A Strategy for Developing an USA-NPN/NPS Collaboration

for Monitoring Plant and Animal Phenology
14 September 2009

Background and purpose

Phenology is the study of plant and animal life cycle events such as leafing and flowering of plants, maturation of agricultural crops, emergence of insects, and migration of birds. Phenological events such as these are sensitive to climate variation and are critical to nearly all ecosystem processes and functions, including changes in population sizes, species interactions, carbon and water cycles, and agriculture. Phenological observations are important indicators of the magnitude and direction of biological responses to climate, and they are thus key inputs to developing adaptive responses to climate change.

The US National Park Service and the USA-NPN share common goals of understanding and communicating patterns in the phenology of plants, animals, and landscapes, especially in response to rapid climate change. Enhanced understanding of ecological response to changing climate conditions can better inform park management. As a result, efforts are building to engage park staff, scientists, volunteers, and visitors in plant and animal phenology monitoring in National Parks across the US.

Several collaborative phenology projects between the USA-NPN and the NPS are either in the planning or action phases. This document will be updated on an annual basis to reflect the status of collaborative USA-NPN and NPS phenology projects. The most current information can be found on the NPS page of the USA-NPN website, at

Vision

USA-NPN and NPS will collaborate in monitoring phenology across park units, and in the evaluation, interpretation, and communication of results. This partnership will significantly contribute to our understanding of the response of plants, animals, and landscapes to environmental variation, including rapid climate change. The knowledge obtained will be effectively shared with park managers, visitors, staff, and scientists, and provide a clear and direct means for communicating the immediate and influences of a changing climate. Observed trends in phenology will inform decisions on the management of park resources and facilitate appropriate management response to rapid climate changes.

Strategic Emphasis Areas

Developments are needed in three critical areas to establish and sustain a long-term partnership between USA-NPN and NPS (and other organizations). These are:

Observing the effects of climate change and variability

Establish wide-spread monitoring of phenology in NPS units, using methods and procedures consistent with USA-NPN guidance. Promote and establish phenological research in parks and the use of parks as fixed, long-term monitoring sites.

Parks contain some of the most pristine landscapes in the United States. These areas can be important “listening posts” for conducting phenological research, and serve to engage USA-NPN and NPS staff in scientific studies that contribute to park management and to the broader scientific community.

USA-NPN can effectively provide guidance on the species observation methods, while NPS has ‘boots on the ground’ and the land base. Everyone will be encouraged to participate in monitoring plant and animal phenology, and procedures appropriate for casual observers as well as researchers and professional monitoring staff will be provided.

A broad range of existing NPS programs and staff will be encouraged to establish and sustain phenological monitoring and research in parks. The NPSI&M Program, Research Learning Centers, and Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Units provide key points of contacts and opportunities for engaging NPS staff. Connections to other programs will be essential to support research. These include the emerging Climate Effects Network, EPA monitoring and assessment, NEON sites, and US FWS collaborators.

Share data and information to increase its value

Share phenological observations and information across NPS, USA-NPN, to the public, and with the wider scientific community to benefit all participants.

Site-based phenological observations are most powerful when combined with other data. This facilitates identification and evaluation of trends time and space - trends that are only detected in large data sets. NPS can contribute to and benefit from the regional to national scale focus of the USA-NPN by contributing observations to USA-NPN, and using the combined data to interpret results. Shared phenological observations across NPS, USA-NPN, and the wider scientific community benefits all partners involved in phenological monitoring.

The USA National Phenology Monitoring System (NPMS) includes standard monitoring methods, recommended species, and standardized phenological event definitions. These materials need to be adapted into formats that are appropriate for use by I&M Networks and other NPS scientists.

The USA-NPN Information Management System (NPN-IMS), maintained by the National Coordinating Office of the USA-NPN, includes components for data storage (e.g., the National Phenology Database (NPD)), and a variety of online user interfaces to accommodate data entry and download such as catalog searches and data visualization. Many elements of this system are still under development. As these elements are rolled out, NPS end-users need to be made aware of them so they can be built into periodic analysis and reporting mechanisms.

Communications: Connectand inspire

Use the information and knowledge to connect with the full range of citizens, and inspire them to learn about and respond to environmental change. Widely disseminate messages about the importance and management implications of phenology, results from monitoring and research, and the benefits of collaborative phenological monitoring.

Use park-based and other observations to educate park visitors and staff about the importance of phenology observations as a data resource, the timing of phenological events, their importance as indicators of response to a changing climate, and linkages between organisms and their environment. Use site-based observations to relate broad-scale climate changes to local resources, and inspire park visitors, volunteers, and staff to contribute to a greater understanding of phenology. Integrate communications program fully with other activities to ensure data and information are provided to the right people, at the right time, in the right format.

Create and/or provide useful and engaging information content that leverages the developing infrastructure provided by the USA-NPN Information Management System, and that effectively uses the existing NPS resources to develop and disseminate information. The NPS Office of Education and Outreach, the Research Learning Centers, and the Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Units will likely be key participants in communications activities.

Principles and Objectives for Implementation

We will need to embrace a multifaceted approach that promotes and facilitates individual creativity and initiative. Operational principles to nurture these relationships are to:

  • Communicate regularly and keep the points of contact informed of related activities.
  • Use or create products, processes, and methods that are general, facilitate reuse, and that contribute to the broader goals of the partners. Where they exist, use existing standards and follow established guidelines.
  • Leverage strengths. Document roles, responsibilities and expectations.

Collaboration between the NPS and the USA-NPN is being coordinated by a small number of individuals with limited amounts of dedicated time. Accordingly, implementationmust be both strategic and opportunistic. The aim of this planning effort is to identify key areas that USA-NPN and NPS staff can actively promote and support.Field efforts – the heart of the partnership – necessitate support and good will from collaborators. These opportunistic field activities must be used to develop relationships, generate results and products, and demonstrate success. The specific requirements of field opportunities should, to some extent, drive the more specific activities that are (for the most part) not described below.

Specific actions for implementing phenology monitoring in national parks are described in the Action Plan for Developing an USA-NPN/NPS Collaboration for Monitoring Phenology.

Examples of KeyCurrent Activities

Two important active efforts to build phenology monitoring into park activities are:

  1. Northeastern US parks: A pilot project focused on plant and animal phenology and involving the Northeast Temperate I&M Network (NETN), Acadia National Park, Appalachian National Scenic Trail, Appalachian Mountain Club, Appalachian Trail Conservancy, Boston Harbor Islands, Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park, Saugus Iron Works National Historic Site, The Wildlife Society, and the USA-NPN. USA-NPN project manager - Wildlife Phenology Program Coordinator (Abe Miller-Rushing)
  2. California parks and Pacific Northwest Region: Representatives of several I&M networks (MOJN, SIEN, MEDN, SFAN, KLMN) and several parks in California are working to develop and test a pilot monitoring effort with a limited number of plant species. USA-NPN project manager - Plant Phenology Program Coordinator (Kathryn Thomas)

Key Contacts

Membership / Responsibilities
Theresa Crimmins (USA-NPN)

(520) 792-0481 /
  1. First POC on USA-NPN side; ‘traffic director’
  2. Develop high-level plan
  3. Recruit help from organization
  4. Maintain communications with topic/major area leads.

John Gross (NPS)

(970) 267-2111 /
  1. First POC on NPS side; ‘traffic director’
  2. Develop high-level plan
  3. Recruit help from organization
  4. Maintain communications with topic/major area leads.

Kathryn Thomas (USA-NPN)

(520) 670-5534 /
  1. Project Manager - California/PWR phenology group
  2. Plant species lists and protocols

Abe Miller-Rushing (USA-NPN)

(520) 622-0363 /
  1. Project Manager - northeastern US parks pilot project
  2. Animal species lists and protocols

Angie Evenden (NPS)

(775) 784-4616 /
  1. NPS lead for California/PWR phenology group

Ben Becker (NPS)

(415) 464-5247 /
  1. NPS Research Learning Center (RLC) leader; coordinate/communicate across network of RLCs.

Jake Weltzin (USA-NPN)

(520) 626-3821 /
  1. USA-NPN Executive Director

Brian Mitchell /
  1. NETN Network Coordinator

This document is intended to be regularly updated and distributed by USA-NPN staff (T. Crimmins).

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