Frogs are one of the animal species that are being studied in Wisconsin.
Like most gardeners, I read books on gardening and watch garden shows. One of my favorite shows is Garden Smart, which airs on Saturday mornings in our area. Today one of the segments talked about the USA National Phenology Network, a group of people trying to understand climate change and how that affects the plants and animals on our planet. (I have included information from that website in case you are interested in joining this worthy effort.)
What Is Phenology?
Phenology refers to recurring plant and animal life cycle stages, such as leafing and flowering, maturation of agricultural plants, emergence of insects, and migration of birds. It is also the study of these recurring plant and animal life cycle stages, especially their timing and relationships with weather and climate.
What does the Phenology Network do?
They bring together citizen scientists, government agencies, non-profit groups, educators and students of all ages to monitor the impacts of climate change on plants and animals in the United States. The network harnesses the power of people and the Internet to collect and share information, providing researchers with far more data than they could collect alone. Your observations will make a difference!
I went to the website they suggested and found a section called “Nature’s Notebook,” which has a way for gardeners to join the national plant and animal phenology observation program.
The Information below comes directly from the National Phenology Network website in the “Natures Notebook” section.
Four simple steps to get started observing:
- Search plants and animals. Learn about plants and animals you can observe – find out which species in your area are on the list.
- Learn how to observe. Learn how to select a site, select your plants and animals and record your observations.
- Register yourself online. Sign up to be an observer and become an official participant.
- Start reporting online. As you collect data during the season, log in to your account at “Nature’s Notebook” and enter your observations.Once you’ve submitted your observations, you can explore your data on the dynamic visualization tool and check out your standing on the leaderboards.
For more information: http://www.usanpn.org/participate/observe
OK, I joined.