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Dear USA-NPN,
It may not feel like spring yet where you are, but our Status of Spring page is already tracking locations that have reached the thermal requirements for leaf out of early season plants. So far this year, spring leaf out arrived on time to over a week late in the southernmost parts of Texas and Florida, and over a week early in parts of South and North Carolina. Follow along and track spring's progress towards your location!
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Have you checked out our new USA-NPN website? Some useful new features include a map of Local Phenology Programs across the country, LPP Profiles Pages to describe your Program to the public (like this one for Washington Square Park Phenology), and a list of ways to partner with USA-NPN. You'll also notice some changes to your Observation Deck, including easy access to learning resources, visualizations, badges, and more!
Lastly, I'll be attending the Southwest Adaptation Forum in Tucson, AZ from February 27-29 and the Monarchs and More Network Meeting in Austin, TX from March 5-8. If you'll be at either of these meetings, I'd love to connect! Reach out at erin@usanpn.org.
Sincerely,
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What's new at Nature's Notebook and USA-NPN
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Give your input, help sustain USA-NPN! | |
We are so excited to be a part of a pilot effort this year, supported by the National Science Foundation and NobleReach Emerge, to identify opportunities and paths to program sustainability for the USA-NPN. As part of this work with our new Embedded Entrepreneur, Jeremy Clark, we have put together a short survey to find out what you value most about the USA-NPN, and what we should build on in the future. We appreciate any responses by next Thursday, February 8th. Our thanks in advance for taking a couple minutes to give your input!
Take the short survey »
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Nectar plant guidance for the South Central Region | |
The first phase of our South Central Climate Adaptation Science Center-funded project, Time to Restore, wrapped up last year. This is an ongoing effort to support those working on pollinator restoration with climate-informed guidance on bloom and seed times for species of interest. You can read a StoryMap that describes what we learned during the first two years of the project. Three info sheets for New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Louisiana provide guidance on shifts in flowering and seed timing.
Live in Texas? We are hiring a Texas Coordinator to expand the Time to Restore project to that state! This independent contractor will work to establish long-term phenology data collection sites in Texas and assist with a virtual stakeholder workshop with those working on pollinator restoration in Texas. Feel free to share with others who may be interested!
Learn more about Time to Restore »
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Opportunities for phenology in the USFS | |
As part of a multi-year partnership with the US Forest Service, USA-NPN team members and collaborators from the Appalachian Mountain Club partnered to better understand unit-level opportunities for the application of phenological information in forest management and planning in Region 9. This report summarizes four areas of opportunity identified and sets the stage for ways to incorporate phenology in forest management.
Read the Opportunities Assessment »
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Recent happenings in the field of phenology | |
Earlier spring on the Appalachian Trail | |
The Appalachian Trail stretches over 2,000 miles from north to south, traversing 14 states. Authors of a recent study looked at data from satellites as well as the USA-NPN's spring index, which is based on leaf out of early season lilacs and honeysuckles. Both satellite data and the spring index revealed greater shifts in spring leaf out in the northern part of the Trail, 6 to 18 days earlier on average.
Read the article »
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Get ready for the cicadas! | |
This year, for the first time in over 200 years, two broods of cicadas are predicted to emerge simultaneously in the eastern U.S. The insects, periodical cicadas that spend at least a decade underground as nymphs, will emerge in the trillions. Brood XIII cicadas will emerge in the Midwest, while XIX will emerge primarily in the Southeast. Some areas may see both broods, which means potential interbreeding.
Read more in an article from the BBC »
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The impacts of an early spring | |
What are the implications of early spring activity for plants and animals? An article by USA-NPN Director Theresa Crimmins in the Old Farmer's Almanac Garden Guide describes how plants, animals, and humans are trying to adapt.
Read the article »
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Especially for Local Phenology Leaders | |
The LPP Annual Survey is open! | |
Each year, we ask Local Phenology Leaders to complete a short survey about your Programs so that we can get a better sense of how you are using Nature's Notebook and how we can help you achieve your goals. Your feedback helps us grow and improve Nature's Notebook and provides inspiration for other Programs like yours. Plus, when you complete the survey you'll be entered into a weekly raffle to win USA-NPN merch!
We would greatly appreciate all survey responses by February 16, 2024.
Take the survey »
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Sign up for updates on the Spring LPL Certification Course | |
We will begin another cohort of the Local Phenology Leader Certification Course this coming March. This is an online, interactive, 10-week course that will walk you through how to implement a long-term phenology program for your organization or group. The course provides an in-depth look at all of the USA-NPN resources available to you. You can sign up on our Interest List to be the first to know once applications open.
Sign up for the LPL Certification Course Interest List »
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Useful resources for your LPP | |
We've been hearing about a lot of great resources lately that may be relevant for your Local Phenology Program:
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Volunteer data supports National Parks | |
300 million people visit National Parks each year, and a growing number are helping parks collected scientific data. A new article from Park Science describes what motivates visitors and gives examples of what parks are learning from data collected by volunteer scientists.
Read the article »
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Credit: California Phenology Project | |
High School activity on Spring Leaf Out | |
A new activity from the Carolina Knowledge Center, Phenology: Spring Leaf Index, uses the USA-NPN's Spring Leaf Index to explore the question "How can nationwide data be used to support claims of environmental changes?" The activity comes with Teacher Notes and a Student Worksheet.
See the activity »
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