Arquivos de periódicos de junho 2022

03 de junho de 2022

Phenology for the Win

Happy June everyone! We're so thrilled to see how the project is already growing. We're approaching 1000 observations which is a wonderful milestone!

I wanted to write about a big aspect of our project here, which is phenology. Phenology is the study of seasonal biological events in an organism's life cycle. In the context of this project, we are looking at the budding, flowering, and fruiting stages of common woodland plants. Learning about when, where, and how fast certain events are occuring can help us understand how native plants are responding to shorter springs due to climate change.

Most of our target species (seen in our Project List) have easily identifiable stages, but some may need a closer look. For example, red trillium, one of the most common plants you'll find on your outings has distinct budding, flowering and fruiting:


(Photo Credits: Dan Bensonoff, Lee Thomas and David Reik via iNaturalist)

Canadian bunchberry may need a closer look however, as its false flower which can be deceiving. The flowers and immature fruits are small, so getting a close-up photo is important!


(Photo Credits: Lynn Harper, Luciana Ranelli and Jack Cadwell via iNaturalist)

When making an observation, if you can recognize the phenology stage of your plant, please record it! These observation fields will pop up when you select our project during your submission. You can fill them out to the best of your ability, but no worries if you're not sure - we have dedicated curators who are happy to take a look and assign the fields for you. Thank you for helping our research and showing how truly beautiful the New England Trail Corridor truly is! We look forward to your continued observations.

Posted on 03 de junho de 2022, 04:03 PM by grace_piselli grace_piselli | 0 comentários | Deixar um comentário

14 de junho de 2022

Location, Location, Location

Hello all! We have grown significantly since my last journal post, so welcome everybody! I hope you have been getting out on the trail or outside, as the weather is warming up in New England. National Trails Day was June 4th, and it was a beautiful day to hike.

In this post, I want to highlight the importance of metadata, or information about data that scientists can use. When you make an observation, you are contributing to a multitude of data fields. With just a picture and an ID, our curators can glean information such as phenology, location, elevation, surrounding community, and more. With this information AMC's research team can understand how environmental factors are contributing to the phenology of your observation. For example, if you are at a summit or have gained significant elevation, we would expect later flowering times (it's just a bit colder at higher elevations). If was a wicked storm in your area, we may be able to explain a sudden loss of petals on your plant.

All in all, knowing when and where you take your observation is essential. To allow us to see your location, make sure you allow iNaturalist to use your location, and when joining the project make sure to check "Yes, no matter who adds the observation to the project" when prompted about private/obscured coordinates. When on the trail, before clicking submit on your observation, wait a few seconds. We are looking for an accuracy of 100 meters or less - if you pause before submitting, iNaturalist will be able to narrow down your location to this range. With just a few extra seconds and click of a button, our scientists can get a much clearer picture of our woodland ecosystems.

We appreciate your help in this project, and we look forward to your observations! Happy hiking!

Posted on 14 de junho de 2022, 04:19 PM by grace_piselli grace_piselli | 0 comentários | Deixar um comentário

27 de junho de 2022

One Month Down, Many Years to Go

Hello everyone and Happy (belated) One Month Anniversary to the New England Trail Nature Watch! It's been amazing to see how the project has grown in just a few weeks. We have close to 3000 observations and growing which is astounding.

I want to just take a minute to say THANK YOU to all of our project members and observers who have contributed. You have provided data which will be instrumental in determining the state of our seasons in this changing world. I want to give a special shoutout to our top observers and invaluable project members: @lynnharper , @jackcadwell , @thomashulsey , @karro_frost , and @genv . Your prolific observations (and amazing photography skills might I add) are what makes this project tick. Without your and the other contributor's help, this research would not be possible!

In just one month we have gathered observations from over 1 million acres of the New England Trail Corridor. Close to 900 contributors have observed 59 species, dating back all the way back to 1993! See @walterfertig 's beautiful 20 year old Bloodroot observation below.

With this project we are hoping to gather data on the biodiversity and phenology of the New England Trail for many years to come. As you know, climate change is not fast, especially in terms of seasonal changes. It may be many more years yet before we are able to see large differences in our spring. However, even with the few years of observations you have contributed, changes can be seen. With this project research, the AMC and NET is hoping to bring awareness to the impacts of climate change on the natural spaces we hold dear. I thank you all again for your contributions, and your help in protecting our environment through science! See you out on the trail!

Posted on 27 de junho de 2022, 06:38 PM by grace_piselli grace_piselli | 0 comentários | Deixar um comentário