Welcome Fall with Nature’s Notebook and the Timberland Regional Library in Washington State for an event focused on documenting signs of seasonal change.
Nature’s Notebook is a citizen science project that studies phenology, the study of seasons. Changes in phenological events, like flowering and animal migration, are among the most sensitive biological responses to climate change. How plants and animals respond can help us predict whether their populations will grow or shrink – making phenology a “leading indicator” of climate change impacts. Using Nature’s Notebook app or website, volunteers log their observations of plants and animals to help scientists take the pulse of the planet.
RSVP for an event on 10/8 at 3 PM PT to learn everything you need to know to study the seasons.
Before the event, check out a Twitter thread (posted below) by Erin Posthumus from Nature’s Notebook. She takes you through the steps of capturing the seasonal activity of plants and animals. Hopefully you’ll also participate from your community!
Twitter Thread
Next Thursday, 10/08 at 3 pm PDT, join us for a Signs of Fall online #citsci event hosted by @SciStarter! https://t.co/3moa98SjNw #CitizenScience #NaturesNotebook
— USA National Phenology Network (@USANPN) October 2, 2020
Let’s start looking at signs of fall #phenology in an unlikely place-Tucson,AZ, home of our Nat’l Office. Tucson has had record heat and dry weather this summer. How did plants and animals respond?
— USA National Phenology Network (@USANPN) October 3, 2020
To report this milkweed with the #NaturesNotebook app, select which life cycle stages you see by choosing yes, no, or ? pic.twitter.com/X0MIVWyZjI
— USA National Phenology Network (@USANPN) October 3, 2020
You can also indicate the intensity of the life cycle stage. For open flowers, select the percent that are open. For this milkweed, I estimate a little less than half. pic.twitter.com/erNKBjR3S3
— USA National Phenology Network (@USANPN) October 3, 2020
Elsewhere in Tucson, prickly pears still have ripe fruits and ocotillo are showing our desert version of colored leaves! These are other life cycle events you can track in #NaturesNotebook pic.twitter.com/TtuvnFlG4s
— USA National Phenology Network (@USANPN) October 3, 2020
Along the Gulf Coast of Mississippi, one sign of #Autumn is flowering of Eastern baccharis, a nectar source for monarchs on their way south to Mexico as well as for many other pollinators. Photo by Gail Bishop, Gulf Coast Phenology Trail Coordinator https://t.co/EAbeEBsdRt pic.twitter.com/el3mYIEyl6
— USA National Phenology Network (@USANPN) October 4, 2020
If we head up to WA state, many plants have ripe fruits this #Autumn. Vine maple, Nootka rose, and California huckleberry are all plants you can track in #NaturesNotebook Photos Kathy Stetz, Whidbey Island #phenology pic.twitter.com/5QUYPbaDvs
— USA National Phenology Network (@USANPN) October 4, 2020
Now that you’ve gotten an introduction to the signs of Fall, RSVP for our event on 10/8 at 3 PM PT to dig deeper and study the seasons with citizen science.
