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Citizen-Scientists Sought For Climate Study

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BY YVETTE C. HAMMETT

yhammett@tampatrib.com

Published: March 9, 2009

TAMPA - In the South, scientists are at a disadvantage. There are no calving glaciers tumbling down mountainsides to warn of the dire consequences of climate change.

Here, proof more likely will come from subtle changes in trees, migrating birds and flowering plants.

Gathering that proof will require the assistance of dozens of citizen volunteers.

The University of South Florida and the U.S. Geological Survey together are creating Florida's first scientific research project specifically dedicated to monitoring the effects of climate change through phenology: the science of studying plants and animals in various phases, such as seeding, budding, migration, nesting and fruit production.

The research will help land managers, biologists and hydrologists determine how such changes might affect habitat and vulnerable species, like sandhill cranes that nest in shallow wetlands or sand pine trees that cling to high, dry desert-like terrain.

"We're bringing this into the national realm," said USGS hydrologist George Kish. He and Gordon Fox, a USF associate professor of plant ecology, will lead the charge to collect at least 15 years worth of data on subtle changes in native plant communities. Animals likely will be factored in within a year or so.

They will use a portion of USF's square-mile Ecological Research Area off Fletcher Avenue to conduct the research.

"Much of it is wetlands, especially cypress swamps, but it also contains uplands and a wide variety of plant life," Fox said before touring the area, just west of the USF boat ramp on the Hillsborough River.

Records on plant phenology in Great Britain date back a century, Fox said. In this country, such research has been sporadic. But collecting information showing how flowering times for specific plants vary over a century, for example, will help land managers plan ahead, he said.

"Most data comes from people interested in natural history and science," Fox said. "Any scientist knows not to pay attention to individual blips in data." But with the help of citizen-scientists, researchers can gather enormous amounts of data over a long period.

"We have a fair amount of bird data and huge amounts of data on sea turtles, but not on plants," Kish said.

The Florida scientists will collaborate with the USA Phenology Network, based in Tucson, Ariz. Research conducted in Florida will be entered into a national database, said Jake Weltzin, executive director of the national center. He is working to set up similar programs throughout the country.

Additionally, the Phenology Network is seeking out "legacy data," or research conducted on specific plants and animals that might be tucked away in a professor's desk or squeezed into a birder's filing cabinet.

To Participate in the Climate Change Study

Citizen-scientists interested in participating in the USF-USGS Phenology Monitoring Project will receive training and a field guide to use during their research.

To participate, contact George Kish at gkish@usgs.gov or call him at (813) 975-8620, Ext. 134.

Training sessions will be set up and volunteer citizen-scientists notified.

Reporter Yvette C. Hammett can be reached at (813) 865-1566

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