Natural resource applications of the phenology data and information housed in the National Phenology Database Erin Posthumus and the Staff of the National Coordinating Office, USA National Phenology Network

Phenology Informs Resource Management Indicator of biological responses to climate change Informs: Abundance and distribution of species Functioning of ecosystems (e.g. carbon cycling) Ecosystem services (e.g. pollination) Enquist et al Int J Biometeorol

What is USA-NPN all about… Advance science Inform management Communicate & connect Collect Store Share phenology data, data products & information Ganguly et al Mean growing season length (d)

USA-NPN Capacity USA-NPN Standard Protocols National Phenology Database Data Products Non-standard or Historical data

Types of Phenology Data Collected Event ActivityReproductionDevelopment Day of year Status & Abundance Status

>6M observation records > 8,000 sites Primarily 2009-present >1,000 plant and animal taxa Standardized protocols (Denny et al., 2014) QA/QC documented OMB Control #:

Quality Assurance/Quality Control Available at

Volunteers contribute ~$2.5B annually to biodiversity research Scientific value often under estimated “Good citizen science gets us fine grain, broad extent data we can't collect, or afford to collect, any other way,” - author Julia Parrish Quality Assurance/Quality Control

Density of phenology records curated by USA-NPN May 2015

Data Download Tool

Data structure Raw data: Summarized data: SpeciesLat/LongDOYYearBreaking leaf buds? Acer rubrum38.76N, 121.8WJan N Acer rubrum38.76N, 121.8WFeb N Acer rubrum38.76N, 121.8WMar 32015Y SpeciesLat/LongYearBreaking leaf buds – first Yes Breaking leaf buds – days since last No Acer rubrum38.76N, 121.8W2015Mar 315

Red maple/Breaking leaf buds (2014) Red maple/Open flowers (2014) Data visualization

From the National Phenology Database

Spring leaf unfolding triggered more by daytime temps than nighttime temps Piao et al., 2015 USA-NPN data: Leaf-out dates Syringa spp. 35 sites

From the National Phenology Database

Yue et al., 2015 USA-NPN data: 52 species 1,147 sites

From the National Phenology Database

Mazer et al., 2015 USA-NPN data: 4 species NPS units across CA

Gridded maps of spring onset based on PRISM ( ; 4km) 7-day forecasts for start of spring (2.5 km) Accumulated temperature maps, anomaly maps Planned for spring 2016:

Monahan et al. in prep. How has the arrival of spring changed in natural protected areas?

Applications: Will spring be extreme relative to other years at a site? Lead time to look out for: Potential for mismatch between interacting species Potential impacts to species that visitors focus on (eg, cherry blooms)

Alliaria petiolata Photo credit: Jody Shimp, Illinois Department of Natural Resources from Invasive.org. Applications: Invasive species control

Applications: Wildfire Season An unusually early and warm spring can mean a more intense fire season Photo credit: Denver Post

Applications: Getting professional and citizen observers out at the right time Catching phenophases of interest Rare plant monitoring and seed collection

Image: northernpecans.blogspot.com Accumulated temperature (GDD) Time Jan 1 No risk of frost damage More risk of frost damage Budburst Applications: Mobilizing to protect nut trees

Access those data! Red maple/Breaking leaf buds (2014) Red maple/Open flowers (2014)

We’ll promote your research Need data? Consider a campaign… Research partnerships

The more than 6,000 dedicated volunteer observers participating in Nature’s Notebook Acknowledgements

Thank you! Connect with USA-NPN Sign up for a bimonthly e- newsletter for phenology observers Sign up for a bimonthly e-newsletter for our Partners Sign up for quarterly e- newsletter for FWS staff and Friends group members Join the Local Phenology Leaders listserv Find us on Facebook Contact: Erin Posthumus