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INDIGENOUS CLIMATE RESILIENCE NETWORK
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  • Home
  • About Us
    • History
    • Advisory Council
    • Tribal Resilience Liaisons
    • Organizations & Networks
    • Northeast Region
    • Tribes in the Northeast
  • Climate Change in the Northeast
    • Impacts of Climate Change on Tribes
    • How Tribes are Planning for Climate Change
    • Tribal Climate Adaptation Menu >
      • TAM Workshops
      • TAM Projects
    • Manoomin: Climate Change Impacts & Conservation >
      • Events
      • Manoomin Literature
  • Network Meetings
  • Projects & Events
    • Indigenous Planning Summer Institute
    • Shifting Seasons Summits >
      • 2021 Shifting Seasons Summit
    • Phenology Trail >
      • Phenology definition
      • why is phenology important?
  • Resources
    • Websites & Tools
    • Climate Change Literature
    • Funding Opportunities
  • Contact

What is phenology?

Climatologists use the phenological data observations to assist them while tracking climate data as global warming increases each year.  As far as the observational process, this research is not conducted just by the climate change scientists or climatologists or ecologists. Normal, everyday people, otherwise known as citizen scientists, including kids, can also observe, track and record the various phenophases of various plant and animals. 
    
The phenophases are the annual life cycle stages which occur during a plant or animal's life for a year.  For example, a common plant phenophase cycle for a deciduous or leaf-bearing tree in the Midwest is when the leaves change color in the fall.  Another example is when a plant first emerges or shows initial leaf growth from the ground, followed by the phenophase of breaking leaf buds when just the tip of the new leaf is visible at end of bud.  The next phase is when the leaf erupts and fully unfolds as a new leaf but it has not reached it's full size.  A flowering plant will display the phenophase which showcases the petals emerging from within the flower bud.  The following phases after pollination include the seed set, fruiting and seed dispersal. 

Some common animal phenophases are when a robin makes it's first appearance in the spring, when a bear goes into hibernation for the winter, or when various birds or insects migrate. 

Many of the plants, animals and even insects all depend on their inner time clocks so that they may all coexist in symbiotic relationships. For example, if a particular plant blooms too early before the insect or migratory pollinators (hummingbirds) have appeared or emerged, the nectar food source for the insect won't be available.  The pollinators will not have the food source they need to survive and if the plant doesn't get pollinated, it will not go into to fruiting phenophase which is needed to go into the seeding phenophase.

​Sources:
https://www.nwf.org/Wildlife/Wildlife-Conservation/Phenology.aspx
https://www.usanpn.org/about/why-phenology
http://budburst.org/phenology_whyphenology




Contact

College of Menominee Nation - Sustainable Development Institute
​
N172 Hwy 47/55
 PO Box 1179
Keshena, WI 54135
​
​This site is not a forum for sharing sensitive or protected information. Instead, it is a place that provides the latest tools and resources for Indigenous peoples and scientists to work together towards meeting the current challenges of climate change and is a place to build an understanding of how climate change is affecting tribes within the Northeast region of the U.S.  Any sensitive information that is submitted will not be shared on this website.

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