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# Plant and Animal Phenophase Definitions

Preferred citation (DataCite format):

  USA National Phenology Network (2022).
  Plant and Animal Phenophase Definitions.
  University of Arizona Research Data Repository.
  Dataset. https://doi.org/10.25422/azu.data.20736700

Corresponding Author:
  Ellen G Denny, SNRE, edenny@arizona.edu


License:
  CC BY 4.0


DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.25422/azu.data.20736700



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## Summary

The USA National Phenology Network’s (USA-NPN) standardized phenology
monitoring protocols were designed to capture the seasonal life cycle stages
of plants and animals across polar, temperate, tropical, and water-limited
ecosystems. The protocols can be tailored to any sampling density or frequency
and can be used either within the _Nature’s Notebook_ observation program, or
independently. The resulting data can be used to answer a variety of
scientific and management questions from local to continental scales. The
protocols are specific to major taxonomic groups and consist of a suite of
“phenophases”. A phenophase is an observable stage or phase in the annual life
cycle of a plant or animal that can be defined by a start and end point. For
plants, phenophases identify the presence or absence of structures (e.g.,
leaves, flowers, fruits) on an individual plant that is observed repeatedly
over the course of one or more growing seasons. For animals, phenophases
identify the presence or absence of behaviors such as breeding, migration, and
use of food resources. Intensity or abundance measures for each phenophase
indicate the degree to which the phenophase is expressed. They represent
either an estimate of the number of plant structures or individual animals
that are present or engaged in a behavior, or an estimate of the percentage of
plant structures observed in a particular state (e.g., percent of flowers that
are open). In this document, the phenophases in use for major plant and animal
taxonomic groups are summarized in tables, and the full phenophase definitions
and associated intensity or abundance measures are included in subsequent
sections.



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## Files and Folders

2021_v2.0_USA-NPN_Plant_and_Animal_Phenophase_Definitions.pdf
    The 2021 version of the definitions. This is an update to the original 
    2013 definitions.

2013_v1.0_USA-NPN_Plant_and_Animal_Phenophase_Definitions.pdf
  The original version of the definitions. This file is the 
  same as the one included as an electronic supplement to [IJB citation]. 
  It is included here so that all versions of the plant and animal phenophase 
  definitions can be found in one place.

  [IJB]
  Denny, E.G., Gerst, K.L., Miller-Rushing, A.J. et al. 
  Standardized phenology monitoring methods to track plant and animal 
  activity for science and resource management applications. Int J 
  Biometeorol 58, 591–601 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00484-014-0789-5



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## Additional Notes

Links:
  - https://www.usanpn.org/natures_notebook
  - https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00484-014-0789-5