Observe and track phenology while enjoying our beautiful trails.
Come take a stroll on the newly marked Phenology Walk at the Green Mountain Audubon Center!
Phenology is the study of seasonal changes in nature. We invite trail users to slow down, take a look around, and find five different labeled species of plants. Your observations will help researchers track plant life cycle timing in the face of a changing climate.
The five plants we're tracking at Audubon are white pine, milkweed, goldenrod, sugar maple and red elderberry. Once you locate the marked plants, it's time to use the Nature's Notebook app. (Download the app ahead of time since cell phone coverage at Audubon is spotty at best.) Nature's Notebook will instruct you how to document observations of the plants, taking note of things such as their current life cycle or “phenophase.” This data will then be used by scientists to analyze the effects of climate change on plant life.
