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<h1><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-weight:normal'>http://www.dailycamera.com/news/2008/feb/19/citizens-asked-to-keep-eye-on-plants/<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></h1>
<h1><b><font size=6 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:24.0pt'>Citizens
asked to keep eye on plants<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></h1>
<h2><b><font size=5 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:18.0pt'>Researchers
to track climate's effects on flora<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></h2>
<p class=byline><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>By Steve Graff For the Camera<br>
Tuesday, February 19, 2008 <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Scientists
are asking people to keep an eye on their gardens to help track climate change.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><strong><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><a
href="http://www.windows.ucar.edu/citizen_science/budburst">www.windows.ucar.edu/citizen_science/budburst</a></span></font></b></strong><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Last
week, <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Boulder</st1:place></st1:City>'s
University Corp. for Atmospheric Research began Project BudBurst, a nationwide
initiative that has "citizen scientists" monitoring their favorite
patches of flowers so researchers can better understand the climate's effect on
plant life cycles.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>"Climate
change may be affecting our backyards and communities in ways that we don't
even notice," Sandra Henderson, of UCAR's Office of Education and
Outreach, said in a news release. "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."<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Over the
next year, volunteers will record their observations, including time of bloom,
first leaf and flower and eventually seed dispersal, on a UCAR-based Web site
at <a href="http://www.windows.ucar.edu/citizen_science/budburst">www.windows.ucar.edu/citizen_science/budburst</a>.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>"Our
primary mission is to educate and raise awareness about climate change," <st1:City
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Henderson</st1:place></st1:City> said. "We
want people outside observing their environment."<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>The data
will also allow for researchers, including the National Phenology Network, to
learn how plants across the country are responding to climate change, which has
been linked to extended growing seasons and migration of plants to higher
elevations.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Early
cues in some plants can affect their reproduction, as well, said Pam Diggle, a
plant biologist and professor at the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceType w:st="on">University</st1:PlaceType>
of <st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Colorado</st1:PlaceName></st1:place>. If a plant
blooms before its pollinator -- for instance, a butterfly -- comes out, a
mismatch may occur and can decrease the chance of seed dispersal, she said.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>According
to the Japan Meteorological Agency, the country's cherry blossoms now bloom
four days earlier than they did in the 1950s.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Project
BudBurst comes after a pilot program last spring, when thousands of people
recorded the life cycles of several hundred plant species in 26 states.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>"We
had everybody from 10-year-old kids to people with Ph.D.'s in botany," <st1:City
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Henderson</st1:place></st1:City> said.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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