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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Thanks to Catherine Puckett of the U.S. Geological
Survey for this information.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><A><FONT face=sans-serif color=blue
size=2>http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/article.asp?ID=1873</FONT></A><FONT
face="Times New Roman"><FONT size=3> <BR><BR></FONT><FONT size=5><B>Department
of the Interior</B></FONT></FONT><FONT face="Times New Roman"><FONT size=3>
<BR></FONT><FONT size=5><B>USGS Press Release</B></FONT><FONT size=3>
</FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV>
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<TD><FONT face="Times New Roman">Feb. 14, 2008</FONT>
<TD><FONT face="Times New Roman">Jake Weltzin</FONT>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman">David Hosansky</FONT>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman">Catherine Puckett</FONT>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman">Rachael Drummond</FONT> </P>
<TD><FONT face=sans-serif size=2>520-626-3821 </FONT>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3>303-497-8611</FONT>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3>352-264-3532</FONT>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3>303-497-8604</FONT> </P>
<TD><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=#3c613e
size=3><U>jweltzin@usgs.gov</U></FONT><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3>
</FONT>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=#3c613e
size=3><U>hosansky@ucar.edu</U></FONT><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3>
</FONT>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=#3c613e
size=3><U>cpuckett@usgs.gov</U></FONT><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3>
</FONT>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=#3c613e
size=3><U>rachaeld@ucar.edu</U></FONT><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3>
</FONT></P></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></DIV>
<DIV><BR><BR><FONT face="Univers Condensed" size=5><B>Volunteers across the
Nation to Track Climate Clues in Spring Flowers </B></FONT><BR><BR><FONT
face="Times New Roman" size=3>Starting this week, citizen-scientist volunteers
will be able to help track climate change by observing and recording the timing
of flowers and foliage. </FONT><BR><BR><FONT face="Times New Roman"
size=3>Project BudBurst, operated by the University Corporation for Atmospheric
Research (UCAR) and a team of partners including the U.S. Geological Survey’s
USA National Phenology Network, allows U.S. students, gardeners, and other
citizens to enter their observations into an online database that, over time,
will give researchers a more detailed picture of global climate change.
</FONT><BR><BR><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3>The project, which will be
launched on Feb. 15, will operate year-round so that early- and late-blooming
species in different parts of the country can be monitored throughout their life
cycles. Project BudBurst (</FONT><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=#3c613e
size=3><U>http://www.budburst.org</U></FONT><FONT face="Times New Roman"
size=3>) builds on a pilot program carried out last spring, when a thousand
participants recorded the timing of the leafing and flowering of hundreds of
plant species in 26 states.</FONT> <BR><BR><FONT face="Times New Roman"
size=3>The Chicago Botanic Garden, University of Montana, and the USA National
Phenology Network (USA-NPN) are collaborators on Project BudBurst, which was
funded in part with a grant from the U.S. Bureau of Land Management and the
National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. The project is also supported by the
National Science Foundation and Windows to the Universe </FONT><FONT
size=3>(<U>http://www.windows.ucar.edu/</U>)</FONT><FONT face="Times New Roman"
size=3>, a UCAR-based Web site that will host the project online as part of its
citizen science efforts.</FONT> <BR><BR><FONT face="Times New Roman"
size=3>“Climate change may be affecting our backyards and communities in ways
that we don’t even notice,” says project coordinator Sandra Henderson of UCAR’s
Office of Education and Outreach. “Project BudBurst is designed to help both
adults and children understand the changing relationship among climate, seasons,
and plants, while giving the participants the tools to communicate their
observations to others. Based on the success of last year’s pilot program, this
project is capturing the public’s imagination in a way we never
expected.”</FONT> <BR><BR><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3>Project Budburst
is one of the citizen-science partnerships of the newly created USA-NPN
(</FONT><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=#3c613e
size=3><U>www.usanpn.org</U></FONT><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3>), which
is managed by the U.S. Geological Survey, and includes partners such as the
National Science Foundation, the University of Arizona, the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service and many other agencies. The goal of the USA-NPN is to engage
governmental agencies, environmental networks and field stations, educational
institutions, and mass participation by citizen scientists in collecting
phenological information on plants and animals. </FONT><BR><BR><FONT
face="Times New Roman" size=3>Phenology is the study of periodic plant and
animal life cycle events and how these are influenced by seasonal and
interannual variations in climate, said Dr. Jake Weltzin, executive director of
the USA-NPN. Examples of phenological events include the timing of leafing and
flowering, agricultural crop stages, insect emergence, and animal migration.
</FONT><BR><BR><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3>“By observing these cycles
through time, researchers can better understand and predict global climate
change, and monitor drought conditions, wildfire risk, invasive species, and the
spread of infectious diseases,” said Weltzin. “In the long-term -- and with
enough data -- such information can help us better understand, mitigate and
adapt to ongoing and future climate change.”</FONT> <BR><BR><FONT
face="Times New Roman" size=3>The USA-NPN will begin enlisting the help of
working professional scientists and training citizen volunteers for more
intensive plant-phenology monitoring later this spring. In addition, Weltzin
said USA-NPN is closely collaborating with other already-existing networks –
such as Project Budburst – to maximize the data collected. </FONT><BR><BR><FONT
face="Times New Roman" size=3>How Project Budburst Works</FONT> <BR><BR><FONT
face="Times New Roman" size=3>As described on the Project BudBurst webpage, each
participant selects one or more plants to observe. Participants begin checking
their plants at least a week before the average date of budburst -- the point
when the buds have opened and leaves are visible. After budburst, participants
continue to observe the tree or flower for later events, such as the first leaf,
first flower and, eventually, seed dispersal. When participants submit their
records online, they can view maps of these phenological events across the
United States.</FONT> <BR><BR><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3>Along with the
partners noted above, Project BudBurst collaborators include the Plant
Conservation Alliance and the universities of Arizona; California, Santa
Barbara; Wisconsin-Milwaukee; and Wisconsin-Madison.</FONT> <BR><BR><FONT
face="Times New Roman" size=3>USGS provides science for a changing world. For
more information visit </FONT><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=#3c613e
size=3><U>www.usgs.gov</U></FONT><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3>.</FONT>
<BR><BR><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3>Subscribe to USGS News Releases via
our </FONT><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=#3c613e size=3><U>electronic
mailing list</U></FONT><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3> or </FONT><FONT
face="Times New Roman" color=#3c613e size=3><U>RSS</U></FONT><FONT
face="Times New Roman" size=3> feed.</FONT> <BR></DIV>
<DIV align=center><BR><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3>**** www.usgs.gov
****</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><BR><BR></DIV></FONT>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Kat McGuire<BR>Development and Communication
Coordinator<BR>Coevolution Institute<BR>423 Washington St., 5th Floor<BR>San
Francisco, CA 94111<BR>415-362-1137<BR><A
href="mailto:km@coevolution.org">km@coevolution.org</A><BR><A
href="http://www.coevolution.org/">http://www.coevolution.org/</A><BR><A
href="http://www.pollinator.org/">http://www.pollinator.org/</A><BR><A
href="http://www.nappc.org/">http://www.nappc.org/</A></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>