Mark D. Schwartz, UW-Milwaukee With contributions from: Julio L. Betancourt (USGS & U. Arizona),

1. Building a USA National Phenology Network that Includes Citizen Scientists Mark D. Schwartz, UW-Milwaukee With contributions from: Julio L. Betancourt (USGS & U. Arizona), Jake Weltzin (USGS), & almost 100 others USA-NPN Plant Phenology Programs: http://www.npn.uwm.edu USA-NPN National Coordinating Office: http://www.usanpn.org

2. Phenology is an essential component of the biosphere Adapted from Bonan (2002) Ecol. Climatology

3. PREAMBLE: Phenology is a far-reaching component of environmental science but is poorly understood. Critical questions include how environmental factors affect the phenology of different organisms, and how those factors vary in importance on different spatial and temporal scales. We need to know how phenology affects the abundance and diversity of organisms, their function and interactions in the environment, especially their effects on fluxes in water, energy, and chemical elements at various scales. With sufficient observations and understanding, phenology can be used as a predictor for other processes and variables of importance at local to global scales, and could drive a variety of ecological forecast models with both scientific and practical applications. USA-NPN Implementation Team 4/16/06

4. The predictive potential of phenological phenomena requires a new data resource - a national network of integrated phenological observations and the tools to analyze them at multiple scales. This network is essential to evaluate ongoing environmental changes. It will capitalize on integration with other observation networks and remote sensing products, emerging technologies and data management capabilities, myriad educational opportunities, and a readiness of the public to participate in investigations of nature on a national scale. USA-NPN Implementation Team 4/16/06

5. USA-NPN Vision Statement USA-NPN will provide phenological information that can be used to understand the role of the timing of life cycle events in the biosphere. It will establish a nationwide network of phenological observations with simple and effective means to input, report, and utilize these observations, including the resources to provide appropriate and timely information for a wide range of decisions made routinely by individual citizens and by the Nation as a whole. USA-NPN Implementation Team 4/16/06

6. HISTORY OF USA PHENOLOGY NETWORKS • Joe Caprio Agricultural Climatologist at Montana State Univ., started Western Regional lilac network in 1956; added honeysuckles in 1968 • Climatological observers, agric. & forest stations, garden clubs • Grew from 1000 observers in 11 states in 1956 to 2500 observers by 1970 • WRPN terminated when Caprio retired in 1994 • Dan Cayan & Mike Dettinger contacted Caprio in late 1990’s & reactivated network at two dozen sites • Eastern US Network started by W.L. Coville 1961, lost funding 1986, but continued since by Mark D. Schwartz By Joseph M. Caprio

7. Key U.S.A. Phenology Meetings since 2004 Aug. 24-26, 2004, Tucson, AZ, NEON Ecological Responses to Climate AIBS Workshop, (recommends formation of a USA-NPN). December 13-17, 2004 AGU Fall Meeting in San Francisco, session on Phenology and Global Change: Patterns, Processes, and Dynamics June 16 and 17, 2005, Lincoln, NE, High Plains Initiative for Integrated Phenology, Phenology and Environmental Change: Challenges and Opportunities Aug. 24-26, 2005, Tucson, AZ, NSF & Agency-Sponsored Workshop to Develop Implementation Plan for a National Phenology Network December 5-9, 2005, AGU Fall Meeting in San Francisco, CA, Land Surface Phenology: Characterization, Modeling, and Analysis of Change March 22-24, 2006, Tucson, AZ., USA-NPN Implementation Team Meeting October 9-13, 2006, Milwaukee, WI, 2nd USA-NPN Planning Workshop December 11-15, 2006 AGU Fall Meeting in San Francisco, CA, session on Land Surface Phenology, Seasonality, and the Water Cycle April 12, 2007 Phenology Session, Interntl. Assoc. Landsc. Ecologists, Tucson Aug. 27-29, 2007, Milwaukee, WI, 1st RCN USA-NPN conference

8. NPN Network Structure Increasing Process Knowledge Decreasing Spatial Coverage Adapted from CENR-OSTP

9. NPN Network Structure Tier 1: Intensive Science Sites Tier 2: Extensive Science Sites Tier 3: Volunteer and Education Networks Tier 4: Remote Sensing Adapted from CENR-OSTP

13. NPN Network Structure Tier 1: Intensive Science Sites Tier 2: Extensive Science Sites Tier 3: Volunteer and Education Networks Tier 4: Remote Sensing Adapted from CENR-OSTP

18. BLM

20. Observers that have registered to make phenological observations for USA-NPN N ~ 700 (as of 6/3/07)

21. NPN Network Structure Tier 1: Intensive Science Sites Tier 2: Extensive Science Sites Tier 3: Volunteer and Education Networks Tier 4: Remote Sensing Adapted from CENR-OSTP

22. Community Colleges in the United States

23. Educational Goals: • Increase awareness of climate change • Educate about the impacts of climate change on plants and the environment • Increase science literacy by engaging participants in the scientific process. Project BudBurst is expanding in 2008 to allow for phenology data collection all year long! • Why phenology? • Phenology is visible and comprehensible in demonstrating the effects of climate change, • People already notice the timing of events such as when plants bloom and the seasonal onset of allergies. • Plants are readily accessible in nearly every neighborhood, park, and wild areas allowing for most everyone to make observations • Engaging in phenology studies provides the opportunity to learn more about native plants and ecosystems in local environments

24. NPN Network Structure Tier 1: Intensive Science Sites Tier 2: Extensive Science Sites Tier 3: Volunteer and Education Networks Tier 4: Remote Sensing Adapted from CENR-OSTP

25. provide ground truth to make the most of the public investment in remote sensing • relate remote sensing estimates to meaningful biophysical attributes • allow detailed biophysical inputs into a variety of models (move from on/off parameters to nuanced values) • fill gaps between ground observations to produce a continuous surface of phenology estimates at the national scale • facilitate thorough understanding of phenological phenomena, including causes and effects Remote Sensing Objectives Of USA-NPN

26. Prototype for web-based NPNhttp://www.npn.uwm.edu

27. Select appropriate native species

28. Submit data over the Internet

29. USA-NPN Plant Phenology Program • 3 Indicator (clonal) species [Syringa chinensis, Cornus florida, Fouquiera splendens] • 18 Calibration species [Allergy, Coniferous, Crops, Deciduous, Herb] • Other species as determined by abundance and observer preferences

30. Metadata Services Others NPN Catalog National Phenology Network CyberInfrastructure (Phase III) NPN Website Portal Researchers Educators Students Citizen Scientists Public Visitors Web/Grid Services Interfaces (WSDL) Registration NPNsearch NPNworkbench workflow, visualization, HPC Data Integration Services Computational & Modeling Services Data Registration Services Mapping Services Ontology Enabled Integration ArcIMS WMS WFS Modeling, Analysis Tools Logging Services Indexing Services Other Core Services Data Transfer Tech. Data Services Usage Stats Collection & Analysis Spatial Temporal Conceptual Postgres, MySQL, etc. Physical Grid (Including UWI, SDSC, ORNL) RedHat Linux, ROCKS, OGSI www.geongrid.org

31. USA-NPN National Coordinating Office Joint Venture of the U.S. Geological Survey & Univ. of Arizona, housed at Office of Arid Lands Studies Jake Weltzin, USA-NPN Executive Director