Juniper Pollen Project
Project Goals
The purpose of this effort is to model pollen release and concentrations. Improved models will:
- support public health decisions for asthma and allergy alerts in New Mexico, Texas and Oklahoma
- augment the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Environmental Public Health Tracking Network
- extend surveillance services to local healthcare providers subscribing to the Syndrome Reporting Information System (SYRIS)
The real-time models will be based on weather data and satellite information and be verified by on-the-ground observations
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Join us! If you would like to participate...
We need observers to track the timing of pollen production and release in junipers. You can join this effort by periodically checking individual juniper trees in your area for pollen cone development and reporting your observations via the USA-NPN web page.
How to participate...
1. Select your plants - Identify one or more individual juniper plants to track. We are tracking four juniper species for this effort:
- Pinchot's juniper (Juniperus pinchotii)
- Rocky Mountain juniper (Juniperus scopulorum)
- oneseed juniper (Juniperus monosperma)
- Ashe's juniper (Juniperus ashei)
The pages for these species include information on how to identify them and how to monitor them.
2. Sign up as a USA-NPN observer - Become an official participant with Nature's Notebook and set your username and password. All you need is an email address and Internet access. When you are registering, identify yourself as a part of this effort by selecting 'Juniper Pollen Project' from the 'Partner Organization' drop-down menu.
3. Take observations - We invite you to track several phenophases of your juniper, including:
- Pollen cones - In at least 3 locations on the plant, an unexpanded male pollen cone (or strobili) or an expanded cone with unbroken pollen sacs is visible. Do not include spent male cones that have released all of their pollen but remain on the plant.
- Pollen release - In at least 3 locations on the plant, pollen is released from a male cone when it is gently shaken or blown.
- Full pollen release - For the whole plant, at least half (50%) of the male cones release pollen when gently shaken or blown.
- Unripe seed cones - One or more unripe female cones (or “berries”) are visible on the plant. Unripe female cones are berry-like and green in color.
- Ripe seed cones - One or more ripe female cones (or “berries”) are visible on the plant. The berry-like female cones are considered ripe when they have changed color.
4. Report your observations - As you collect data during the season, log in to your Nature's Notebook account and enter the observation data you recorded.
More details on the specifics of observing.
Other useful files and links:
Also, more information can be found on Dr. Estelle Levetin's Juniper Pollen Project webpage and homepage.
Training Materials
- Juniper Pollen Project training powerpoint (.ppt)
- JPP 1-page tip sheet
- JPP 1/3-sheet recruitment flyer
Funding
This effort to develop a decision support system for human health related to asthma is funded by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Research Opportunities in Space and Earth Sciences (ROSES) program which supports basic and
