Using Nature’s Notebook to track seasonal & long term environmental change Nature’s rhythms: LoriAnne Barnett Education Coordinator September 25, 2015

LIFE CYCLE BINGO! Opening Activity

Objectives of today’s workshop:  Define phenology and explain its applicability to understanding changes in the natural world  Understand the importance of record- keeping.  Understand long-term phenology monitoring.  Apply phenology!  Learn where to find resources to get started.

Objectives for the follow-up workshop on October am:  Demonstrate how to select a physical site for monitoring phenology  Demonstrate how to select plants and animals for monitoring.  Demonstrate how to make high-quality observations on phenophases based on USA-NPN protocols.  Apply phenology!

Just to be clear… phRenology – a pseudoscience focused on measurements of the human skull and size of the brain phOnology – a branch of linguistics concerned with the organization of sounds in language

What do I KNOW about PHENOLOGY?! What do I WANT TO KNOW? THINK, PAIR, SHARE 5 minutes Activity 2

PHENOLOGY

What is phenology? The science of the seasons Blooms and buds Hibernation, migration, emergence Easy to observe Photo credit: L. Barnett …it is the study of the timing of recurring plant and animal life- cycle stages, or phenophases, and their relationship to environmental conditions. Photo credit: P. Warren

Who observes phenology? Scientists Gardeners/Agriculturists Land managers Educators Youth Photo credit: C. Enquist Photo credit: P. Warren Photo credit: S. Schaffer

Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons

Reproduction Development Method Activity ANIMAL >> Mammal, Bird, Snake, Insect Flowers Fruits Leaves PLANT Observable life cycle events or PHENOPHASES

PLANT LIFE CYCLE GREEN GROWTH Requires Optimum Conditions FLOWER SET SEED

American kestrel Falco sparverius ©Wikimedia Commons Active

Photo Credit: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Southeast Region, via Wikimedia Commons Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons Photo credit: L. Barnett

Why are the timing of life-cycle events important? SEASONAL CHANGE Species interrelations Shifting weather and climate affect all of these

Vegetable Gardening "Bagatelle potager02" by Spedona (Spedona) - Cliché personnel - own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons

Photo credit: E. Stemmy 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 Understanding outdoor recreation schedules

Land management decisions Image credit: John McColgan –U.S. Department of Agriculture. Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia

U NDERSTAND HOW SPECIES AND LANDSCAPES ARE RESPONDING TO CLIMATE CHANGE. Primary goal Create a standardized, long-term dataset for use in multiple types of research. 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

OBSERVATIONS Record keeping

Using nature as a guide Tradition and Lore “Tribes kept track of seasons by giving distinct names to each recurring full moon.” November -Beaver Moon February – Full Worm Moon May – Full Flower Moon Photo credit: B. Powell Photo Credits: Wikimedia Commons unless otherwise notedPhoto credit: L. Barnett September – Harvest Moon

Jefferson Powell Thoreau

Garden re-created Photo credit: Monticello

Cloned lilac program H ISTORIC L ILAC N ETWORK E STABLISHED IN THE 1950 S S ANTA R ITA E XPERIMENTAL R ANGE, G REEN V ALLEY, AZ Photo credit: L. Barnett

INSERT LOCAL PHENOLOGY STORY, SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH, SEASONAL EVENTS HERE.

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

INTRODUCTION TO OBSERVATION 45 minutes Activity 3

ECOLOGY Phenology

Weather Day-to-day changes in the Earth’s atmosphere. -Mark Twain Climate Long-term average of daily weather in a given area. It is about… …time

Distribution Abiotic Biotic Abundance

Annual average MINIMUM temperatures – 30 years

Climate Zones for the West Also account for: Latitude Hills and Valleys Elevation Ocean influence (humidity) Continental air Precipitation Microclimates

Mile 1 Mile 5 Mile 4 Mile 3 Mile 2 Desert scrub Scrub grassland Oak woodland Oak-pine woodland Pine forest 800 mm 300 mm 10 ºC 20 ºC Annual Average Precipitation Annual Average Temperature Elevation-Veg-Climate gradient Slide courtesy of T. M. Crimmins

BIOMES –World’s Major Communities Classified by major vegetation, adaptations to environment Aquatic Grassland Desert Forest Tundra Optimum conditions= NICHE

Life Zones

Why is climate important to ecology and phenology?? Climate drives what occurs where, what lives where, and how those species respond to their environment.

PHENOLOGY Climate change

Earlier Bloom Times Shrubs in the Sonoran Desert Bloomed days earlier between 1841 and Bowers, J. E., Southwestern Naturalist

Phenology and Climate Change Research, spring timing and range A three-way mismatch English Oak Winter Moth Pied Flycatcher Both et al Nature EARLIER SAME TIME EACH YEAR EARLIER

CHANGES in: Arrival, birth, feeding Shifting range boundaries Changing morphology Extirpation or Extinction Economic impacts

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

Photo credit: L. Romano

~5,700 active observers ~7,500 active sites 5.9M+ records Lilac data from taxa from 2009

Reproduction Development Method Activity ANIMAL  Active individuals  Feeding  Male combat  Mating  Young individuals  Dead individuals  Individuals at a feeding station Flowers Fruits Leaves  Young leaves  Leaves  Colored leaves  Flowers or flower buds  Open flowers  Ripe fruits  Recent seed or fruit drop PLANT PHENOPHASES …How Many?

Leaves Flowers Fruits Velvet mesquite, Prosopis velutina Image credit: Patty Guertin

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. Do you see…open flowers? Velvet mesquite, Prosopis velutina Image credit: Patty Guertin

What percentage of all fresh flowers are open? Select the most appropriate bin Write the bin number on the line Less than 5% 5% - 24% 25% - 49% 50% - 74% 75% - 94% 95% or more Image credit: Patty Guertin

Acorn Woodpecker Photo from All About Birds

Breaking leaf buds Leaves Increasing leaf size Colored leaves Flowers or Flower Buds Open Flowers FruitsRipe Fruits Recent fruit or seed drop DECIDUOUS PLANT PHENOPHASES

Enter Observations Online Photo credit: S. Schaffer

You MUST have your account completely set up online first to use the mobile apps!

DATA DOWNLOAD

"Snowman on frozen lake" by Petritap - Own work. Licensed under Creative Wikimedia Commons. "Spring in Somerville, NJ File 3" by Siddharth Mallya - Own work. Licensed under Creative Wikimedia Commons "Owoce wisni" by Nova - Own work. Licensed under Creative Wikimedia Commons By Hans [CC0], via Wikimedia Commons

2012. Primack, R. B, Miller-Rushing, A.J 7 day average 61 years 2-3 week average Bradley, N.L., Leopold, C.A., Ross, J., Huffacker, W. Sandhill crane and geese

NEXT STEPS

Resources and upcoming events

Resources and upcoming events

Resources and upcoming events October 24 from 9:00 am until noon

Objectives for the follow-up workshop on October am:  Demonstrate how to select a physical site for monitoring phenology  Demonstrate how to select plants and animals for monitoring.  Demonstrate how to make observations on phenophases based on USA-NPN protocols.  Apply phenology!

What did I LEARN about PHENOLOGY? Closing Activity

EVALUATION And feedback

Objectives of today’s workshop: Define phenology and explain its applicability to understanding changes in the natural world Understand the importance of record- keeping. Understand long-term phenology monitoring. Apply phenology! Learn where to find resources to get started.

Explore tagged plants and make observations outside 10 minutes Activity 5 – Time Permitting

Connect with USA-NPN… Become an observer Discover new tools and resources Visit a local phenology trail LoriAnne Barnett