Nature’s rhythms: Understanding seasonal and long-term changes around us through PHENOLOGY LoriAnne Barnett Education Coordinator

Important things we’ll discuss today: What is PHENOLOGY Using phenology to teach about the natural world How do I set up a Nature’s Notebook project? Making it work!

What do I know about … Phenology

What’s Phenology Phenology refers to recurring plant and animal life cycle stages, such as leafing and flowering, maturation of agricultural plants, emergence of insects, and migration of birds. It is also the study of these seasonal changes, especially their timing and relationships with weather and climate.

http://ed.ted.com/lessons/phenology-and-nature-s-shifting-rhythms-regina-brinker

Photo credit: L. Barnett

Photo credit: L. Barnett

Photo credit: L. Barnett

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. Understand how species and landscapes are responding to climate change. What we are…. Photo credit: C. Enquist

How we do it… Photo credit: L. Romano

Phenology and the natural world…

Climate & Weather?

Climate is what you expect, Weather is what you get. -Mark Twain Climate Long-term average of daily weather in a given area. The average annual rainfall in Phoenix, AZ is ~8.0 inches. The average July high temp is 106°F. December is the average coolest month at 44-66°F . Weather Day-to-day changes in the Earth’s atmosphere. It rained last Thursday. There was a hard frost on January 15 in Tucson. Sunday will be sunny and 96°F. It is all about time …

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

PHENOLOGY

Distribution Ecology Abundance

Observing the same individual through the seasons Acer rubrum (red maple); Photo credit: D. Hartel Observing the same individual through the seasons

PLANT LIFE CYCLE GREEN GROWTH Requires Optimum Conditions

American kestrel Active Falco sparverius Reproduction Reproduction Life cycles are, essentially, what we call phenophases or those observable events in a species life that can be recorded through observation. Again, these are often things people are very familiar with – for example, folks who are bird watchers often pay close attention to what the particular bird is doing at the time it is spotted. The look for cues in habitat and seasonality to provide information about what they see and when and where they see it. ©Wikimedia Commons ©Wikimedia Commons

LARVA ADULT INSECT Complete Pupa PUPA www.askabiologist.asu.edu The same is true for insects. PUPA www.askabiologist.asu.edu

What does PHENOLOGY tell us? So What?!? What does PHENOLOGY tell us?

Nature’s Notebook projects Phenology and Nature’s Notebook projects

Observable life cycle events or ANIMAL >> Mammal, Bird, Snake, Insect Activity Reproduction Development Method Observable life cycle events or PHENOPHASES PLANT For all plants and animals, each of the life cycle events we can observe are called phenophases. At the most basic level they are as indicated on this slide. What is the animal doing? And How? And for plants, the Leaves, Flowers, and Fruits of the life cycle. Leaves Flowers Fruits

PHENOPHASES ANIMAL PLANT Activity Method Active individuals Feeding Individuals at a feeding station PLANT Leaves Flowers Fruits This is an expansion of the earlier slide, depicting the full suite of protocols we ask for many of the species in our database. It should be noted, though, that until people are very familiar with what their individual of the species looks like, they should feel comfortable with just entering the data at the basic level – e.g. leaves flowers, fruits, or presence or absence of an animal. Lastly, the abundance of each species can be captured. Any observation is valuable, so it is not a problem for participants to start with the easiest thing for them to observer and then increase the data they capture through time. Leaves Colored leaves Open flowers Recent seed or fruit drop PHENOPHASES

YES NO ? We ask participants to capture either YES they see the phenophase, NO they do not see the phenophase, or ? If they are UNSURE if they phenophase is occurring. It is absolutely OK for participants to indicate that they are unsure. From a data quality perspective we would rather know that someone was observing and unsure instead of guessing the answer (which could be incorrect) OR leaving it entirely blank (we a data end user may wonder if someone just forgot to make an entry for that particular protocol).

Leaves Flowers Fruits Gambel Oak This is an example of the full suite of protocols on one of our data sheets – in this instance, a gambel oak. The protocols for any of the oaks will be the same, as they are in the deciduous tree functional group. The more basic protocols are circled, so observers can see how they can start there. You may choose to use a species found near you, OR one that you are asking your participants to observe. I simply captured the protocols from a datasheet and saved the cap as an image – pasted it in here. Fruits Gambel Oak

The same is true for this bird protocol The same is true for this bird protocol. Feel free to select one of your own local species. People can record presence/absence using active individuals OR they can record what the individual is doing, if they are comfortable identifying the activity. Photo from All About Birds Acorn Woodpecker

Recent fruit or seed drop Breaking leaf buds Leaves Increasing leaf size Colored leaves Flowers or Flower Buds Open Flowers Fruits This slide demonstrates the annual cycle of phenophases for a deciduous tree. The boxes indicate each of the categories of phenophases and how they may overlap during the growing season. Of course, variation is possible, but this provides a general sense of how phenophases may appear when recorded in the database. NOTE that the main phenophases, such as leaves and fruits will be YES if there are, at all, leaves or fruits on the tree. Ripe Fruits Recent fruit or seed drop DECIDUOUS PLANT PHENOPHASES

Class Assignment! Create a Nature’s Notebook phenology monitoring project!

PROJECT?! Photo credit: L. Barnett

Long term road map to understanding species interactions at the regional level - path "Road in Norway" by Piotr Małecki Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons

Long-Term

Identify: Saguaro Candy barrel cactus Buck-horn cholla Tree cholla Velvet Mesquite Yellow paloverde Desert ironwood Brittlebush Beavertail pricklypear

Identify: A science question… When are the milkweed in bloom? In what month does the red maple leaf out? When do the sandhill cranes return to their summer habitats? In what week of April are the saguaros in full flower, and when do the white-winged doves visit them?

NATURE’S NOTEBOOK PROJECT Homework Assignment! Create your own NATURE’S NOTEBOOK PROJECT

https://www.youtube.com/user/USANPN1 http://www.usanpn.org/education

https://www.usanpn.org/educate/nn_curriculum

Web Demo Photo credit: L. Barnett

Sign up for a phenology quarterly e-newsletter Become an observer Connect with USA-NPN… Sign up for a phenology quarterly e-newsletter Become an observer Discover new tools and resources www.facebook.com/USANPN Closing slide with contact information – don’t forget to insert your information here, instead of mine. www.pinterest.com/USANPN LoriAnne Barnett lorianne@usanpn.org www.twitter.com/@loriannebarnett