I did my phenology walk on April 15th. I started at Billings Library and worked my way up to the green in front of Aiken and the Davis Center. Some of the trees were pretty hard to find, as they were not where they were marked to be on the map. There were very few leaf buds on the trees and no leaves. However, I observed plenty of flower buds and some flowers. I couldn’t easily tell if the trees were producing pollen yet, so I left that section as unknown. This information tells me most of the trees were in similar phenophases at the time. The Norway Maple we observed did seem to have more leaf buds than the other trees, so perhaps it was slightly ahead of the game.
I found it especially interesting to learn how the NPN controls data quality and what they use that data for. With information coming from all kinds of people, including researchers, students, children, and pretty much anyone in the general public, I imagine there is plenty of possibility for error. But the NPN puts each piece of data through a screening process to make sure it is accurate, neat, and easily accessible. They then use this data to predict the phenological patterns during spring each year and track trends in climate shifts. It’s used to predict how to time agricultural events best as well as when certain populations will likely be at peak and might need extra protection in parks or other areas.