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NPN Planning Workshop August 22-26, 2005

NPN Planning Workshop August 22-26, 2005. Canada Plantwatch. Elisabeth Beaubien Plantwatch National Coordinator BioScience Department University of Alberta, Edmonton. Brief History Coordination, Partners Promotion Observers Plants Observed Phenophases (growth stages) Funding

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NPN Planning Workshop August 22-26, 2005

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  1. NPN Planning Workshop August 22-26, 2005 Canada Plantwatch Elisabeth Beaubien Plantwatch National Coordinator BioScience Department University of Alberta, Edmonton

  2. Brief History • Coordination, Partners • Promotion • Observers • Plants Observed • Phenophases (growth stages) • Funding • Results • Challenges and Strengths of Canada Plantwatch

  3. plantwatch

  4. Golden Bean Thermopsis rhombifolia

  5. Phenological Observation locations: Royal Society dataset 1893-1922

  6. Canada Plantwatch • 1987 – “Alberta Wildflower Survey” • 1995 – Canada Plantwatch based at University of Alberta: 8 plants, international lilac data (www.devonian.ualberta.ca/pwatch) • In 2000, expansion thanks to Environment Canada’s EMAN CO office, and Canadian Nature Federation (now ‘Nature Canada’) • www.plantwatch.ca : observers see their data mapped immediately

  7. Project Coordination: Partners • 13 regional coordinators (one in every province and territory) • national coordinator • Environment Canada EMAN-CO • Nature Canada

  8. Ice as a National Indicator

  9. Program Promotion Booklets “Plantwatch: Canada in Bloom” , English and French Webpage: www.plantwatch.ca , 2 languages Via articles in media/ magazines and regional newsletters OTHER PRODUCTS: Teacher Guide (100 p) at www.devonian.ualberta.ca/pwatch For Northern Canada: Plantwatch north booklet, poster, pins, Webpage www.emannorth.ca/plantwatch/main.cfm

  10. Observers • Naturalists, gardeners, volunteer weather observers, ranchers, fire tower watchers, dog walkers • Teachers and students • Program of special interest to the retired (have time to do daily observations)

  11. Data reporting • Internet : to 2 sites • EMAN: 2900 observations since 2002, each coordinator has access to data for their region • University of Alberta website • By mail, email, fax: regional data sheets go to coordinators who enter and archive

  12. Plants observed • About 40 species across Canada • Each region uses subset, ranges from only 7 plant species in Nunavut, to 21 in Alberta • Includes trees, shrubs, herbs (wildflowers) • Selection based on developed criteria

  13. Program funding • Federal government supports website, conference calls, some meetings • Regional coordinators find own funding • Coalitions such as PlantWatch North, national coordinator, EMAN N coordinator have been successful

  14. Trends in Canadian data • Spring is coming earlier in the west • Prunus virginiana (Chokecherry): 5 days earlier over 65 years • Populus tremuloides (Aspen poplar): 26 days earlier over 100 years

  15. Firstbloom: Populus tremuloides,Edmonton, Alberta

  16. Program Challenges:include • finding ongoing $ to support: • coordinator calls and meetings, to exchange ideas and develop proposals • regional coordination: tasks of promotion, volunteer management and communication (newsletters etc), data entry and analysis • recruiting, training and keeping quality observers

  17. Program Strengths • 13 regional coordinators with great ideas and energy, and strong cooperation among northern coordinators • federal government keen on “citizen science” initiatives • support from public as observers • long history of phenology in some parts of Canada

  18. Thanks to these partners ! Plantwatch coordinators in every province and territory Environment Canada: EcoAction program Ecological Monitoring and Assessment Network Northern Ecosystems Initiative Meteorological Service of Canada University of Alberta: BioSciences Department Devonian Botanic Garden Nature Canada

  19. Properly recorded and correctly interpreted, there is nothing perhaps to equal the records of the dates of periodical events in plants and animals as indices to the bioclimatic character of a place or local area, because such events are in direct response, not to one or a few, but to all the complex elements and factors of the environment, which no artificial instrument, or set of instruments, yet available, will record. …..A.D. Hopkins, 1918

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