toolkit.sites.usa.gov
One or more open, fresh flowers
are visible on the plant. Flowers
are considered "open" when the
reproductive parts (male stamens
or female pistils) are visible
between or within unfolded or
open flower parts (petals, floral
tubes or sepals). Do not include
wilted or dried flowers.
Velvet mesquite, Prosopis velutina
Image credit: Patty Guertin
Do you see…open flowers?
Flowers
Fruits
Trees and shrubs – Deciduous with pollen
Northern red oak, Quercus rubra
Image credit: Ellen G. Denny
Leaves
Quercus rubra phenophases
3
1
4
• Which phenophases
are pictured?
• What time of year?
Image credit: Ellen G. Denny
2
Reproduction
Development
Method
Songbirds
Northern cardinal, Cardinalis cardinalis
Image credit: Ken Thomas via Wikimedia Commons
Activity
1
2
3
4
Image credit: Wikimedia commons and Pinterest
Cardinalis cardinalis
Reproduction
Method
Common loon
Photo: P199, Wikimedia Commons
Activity
Breaking leaf buds
Leaves
Colored leaves
Increasing leaf size
Flowers or Flower Buds
Open Flowers
Fruits
Ripe Fruits
Recent fruit or
seed drop
DECIDUOUS PLANT PHENOPHASES
You MUST have your
account completely set
up online first to use the
mobile apps!
Image credit: Wikimedia commons "Cornus florida 02 by Line1
Mobile app interface
Nature's Notebook data on
flowering of 6 species of
deciduous trees and eBird
(Cornell Lab of Ornithology
2012, ebird.org) data on a
long-distance migratory bird,
the Tennessee warbler
Interannual patterns of
phenological synchrony and
overlap
Kellermann. J.L.
NEXT STEPS
• Select plants and animals to observe
• Locally use Nature’s Notebook in
outreach and education as well as
management
①Milkweed
②Red oak
③White oak
④White pine
⑤Tulip poplar
⑥Hickory
⑦Red maple
⑧Ash
①Honey bee
②Monarch
③Eastern bluebird
④Ruby-throated hummingbird
⑤Eastern tent caterpillar
Create accounts in
Nature’s Notebook
A project of the USA-NPN
Photo credit: L. Barnett
Resources
www.usanpn.org/nn/guidelines
Resources and upcoming events
https://www.usanpn.org/nn/connect/project
What did I LEARN about PHENOLOGY?
Objectives of today’s workshop:
 Define phenology and explain its
applicability to understanding changes in the
natural world
 Understand the importance of recordkeeping.
 Understand long-term phenology monitoring.
 Apply citizen science and phenology!
 Learn where to find resources to get started.
Connect with USA-NPN…
• Become an observer
• Discover new tools and
resources
• Visit a local phenology
trail
www.facebook.com/USANPN
www.pinterest.com/USANPN
www.twitter.com/@loriannebarnett
www.instagram/tucson_phenology_trail
LoriAnne Barnett
lorianne@usanpn.org