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From Oceans to Mountains: Recent Findings from Phenology Data Curated By the USA National Phenology Network

Phenology—the timing of seasonal events in plants and animals—occurs from oceans to mountains, anywhere organisms can be found. This measure of activity in plants and animals is an increasingly valuable indicator of how species and ecosystems are responding to changing environmental and climate conditions. The USA National Phenology Network (USA-NPN) collects, stores, and shares phenology data and information from across the United States. The data curated by the USA-NPN is increasingly being used by researchers and decision-makers in a wide range of applications, including forecasting species’ future phenology and spatial distribution, evaluating emerging temporal mis-matches among co-occurring species, and quantifying phenotypic plasticity. Further, these data and findings resulting from these data are a growing resource for education and outreach applications. The goal of this session is to highlight some of the recent applications and novel scientific findings emerging from phenology data and information that is curated by the USA-NPN. How these findings have the potential to influence policy and management and/or their utility in education and outreach will be emphasized. This topic is of growing interest to ESA attendees, as evidenced by the steady increase in the number of presentations and sessions focused on phenology in recent years.