Try This at Home: Phenology

Signs of Spring, originally uploaded by Reenie-Just Reenie

“What in the world is phenology?” you may be asking. “It sounds very boring,” you might add.

Luckily, you’d be wrong: it’s pretty cool stuff. Phenology is the technique of recording natural phenomena—leaf coloring, bud burst, the first robin of spring, insect appearances and disappearances, anything that happens in the natural world—and cataloguing them to better understand and predict natural patterns.

It’s been going on since ancient times, and much of the oldest knowledge has been passed down in proverbs (think “April showers bring May flowers”). After falling out of style in the 20th century, phenology’s on the rise again: phenological data is now being used to calculate historical and current climate change.

In one famous case, harvest date records for Pinot grapes in Burgundy were used in an attempt to reconstruct spring-summer temperatures from the year 1370 onward. Now scientists are using Thoreau’s notes on first flowerings from 1851 to 1858 to study patterns of plant abundance and decline in New England. The conventional wisdom is that phenological data may be able to accurately record and predict things like, say, global warming.

Blogger & soapmaker Amanda Nolan has compiled a great list of phenological signs and proverbs, such as:

When you see your first dandelion, it’s time to plant potatoes.

When the moon is waning, trees are easier to fell.

When you see the underside of maple leaves, a storm is coming.

When wasps nest in exposed places, start to conserve water.

Cool, eh? But how does it apply to you, in your little apartment on the 3rd floor?

My observation: rhododendron buds

Phenology for city dwellers

Okay, so not everybody’s a farmer. But even city mice can participate in phenological observation and prediction— and you’ve got good reason to do so. Phenology is currently being used to track climate change, predicting global warming and its effects from sand storms to insect patterns.

Project BudBurst is a great way to get started in phenology . You can take part simply by looking at the plants around you (yes, that includes hedges and sidewalk gardens) and observing how they change throughout the season. Report your observations every once in a while, and you’ll be contributing to a database that can be used to help us better understand the natural world. Budburst is great for kids and the casual phenologue; if you want to get hardcore with it, try the National Phenology Network in the USA or Nature Watch in Canada.

Beekeeping, birdwatching, petalgazing— & licking Lyme disease

My observation: Trout out of hibernation (and hungry!)

There are tons of good resources out there for people interested in observing and predicting fluctuations in their own environment. Here are some of my favorites:

• The U.S. Geological Survey offers “science you can use”: comprehensive data on biology, geology, water, climate change, and more. Check out their articles on everything from earthquakes to drinking water.
• ATTRA’s list of Phenology Links gives you information on flowering and fruiting of native plants & wildflowers, beekeeping calendars and guides, bird & butterfly guides, pest management calendars, and growing guides. Comprehensive to say the least.
• The Wikipedia Phenology entry gives an excellent overview as well as additional information on climate change tracking.
• Project BudBurst has a bunch of activity guides oriented toward kids & beginners, including classroom phenology projects.
• The USA National Phenology Network offers detailed resources for people who want to study phenology in depth, including excellent how-to guides.
• UC Davis Integrated Pest Management is an amazingly informative site with information on tons of pests and how to control/avoid them. They also have interactive tools for forecasting plantings, pest movements, and much more.
• The Life Cycles phenology software site has more information on why phenology is important and how to get started, plus lots of useful links.

My observation: first tiny flowers of spring