Phenology Refresher: Estimating Percent of Canopy Full with New Leaves

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kathymc...@gmail.com

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Apr 28, 2023, 2:46:37 PM4/28/23

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Hi fellow phenology followers,

Every year, I need to relearn how to estimate one particular phenophase intensity: under Leaves, what percent of the potential full canopy is full with leaves.

I found guidance in the Observer Training Course for Intensity, which is Module 4 on your Nature’s Notebook Observation Deck (on the NN website). Here is the link to the pertinent part of the Module.

Read through 4 or 5 pages and practices. It will be quick.

The bottom line is that we should compare what we see on a given visit to what we would see if the canopy is fully-leafed-out with full size leaves. A tree having all its leaves unfurled but with small leaves, will have a low percentage of the potential canopy full with leaves.

At the link above, there are very helpful photos and strategies for making your intensity estimates.

If you have judged Leaves intensity incorrectly this spring, please make corrections from your observation deck. For the group at Long Pond today, we all need to make that correction.