How is Covid-19 affecting your organization phenology program?

[Claire O'Neill]

Hi! 

I hope you're all well and healthy! 

I am noticing that we aren't very active on this forum yet and I am offering to start a thread so that we get it going!

How about sharing about our experience in those troubled times: How has Covid-19 been affecting your organization's phenology program?

For us, many things changed radically because our sites are in locations that are a bit remote (urban forests for instance). 

For instance, we have to hike to our unsigned sites (we cannot sign a site in a DCR managed forest). 

So we suddenly had to flip everything around and empower our people to go solo in places where they used to go in a group context. 

A few of our new tricks: Interactive content maps that load to google maps to get our people to orientate themselves in the forest in relation to the sites and the species we monitor + site video descriptions are a few resources that we got up there in the cloud in the past week... Our cit-scientists are loving them! <pfffuuuu!>

How about you?

Cheers & stay healthy! - Claire

 
Nature Conservation as a Way Of Life
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[Claire O'Neill]

Thanks Georgia and Ken for responding! 

That's the upside of a state managed forest. It's harder to close. The downside is that we are witnessing increased levels of thrashing, littering, dog-waste. Many man-made/rogue trails are forming disrupting habitats. We monitor all that and that's heartbreaking. Another disturbing thing is that many people still do not respect physical distancing. So, I am sad to think that it'd be much better to close that forest as well.  

Cheers & stay healthy! - Claire

[Claire O'Neill]

A few experiences... Compiling here our stories (we realized that most answers did not the forum when posted from emails to the forum / now it's fixed).

[From Georgia]

Thank you for the nudge. Our program is on hold. Our site is a 10 acre urban park in NYC. It is challenging to maintain a safe physical distance on pathways.

I will post photographs of seasonal activity taken in previous years to our social media accounts.

Best,

Georgia 

[From Ken]

 

I too hope everybody is staying healthy and sane!

 

At Patuxent Research Refuge, we had to completely shut down our Nature’s Notebook participation as all volunteer activities at the Refuge have been suspended.  Hopefully, things will improve in time for us to report on at least some of the phenophases for some of our species.  I am afraid that we will be completely missing the spring ephemerals.

 

Ciao,

Ken

[From Carol]

I lead a small -- and very dedicated -- team of Citizen Scientists here in Tucson, AZ. We have an established trail of plants at the Tucson Botanical Gardens, and our map includes bees, birds, and butterflies. 

We make weekly observations, and everyone is on board with using the N.N. app. 

Only problem? Our beloved Botanical Gardens have been closed since March 15. Only a few of the gardeners have access. It's heartbreaking but of course we all understand the need for social distancing, and especially since our largest crowds typically visit in March and April before the desert heat arrives.

That's our story. 

There are a few other Phenology Trails in Tucson, and they, too, are affected. (One is on the Univ. of AZ campus (closed) and one is at Tohono Chul park (also closed). 

Hope everyone is staying safe as they attempt to continue making observations out there!

Thanks for sharing your stories! - C

[Robinson, Mitch]

At Strawberry Plains Audubon Center we are closed, as all of the 30 plus Audubon Centers across the country are through the month of April. It is assumed, and rightly so, that this will be extended into May.

Our Mississippi Governor finally enacted/signed a Shelter in Place that order across the state that will go into effect at 5 pm today and run through April 20^th.

 

We are unable to do any monitoring, nor our spring migration bird banding station, as no staff is allowed on-site except for essential duties, e.g. managing our native plant nursery.

 

Be well, and remember it’s ok to not be ok right now.

 

Sending compassion and loving-kindness to everyone.

 

Mitch

-

Mitchell Robinson
Conservation Education Manager

W: 662.252.1155
Pronouns: he, him, his

 

Strawberry Plains Audubon Center
285 Plains Road
Holly Springs, MS 38635
strawberry.audubon.org

 

Please note my new email: Mitch.R...@audubon.org

 

 

From: natures-notebook-co...@googlegroups.com <natures-notebook-co...@googlegroups.com> On Behalf Of Claire O'Neill
Sent: Thursday, April 2, 2020 6:20 PM
To: Nature’s Notebook Community Forum <natures-notebook-co...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: [LPL Community] How is Covid-19 affecting your organization phenology program?

 

Thanks Georgia and Ken for responding! 

 

That's the upside of a state managed forest. It's harder to close. The downside is that we are witnessing increased levels of thrashing, littering, dog-waste. Many man-made/rogue trails are forming disrupting habitats. We monitor all that and that's heartbreaking. Another disturbing thing is that many people still do not respect physical distancing. So, I am sad to think that it'd be much better to close that forest as well.  

 

Cheers & stay healthy! - Claire

 

Nature Conservation as a Way Of Life

ⓘ www.earthwiseaware.org | EwA Newsletter Signup » 

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[Trica Oshant Hawkins]

Mitch et at.,

Thanks for the loving-kindness message. We will also miss monitoring our spring season… none-the-less our palo verde trees will turn our hillsides golden this month. But the ones we monitor at the Desert Lab on Tumamoc Hill will go undocumented, although admired from afar. 

Like your center, our trail on the Hill is also closed and so we cannot get up there to make and record our observations. We also had plans to train more “community scientists" to get involved in the monitoring this spring - they too, are disappointed. 

Alas, this too shall pass. I think the virus has a phenology of its own, and once it is past its season, may we all be able to get out again and continue our good work.

Blessing to you all,

Trica

Trica Oshant Hawkins

The Desert Lab at Tumamoc Hill

520-400-2513 (cell)

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[stella kovacs]

greetings all,

I took this photo from “my” site, Santa Barbara Botanic Garden, on 3/16, the day Governor Newsom advised all people 65 and over, and/or with preexisting medical conditions shelter in place. By March 20, SBBG closed. Along with others, I truly miss the unfolding of phenophases of beautiful plants, along with the necessary walks in fresh foothills‘ air.

I’ve become more astute to plants growing around me. 

I hope and pray for your safety and good health in these days, weeks, months, and years ahead!

Yogawit...@gmail.com

(805)453-4891

Sent from my iPhone

On Apr 3, 2020, at 08:43, Trica Oshant Hawkins <thaw...@eeexchange.org> wrote:

Mitch et at.,

Thanks for the loving-kindness message. We will also miss monitoring our spring season… none-the-less our palo verde trees will turn our hillsides golden this month. But the ones we monitor at the Desert Lab on Tumamoc Hill will go undocumented, although admired from afar. 

Like your center, our trail on the Hill is also closed and so we cannot get up there to make and record our observations. We also had plans to train more “community scientists" to get involved in the monitoring this spring - they too, are disappointed. 

Alas, this too shall pass. I think the virus has a phenology of its own, and once it is past its season, may we all be able to get out again and continue our good work.

Blessing to you all,

Trica

Trica Oshant Hawkins

The Desert Lab at Tumamoc Hill

520-400-2513 (cell)

<PastedGraphic-1.tiff>

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[Robinson, Mitch]

Discussing the ‘phenology’ of this virus, I thought the group would enjoy these in-depth interviews/webinars.

Cheers,

Mitch

 

The first is from my favorite digital magazine, Emergence Magazine.

 

·         “In this interview, science writer David Quammen, author of Spillover: Animal Infections and the Next Human Pandemic, speaks about the root causes underlying the current pandemic and explores the ways in which viruses are embedded in the same systems of ecology and evolutionary biology that we are. As we disrupt wild ecosystems and shake these viruses free, COVID-19 offers an opportunity to reimagine our relationship with the natural world.” https://emergencemagazine.org/story/shaking-the-viral-tree/

 

The second is from NatureServe, which many of you may be familiar with:

 

Last week, NatureServe President & CEO Dr. Sean O'Brien had the honor of interviewing Dr. Carlos Zambrana-Torrelio, Associated Vice President for Conservation at EcoHealth Alliance and one of the few global experts working on the frontier between human and ecosystem health. During this short interview, they discuss the intersection between biodiversity decline, the destruction of our natural world, and virus outbreaks like the COVID-19 pandemic, and explain what we can do to prevent future outbreaks. Dr. Zambrana-Torrelio will be giving a longer presentation on the topic as part of the Pulse of the Planet webinar series in collaboration with EcoHealth Alliance and GEO BON. This free, hour-long webinar will cover the history of human pandemics and place the current COVID-19 pandemic into the context of other global health crises. You can tune into the Spanish presentation tomorrow (Friday, April 3rd) at 12 PM EDT, or join us next Friday, April 10th for the English presentation. See details and registration links for both webinars below: Rayos-X de una Pandemia (Spanish) Date: April 3, 2020 Time: 12:00 PM-1:00 PM EDT (UTC-4) Sign up for the webinar An X-Ray of a Pandemic (English) Date: April 10, 2020 Time: 12:00 PM-1:00 PM EDT (UTC-4) Sign up for the webinar Thank you again for your support during this uncertain time. We hope you will join us for these upcoming educational opportunities, and continue to appreciate the healing properties of our natural world.

[Claire O'Neill]

To all, thanks for joining this chat! Thanks for the refs Mitch. Appreciated! NatureServe gives a good short summary of the virus. 

Emergence gives a great explanation of zoonotic diseases: a very articulate speaker. He also explains well the current issue with our relationship with Nature and our responsibility with what is happening right now (for instance, discussing the issue of Coltan). I am going to post it on our social media ツ

Sadly, scientists have been trying to raise awareness on the issue of habitat degradation & wildlife trade and the potential consequences on global health for quite a number of decades.

I also think the detection of this new coronavirus was actually raised not in 2017 but 10 years before, in 2007 (details, details). I have that paper somewhere, I'll find it back when I have a minute. And repeatedly similar studies surfaced and barely raised attention.

Hopefully, there will be a positive outcome: the realization that Biodiversity loss is indeed real and needs to be tackled immediately. Organizations such as IPBES (the equivalent of the IPCC) are working at raising the profile of biodiversity loss. As a biodiversity professional, I only wish that our work is going to resonate. 

Meanwhile, stay safe and healthy. It's citizen science month, and if we can't be monitor phenology right now, still there are opportunities to observe nature right from my window (in my overly developed city). Here's one of our street resident eastern gray squirrel scouting a white spruce right off my office window - and of course also recorded on iNaturalist! S/he always makes me smile ツ

Cheers & stay healthy! - Claire