Portland Budwatch Phenology Monitoring

Welcome to Portland Budwatch! 

We aim to build local knowledge about native plant life cycles by mobilizing volunteers who can regularly check on individual plants to note when they leaf out, bloom, bear fruit, and so on.  The purpose of the citizen science research group will be to collect long-term data to understand how climate change is impacting local ecosystems. The collected data will be analyzed in order to make predictions about the consequences and share data for mitigating the potential effects of climate change. Portland Budwatch is also interested in forging partnerships with other organizations and networks.

Phenology refers to recurring plant and animal life cycle stages, such as leafing and flowering, 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. Phenology is the natural schedule of life history events; these events affect the abundance and diversity of organisms, their interactions with one another, their functions in food webs, their seasonal behavior, and global-scale cycles. 

In this kick-off year, we are beginning to monitor certain plants in the Portland Metro area as they go through their spring phenological stages.  We are encouraging citizens to monitor on marked trails and at home.  Also, we are holding a training session for all those interested on April 2nd.  Please email Portland Budwatch if you are interested in attending for more information (email address below).  Happy Spring!

Monitoring Marked Trails Monitoring at Home Data Sharing Additional Phenology Resources
	Photograph taken by Kelly Fischer

For more information, contact Portland Budwatch at budwatch@gmail.com