What is phenology? How to track seasonal changes in your backyard and why it's important.
It’s springtime and birds are singing, flowers are blooming and the outdoor environment is buzzing with life.
Many people notice things that happen in their environment, like when a nearby tree begins to sprout leaves or robins build a nest. While these might seem like the simple side effects of paying attention to the natural world, they are the basis for phenology, the study of organism life cycles as they relate to the seasons.
Interested area residents gathered for a training on phenology at Hamlin Beach State Park on May 10, led by Lara Hargrave, an environmental educator with New York State Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation. The training centered around the use of Nature’s Notebook, an app run by the U.S. National Phenology Network, and basic phenophase identification.
Getting started with phenology
Making your first observations can be as easy as going out into an area you’re familiar with and documenting what species of plants and animals you see, whether it's in your yard or a nearby park. You should select a location that you visit regularly so you can make weekly observations about plants and animals that you typically observe there.
The site you track should have a single type of habitat, if possible, to avoid skewing the data, Hargrave said. If your park or property contains swamp, forest and lake front, for instance, create separate phenological sites for each using Nature’s Notebook or the tracking method of your choice.
“It’s really easy to make sites and it makes it a little easier to monitor, too, when you have those smaller chunks,” Hargrave said.
More: Climate change is affecting seasonal indicators. How phenology helps track those impacts
Monitoring sites shouldn’t be larger than 15 acres and should, ideally, have more than a single example of a species in the monitoring site and in the same general area to account for individual variation and microclimate effects.
The observations recorded in Nature’s Notebook center around different categories for plants and animals. The animal observations fall under activity, reproduction and development; plant observations include leaves, flowers and fruits. In addition to observing different states, intensity can also be estimated.
You can also join an existing site that’s a manageable distance away, such as the Genesee Region NYS Parks Phenology Project at Hamlin Beach and New York Phenology Project at SUNY Geneseo. These sites are available through the Nature’s Notebook app or website.
Nature’s Notebook also includes several training modules for aspiring phenological volunteers, giving insight into what phenology is, how to create sites, and how to record observations.
Why is phenology important?
The life cycles of plants and animals are intertwined. Some birds lay eggs to align with insect emergence, and insect emergence is tied to temperature, daylight and other seasonal factors.
It is also a leading indicator of climate change, with data gathered around the country indicating spring events are happening earlier than usual and fall events later than in the past. These changes aren’t happening at the same rate for all organisms, causing mismatches in emergence that can affect populations.
More: Your guide to Rochester's spring bird migration: Top locations, tips and timing
Information gathered by community observations can help scientists visualize and track changes to the arrival of the seasonal events like full leaf and full bloom.
Hargrave said the gathered information doesn’t have to be perfectly accurate, but information to create a general pattern over time.
“This is going to get easier with time and familiarity with your site and your study species,” she said.
— Steve Howe covers weather, climate and lake issues for the Democrat and Chronicle and held a hummingbird in his hand when helping to band birds as a kid. An RIT graduate, he returned to Rochester after working around the state and in Utah. Share with him at showe@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: What is phenology? How to track seasonal changes in your backyard
