HR: 0800h
AN: B51A-0063    [Abstracts]
TI: Phenology as an Integrative Science for Assessment of Global Climate Change Impacts
AU: * Weltzin, J
EM: jweltzin@usgs.gov
AF: National Phenology Network, 1955 E. Sixth St., rm 101, Tucson, AZ 85719, United States
AU: Losleben, M V
EM: losleben@email.arizona.edu
AF: National Phenology Network, 1955 E. Sixth St., rm 101, Tucson, AZ 85719, United States
AB: Phenology is the study of periodic plant and animal life cycle events and how these are influenced by seasonal and interannual variations in climate. Examples include the timing of leafing and flowering, agricultural crop stages, insect emergence, and animal migration. All of these events are sensitive measures of climatic variation and change, are relatively simple to record and understand, and are vital to both the scientific and public interest. Integration of spatially-extensive phenological data and models with both short and long-term climatic forecasts offer a powerful agent for human adaptation to ongoing and future climate change. However, a new data resource of national scale is needed to capture the valuable information potential of phenological responses to climate change; to study its nature, pace and the effects of ecosystem function; and to understand connectivity and synchrony among species. The USA National Phenology Network (USA-NPN) is being designed and organized to engage federal agencies, environmental networks and field stations, educational institutions, and mass participation by citizen scientists to create this data resource, and develop phenology research potential. This presentation illustrates the variety of source, scale, and use of phenology in assessing current and future global climate change impacts.
DE: 0424 Biosignatures and proxies
DE: 0429 Climate dynamics (1620)
DE: 0434 Data sets
DE: 0438 Diel, seasonal, and annual cycles (4227)
DE: 0439 Ecosystems, structure and dynamics (4815)
SC: Biogeosciences [B]
MN: 2007 Fall Meeting