[PCA] WEB: National Phenology Network & related articles

[Olivia Kwong]

The USA National Phenology Network (USA-NPN) is a new partnership among 
federal agencies, academics, citizen volunteers, and others to monitor and 
understand the influence of seasonal cycles on the nation.s biological 
resources. The USA-NPN (<www.usanpn.org>) will provide phenological 
information that can be used to understand the role of the timing of 
life-cycle events in the biosphere, and more importantly, contribute to 
decision-making that will help us adapt to changing environments.

We are in the process of developing a plant phenology monitoring program 
(building on a protoype program at UW-Milwaukee, 
<http://www.uwm.edu/Dept/Geography/npn/>) that includes carefully selected 
and vetted lists of species across the nation that can be monitored as 
indicators of climate change impacts on natural ecological systems. 
Species in this list have been carefully selected to meet stakeholder 
needs and applications (e.g., invasive species, milkweeds and other plants 
with important interactions with other organisms, allergenic species, 
crops, deciduous trees for tracking carbon sequestration and leaf color 
change).

We will interact with established science and monitoring networks (e.g., 
NEON, Ameriflux, LTER, NPS I & M, USFWS Refuges), conservation and 
education networks (e.g., botanical gardens, arboretums, Nature 
Conservancy) and the general public (e.g., via universities, high-schools, 
master gardeners, native plant societies, and an extensive network of 
volunteers) to monitor plant phenology using a set of standardized, vetted 
protocols at 10-20,000 locations across the US.  The new NPN web-page with 
on-line interface for data collection will go live in early April.

USGS provides base-stable support for the National Coordinating Office 
($270K/yr), but the success of this collaborative project will depend on 
involvement by many organizations.  For example, USFWS recently 
contributed $86K for the scoping and development of an animal phenology 
program to parallel the plant phenology program.  NSF has provided ~560K 
towards planning and implementation via workshops and a research 
coordination grant.  We are talking to NASA about support for a national 
coordinator for remote sensing for phenology, and the USFS R & D group 
about interactions with the Exp. Forest and Range Network.

A collaboration highlight is Project BudBurst (www.budburst.org) out of 
UCAR in Boulder.  Project BudBurst is collaborating closely with the NPN 
as a citizen science field campaign for phenology, with some limited 
support from BLM, the Chicago Botanical Garden and a number of other 
sponsors and partners.  This program has generated enormous media 
interest, and the response by the public has been very positive. 
Continuation and expansion of Project BudBurst would enable us to 
capitalize on the new awareness and interest on the part of the public to 
learn about climate change impacts, and their willingness to work with 
scientists to monitor global change impacts "in their backyard."  Sandra 
Henderson (the coordinator for Project BudBurst, cc'd above) and I would 
be happy to provide more information about opportunities for interaction 
and collaboration with Project BudBurst and the NPN.

I hope this information is helpful.  Please feel free to forward this note 
to any of your colleagues who might be intersted, and contact me if you 
have any questions about the NPN.

Sincerely,

Jake Weltzin

Jake F. Weltzin
Executive Director, USA National Phenology Network
National Coordinating Office
1955 East 6th Street
Tucson, AZ 85719
Phone: (520) 626-3821
Fax: (520) 621-3816
E-mail: jweltzin at usgs.gov
NPN homepage: http://www.usanpn.org/

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ABC News:  http://www.abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory?id=4481367
CBS News: 
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/03/19/tech/main3951146.shtml
USA Today: 
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/environment/2008-03-19-warming-spring_N.htm

Seasons Springing Forward, Reports Show:  (AP) The capital's famous cherry 
trees are primed to burst out in a perfect pink peak about the end of this 
month. Thirty years ago, the trees usually waited to bloom till around 
April 5.

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Forbes:  http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2008/03/19/ap4794666.html

Old Photos Document Early Spring in East:  The journals of Henry David 
Thoreau help scientists in New England investigate global warming's effect 
on the timing of spring. Thoreau carefully documented the dates the 
blueberry bushes bloomed.

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Houston Chronicle: 
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/science/5632633.html
San Francisco Chronicle: 
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2008/03/19/national/a091833D53.DTL&type=health

Kids help track early plant blooms . Monitoring global warming usually 
requires a Ph.D. and enough math to glaze your eyes. But Francisco Lopez 
and Ruby Nostrant track what climate change is doing to five different 
plants in Tucson, Ariz., and they are just in second grade.  "We're 
collecting data because the weather is changing and the plants are 
blooming," Ruby explained.

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http://www.newsday.com/news/science/wire/sns-ap-spring-midwest,0,6234431.story
http://hosted.ap.org/specials/interactives/_science/earlier_spring/

Midwest Now a Harbor for Early Birds - Starting in the 1930s, naturalist 
Aldo Leopold in Wisconsin tracked when white indigo bloomed, cardinals 
first sang and house wrens arrived.