Phenology and The Natural World Master Naturalists Name Title

Phenology and The Natural World

Master Naturalists

Name

Title

Objectives of today’s discussion:

Define phenology and explain its applicability to understanding changes in habitats

Understand the importance of record-keeping.

Understand long-term phenology monitoring. 

Challenge!

Skills you will gain:

Observation

Record-keeping

Species & Life cycle

identification

What do I KNOW about PHENOLOGY?!What do I WANT TO KNOW?

5 minutes

Opening Activity

Photo credit: P. Warren

Observing is experiencingUsing nature as a guide

Ecosystems, climate & phenology

USA National Phenology Network

Master Natualists

Next Steps

Photo credit: E. Alderson Photo credit: B. Powell Photo credit: B. Powell

Photo credit: P. Warren

Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons

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Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons

Photo credit: L. Barnett

Photo credit: P. Warren

Observing is experiencing

Using nature as a guideEcosystems, climate & phenology

USA National Phenology Network

Master Naturalists

Next Steps

Photo credit: E. Alderson Photo credit: B. Powell Photo credit: B. Powell

Photo credit: P. Warren

Using nature as a guide

Tradition and Lore

http://www.farmersalmanac.com/full-moon-names/

“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

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Photo Credits: Wikimedia Commons unless otherwise noted Photo credit: L. Barnett

September – Harvest Moon

Jeff

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Powell

Tho

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Garden re-created

Photo credit: Monticello

Understanding outdoor recreation schedules

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

Acer rubrum (red maple); Photo credit: D. Hartel

Observing the same individual through the seasons

Cloned lilac program

HISTORIC LILAC NETWORK

ESTABLISHED IN THE 1950S

SANTA RITA EXPERIMENTAL

RANGE,GREEN VALLEY, AZ

Photo credit: L. Barnett

Photo credit: L. Barnett

INTRODUCTION to JOURNALING AND OBSERVATION

15-20 minutesOUTDOORS

Activity 2

Photo credit: P. Warren

Observing is experiencing

Using nature as a guide

Ecosystems, climate, & phenology

USA National Phenology Network

Master Naturalists

Next Steps

Photo credit: E. Alderson Photo credit: B. Powell Photo credit: B. Powell

Photo credit: P. Warren

Ecology

Distrib

ution Abiotic

Biotic

Climate

Abundance

BIOMES –World’s Major Communities Classified by major vegetation, adaptations to environment

Aquatic

Grassland

Desert

Forest

Tundra

Optimum conditions=NICHE

WeatherDay-to-day changes in the

Earth’s atmosphere.

Climate is what you expect…

…weather is what you get.-Mark Twain

ClimateLong-term average

of dailyweather in a given

area.

It is about… …time

http://planthardiness.ars.usda.gov/phzmweb/

Annual average MINIMUM temperatures – 30 years

Sunset Climate Zones for the WestAlso account for:

• Latitude• Hills and Valleys• Elevation• Ocean influence (humidity)• Continental air• Precipitation • Microclimates

www.sunset.com/garden/climate-zones/

http://alliance.la.asu.edu/maps/AZ_biomes_web.pdf

Life Zones

Biodiversity

Why is climate important to ecology?

Ecology

Climate drives what occurs where, what lives where, and how those species respond to their enviroment.

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 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

PLANT LIFE CYCLE

GREEN GROWTHRequires Optimum Conditions

PLANT LIFE CYCLE

FLOWER

Requires Optimum Conditions

PLANT LIFE CYCLE

SET SEED Requires Optimum Conditions

American kestrelFalco sparverius

Reproduction

©Wikimedia Commons

©Wikimedia Commons

Reproduction

Active

CompletePupa

INSECT

www.askabiologist.asu.edu

LARVA

PUPA

ADULT

Reproduction Development MethodActivity

ANIMAL >> Mammal, Bird, Snake, Insect

Flowers FruitsLeaves

PLANT

Observable life cycle events orPHENOPHASES

Why are the timing of life-cycleevents important?

• SEASONAL CHANGE

• Species interrelations

Shifting weather and climate affect all of these

PHENOLOGY

CLIMATE CHANGE

Phenology and Climate ChangeResearch, spring timing and range

A three-way mismatch

English Oak

Winter Moth

Pied Flycatcher Both et al. 2006 Nature

EARLIER

SAME TIME EACH YEAR

EARLIER

www.globalchange.gov

What to expect :

Drought

Increased heat

Decreased water flow

Rising sea levels

Extreme Events

http://nca2014.globalchange.gov

Possible solutions

Understand Species Response

Mitigation

Adaptation

Climate Change and

Watersheds:

Decreased stream flow

Change in species

Increased nutrient load

http://www.epa.gov/sciencematters/climatechange/ccwatershed.htm

Possible actions

Monitor health of watershed

Mitigation to limit impacts of pollutants

Alternative water supply

Why is a changing climate problematic?

Ecology

CHANGES in:

• Arrival, birth, feeding

• Shifting range boundaries Changing morphology

• Extirpation or Extinction

• Economic impacts

http://www.ipcc.ch/

10 minutes

Photo credit: P. Warren

Observing is experiencing

Using nature as a guide

Ecosystems, climate, & phenology

USA National Phenology Network

Master Naturalists

Next Steps

Photo credit: E. Alderson Photo credit: B. Powell Photo credit: B. Powell

Photo credit: P. Warren

UNDERSTAND 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

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Plant and animal species = 943 total

3727 observers reporting (11,587 total) making 603,073 observations

13,249 sites, 6404 active sites

As of 9/1/14

Reproduction Development MethodActivity

ANIMAL

Active individuals

Feeding

Male combat Mating

Young individuals

Dead individuals

Individuals at a feeding station

Flowers FruitsLeaves

Young leaves Leaves Colored

leaves

Flowers or flower buds

Open flowers

Ripe fruits Recent

seed or fruit drop

PLANT PHENOPHASES

…How Many?

YES

NO

?

Leaves

Flowers

Fruits

Gambel Oak

Open flowers : 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. For Quercus gambelii, the male flowers will open once the initially compact catkin has unfolded and is hanging loosely' Female flowers are open when the pistils are visible, but will be very difficult to see where they are out of reach’.

Do you see…open flowers?

Photo Credit: Utah State University Extension http://forestry.usu.edu/htm/treeid/oaks/gambel-oak Photo credit: Evelyn Simak via Wikimedia Commons

Do you see…..Flowers or Flower Buds?Less than 3

3 to 10

11 to 100

101 to 1000

1001 to 10,000

More than 10,000

Select the most appropriate binWrite the bin on the line

What percentage of all fresh flowers are open?Less than 5%

5% - 24%

25% - 49%

50% - 74%

75% - 94%

95% or more

Select the most appropriate binWrite the bin on the line

Acorn Woodpecker

Photo from All About Birds

Breaking leaf buds

Leaves

Increasing leaf size Colored leaves

Flowers or Flower Buds

Open Flowers

Fruits

Ripe Fruits

Recent fruit or seed drop

DECIDUOUS PLANT PHENOPHASES

Breaking leaf buds

Leaves

Increasing leaf size Colored leaves

Flowers or Flower Buds

Open Flowers

Fruits

Ripe Fruits

Recent fruit or seed drop

DECIDUOUS PLANT PHENOPHASES

UNDERSTANDING PHENOPHASEDEFINITIONS

20 minutes INSIDE

Activity 3

After reviewing the definitions, discuss:

1. Something that you have seen before, or

is familiar

2. Something that is confusing

3. Something you’d like to understand better

Activity 3

Data IN

Enter Observations Online

Photo credit: S. Schaffer

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

Data OUT

Red maple (Acer rubrum) in 2013

collected via Nature’s Notebook

http://www.usanpn.org/data/visualizations

DATA DOWNLOAD

1. Data for Creosote in 2012 vs. 20132. Data for Ocotillo in 2013

Dark Grey = no dataLight Grey=User entered “no”Color corresponds to phenophase

https://www.usanpn.org/results/data

DATA DOWNLOAD

RESULTS

2012. Primack, R. B, Miller-Rushing, A.J

7 day average

61 years

2-3 week average

1999. Bradley, N.L., Leopold, C.A., Ross, J., Huffacker, W.

Sandhill crane and geese

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

Fall Webworm phenology

• Timing – Fall

• IPM, natural

"Snowman on frozen lake" by Petritap - Own work. Licensed under Creative Commons @ Wikimedia Commons.

"Spring in Somerville, NJ - 2012 File 3" by Siddharth Mallya - Own work. Licensed under Creative Commons @ Wikimedia Commons

"Owoce wisni" by Nova - Own work. Licensed under Creative Commons @ Wikimedia Commons By Hans [CC0], via Wikimedia Commons

Photo credit: P. Warren

Observing is experiencing

Using nature as a guide

Ecosystems, climate, & phenology

USA National Phenology Network

Master NaturalistsNext Steps

Photo credit: E. Alderson Photo credit: B. Powell Photo credit: B. Powell

Photo credit: P. Warren

Education

Citizen Science

Stewardship

Photo credit: L. Barnett

Record keeping

Consistent protocols

Useable, scale-able

Citizen science

Data output

Photo credit: L. Barnett

Photo credit: T. Brown via Wikimedia Commons

Photo credit: Britton, N.L., and A. Brown., NRCS Plants B

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Photo credit: Hans Hillewaert via Wikimedia Commons

Water Hyacinth

American bullfrog

Photo credit: L. Barnett

www.CoCoRaHS.org

DATA COLLECTION 30 minutes - OUTSIDE

Activity 4

DATA ENTRY20 minutes - INSIDE

Activity 5

Photo credit: P. Warren

Observing is experiencing

Using nature as a guide

Ecosystems, climate, & phenology

USA National Phenology Network

Master Naturalists

Next Steps

Photo credit: E. Alderson Photo credit: B. Powell Photo credit: B. Powell

Photo credit: P. Warren

Photo credit: L. Barnett

LONG-TERM PROGRAM PLANNING

Phenology

Plant & People

Connections Local Ecology & Biodiversity

HabitatsClimate & Weather

Photo credit: L. Barnett

Design a PHENOLOGY PROGRAM

• What is your science question?• What outcomes, short and long term, do

you want to achieve?• What are the activities you can do?• What are the resources you already

have?• Who would be potential partners?

When are mesquite beans

ready for harvest?

Volunteer Groups

Local Partners

You’re invited to

connect with USA-NPN…

• Sign up for a phenology e-newsletter (quarterly)

• Join the Nature’s Notebook community and become an observer: Contribute to science while having fun!

• Discover new tools and resources LoriAnne Barnett

lorianne@usanpn.org@loriannebarnett