For Plants

It's best to visit your site(s) regularly. One to two times a week is good, but several times a week or even once a day is even better during times of the year when things are changing quickly (for example, spring and fall). More...

For plants: Visit each of your individual plants or patches and check their phenophases. For each visit when you make an observation, record the date and time on your plant phenophase datasheet (or mobile app), and for each phenophase, circle one of the following choices:

• Yes (y) – if you saw that the phenophase is occurring
• No (n) – if you saw that the phenophase is not occurring
• Uncertain (?) – if you were not certain whether the phenophase was occurring
• Do not circle anything if you did not check for the phenophase

  It is very important to record this information, even if nothing has changed since your last visit! Knowing when a plant is not in a given phenophase is just as important as knowing when one is. More...

For most plant phenophases you can also report on the intensity (or abundance) that you observe, like the percentage of open flowers you see or how close to full size the new leaves have grown. Phenophase intensity choices vary by species and can be found on the profile page for each species. More...

If a phenophase, like leaf color change or flowering, begins and ends while you were not observing, you can make a note of it in the comments section. More...

If you are watching for a phenophase and it does not seem to be starting when you expect it would, continue to watch for it and record that it is not occurring. This could mean the phenophase is occurring later or not at all in a given year, and this could be very valuable information. More...

Once a phenophase has ended you should continue to look for it and record whether or not it occurs again. Sometimes phenophases will occur a second or third (or more) time in a season, whether because of rain, pests, or changing climate. More...

If there are phenophases and/or intensity measures on which you do not want to report for a species because you find them too difficult to observe, just ignore them. You can cross them out on your datasheets, and do not circle or enter anything for them when you enter your data online.

Click below for more information in PowerPoint format.