Nature’s Notebook:
Engaging volunteers in tracking seasonal &
long-term environmental change
December 2, 2015
LoriAnne Barnett
Education Coordinator
Today‘s Discussion
 Learn how to use Nature’s Notebook citizen and
professional science program
 View regional networks collaboratively for education,
outreach, management and science
 View how to download and/or visualize NPDb data
 Describe how to get started
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
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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
Observations
RECORD KEEPING
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
Reproduction
Development
Method
Songbirds
Northern cardinal, Cardinalis cardinalis
Image credit: Ken Thomas via Wikimedia Commons
Activity
Reproduction
Method
Common loon
Photo: P199, Wikimedia Commons
Activity
Image credit: Wikimedia commons "Cornus florida 02 by Line1
Mobile app interface
Valle de Oro NWR, Albuquerque
Randall Davies Audubon Center
Santa Fe Botanical Gardens
ABQ BioPark Botanic Gardens
Valle de Oro NWR
Whitfield Wildlife Conservation Area
Bernardo Wildlife Area
Sevilleta NWR
Bosque del Apache NWR
Rio Grande
Phenology Trail:
Green represent the
current RGPT Partners,
yellow represent other
locations that have
expressed interest in
joining the Trail
Valle de Oro NWR, Albuquerque
Canada
goose
2014
2014
cliff swallow
American
kestrel
2014
sandhill
crane
Phenology calendar of focal species at Valle de Oro NWR, 2014-2015
2015
2015
2015
2014
2015
0
Jan30 Feb
60
Mar
90Apr
May
120
Jun
150
Jul180 Aug 210Sep
Oct
240
Nov
270
Dec
300
330
Prepared by E. Posthumus using the USA-NPN Visualization tool
Volunteer Engagement
Who observes phenology?
Photo credit: P. Warren
• Scientists
• Gardeners/Agriculturists
• Land managers
• Educators
• Youth
Photo credit: S. Schaffer
Photo credit: C. Enquist
Seasonal changes in the Mid-Atlantic
PLANT
Leaves
Flowers
Fruits
Observable life cycle events or
PHENOPHASES
ANIMAL >> Mammal, Bird, Snake, Insect
Activity
Reproduction
Development
Method
"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
Acer rubrum (red maple); Photo credit: D. Hartel
Observing the same individual through the seasons
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
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.
Phenology Networks
https://www.usanpn.org/nn/groups/pnc
Understanding Phenology
Phenology Networks
Historic Records
Phenology Networks
Community Engagement
Tucson
Phenology
Trail
Established in 2012 and covering 75 miles in the greater Tucson area, the
Tucson Phenology Trail links UA to the community while encouraging:
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active, outdoor education
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asking and answering local science, management and climate questions
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connection via like-minded organizations through participation in a
shared community science and research project
Phenology Networks
Phenology Networks
People.
 Meaningful
 Committed
 Exited to
contribute
to actual
research
 Supported
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Select plants and animals to observe
Already being monitored
Baseline, trends, existing datasets
Regional interest
①Milkweed
②Red oak
③White oak
④White pine
⑤Tulip poplar
⑥Hickory
⑦Red maple
⑧Ash
①Honey bee
②Monarch
③Eastern bluebird
④Ruby-throated hummingbird
⑤Eastern tent caterpillar
• Select plants and animals to observe
• Locally use Nature’s Notebook in
outreach and education as well as
management
Resources
https://www.usanpn.org/nn/connect/project
Resources
https://www.usanpn.org/nn/connect/project
Create accounts in
Nature’s Notebook
A project of the USA-NPN
Photo credit: L. Barnett
Resources
www.usanpn.org/nn/guidelines
Summary words …
Meaningful
Long-term
Planned and organized
Science and education
Themed
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