Phenological records collected by volunteers have allowed for the development of tools and resources that benefit conservation and natural resource management. Observing the seasonal activity of plants and animals has emerged as a key way for volunteers to contribute to scientific understanding of species’ responses to climate change and environmental variability. The field of phenology has made substantial advancements to identify the drivers and patterns of shifts in seasonal transitions over the past decade, much of this made possible by the contributions of citizen scientists. The USA National Phenology Network (USA-NPN; www.usanpn.org) was established to serve science and society by promoting a broad understanding of plant and animal phenology and the relationships among phenological patterns, climate, and environmental change. Data collected by citizen and professional scientists through Nature’s Notebook -- a national-scale, multi-taxa phenology observation program -- serve USA-NPN strategic goals of advancing science and informing decisions. Since 2009 over 17,000 Nature’s Notebook participants have contributed over 20 million observation records of plants and animals across the United States to the National Phenology Database. These phenology data and resultant products are being used in a rapidly growing number of applications for science, conservation and resource management, including over 80 peer-reviewed publications to date.
Results/Conclusions
USA-NPN invites researchers, educators, and partners to participate in Nature’s Notebook, to explore these data and tools, and to collaborate with the network to address a wide range of science questions and management needs. Here we share how data collected by Nature’s Notebook observers has led to scientific advances and the development of tools meet the needs of stakeholders. We will describe two case studies that demonstrate the impact of this program across audiences and applications. First, we explain how Nature’s Notebook data is being used to understand the drivers and patterns of invasive species phenology, and how these data are being used to validate and improve predictive models to optimize control and treatment. Second, we show how data on leafing of deciduous trees across the country is allows for the evaluation of existing models of the onset of spring, and for the generation of new predictive models that can inform growing season dynamics. These examples reflect campaigns where scientists worked alongside USA-NPN staff on outreach and communication to motivate observations on high priority taxa. Observers in turn receive detailed information on what their data show and how it is being used via newsletters and webinars.