Contribute gardening observations for research

The rhythm of seasonal change

LoriAnne Barnett

Education Coordinator

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

Flowers FruitsLeaves

Observable life cycle events orPHENOPHASES

Who observes phenology?• Scientists

• Gardeners/Agriculturists• Land managers

• Educators• Youth

Photo credit: C. Enquist

Photo credit: P. Warren

Photo credit: S. Schaffer

The Master Gardeners are a group of volunteers providing leadership and guidance to the community in

home gardening and landscaping.

Phenology research at the Extension Office can help you make informed recommendations, provide area-specific information about bloom times

and year to year variations, and accurate species information.

If you’ve done any gardening,

you are a PHENOLOGIST!

Identify local seasonal indicators. When do we expect to see them appear?

Has that changed at all through time?

DISCUSS

Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons

RECORD KEEPING

Garden re-created

Photo credit: Monticello

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

David Bertelsen,

Naturalist

The Finger Rock Dataset

• Collected by a single individual• 1984-present• 1480+ round-trip hikes (10 miles), 4158’ elevation gain• Approximately weekly• 587 flowering plant taxa (group of species)• 155K+ records of plant flowering. • 73,000 vertebrate records

Photo credit: B. Wilder

What’s Phenology

Finger Rock – Santa Catalina Mtns, TucsonFinger Rock Trail,

Santa Catalina MtnsTucson, AZ

Mile 1 – Desert scrub, riparian

Mile 2 – Desert scrub, scrub grassland

Mile 3 – Scrub grassland, oak woodland, oak pine woodland

Mile 4 – Oak-pine woodland, pine forest

Mile 5 – Oak-pine woodland, pine forest

Finger Rock Trail, Santa Catalina MtnsTucson, AZ

3,100’

7,258’

3,540’

4,500’

5,480’

6,360’

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

Observing the same individual through the seasons

EARTH’S SYSTEMS

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 West

Also account for:• Latitude• Hills and Valleys• Elevation• Ocean influence (humidity)• Continental air• Precipitation • Microclimates

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

ZONE 3A: Mild areas of mountain and intermountain climatesEast of the Sierra and Cascade ranges, you can hardly find a better gardening climate than Zone 3a.Winter minimum temperatures average from 15 to 25°F (–9 to –4°C), with extremes between –8 and –18°F (–22 and –28°C). Its frost-free growing season runs from 150 to 186 days. The zone tends to occur at lower elevations in the northern states (eastern Oregon and Washington as well as Idaho), but at higher elevations as you move south crossing Utah’s Great Salt Lake and into northern New Mexico and Arizona. Fruits and vegetables that thrive in long, warm summers, such as melons, gourds, and corn, tend to do well here. This is another great zone for all kinds of deciduous fruit trees and ornamental trees and shrubs. Just keep them well watered.

Mile 1

Mile 5

Mile 4

Mile 3

Mile 2

Desert scrub

Scrub grassland

Oak woodland

Oak-pinewoodland

Pineforest

800 mm

300 mm

10 ºC

20 ºC

Annu

al A

vera

ge P

reci

pita

tion

Annu

al A

vera

ge T

empe

ratu

re

Elevation-Veg-Climate gradient

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

Life Zones

Biodiversity

USA-NPN

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

Pho

to c

redi

t: L.

Rom

ano

• ~4,500 active observers• ~7,000 active sites• 4.6M+ records • Lilac data from 1956• Many taxa from 2009

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

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

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

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

DATA DOWNLOAD

RESULTS

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12 species exhibited flowering range shift upslope

34 species exhibited flowering range expansion upslope

23 species exhibited flowering range contraction upslope

Crimmins et al. (2009) Global Change Biology

Flowering range changes…

26% show change

How can PHENOLOGY be applied to the

Master Gardener Program?

DISCUSS

CENTRAL ARIZONA PHENOLOGY TRAIL

Photo credit: L. Barnett

James 4-H Camp on Mingus Mountain

Highlands Center for Natural History

Community Nature Center of Prescott

Walnut Creek Center for Ed and Research

Prescott Creeks/Watson Woods

Natural History Institute at Prescott College

~ ----------- ~Master Gardener Demonstration Gardens?

Photo credit: L. Barnett

Central Arizona Contacts

Suzette Russisuzetter@cableone.net

Edessa Carredessa52@gmail.com

Connect with USA-NPN…

• Sign up for a phenology quarterly e-newsletter

• Become an observer

• Discover new tools and resources

LoriAnne Barnettlorianne@usanpn.org

www.facebook.com/USANPN

www.pinterest.com/USANPN

www.twitter.com/@loriannebarnett