USA NPN National Phenology Network

Taking the Pulse of Our Planet

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Status of Spring

Status of Spring

Spring leaf out continues to slowly spread up the country, arriving 1-2 weeks late across parts of the central Great Plains, Midwest, and Northeast. In the West spring leaf out is a patchwork of early and late arrival. 

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The USA National Phenology Network

The USA National Phenology Network

We bring together citizen scientists, government agencies, non-profit groups, educators and students of all ages to monitor the impacts of climate change on plants and animals in the United States. Learn more about the USA-NPN

What is Phenology?

What is Phenology?

Phenology refers to key seasonal changes in plants and animals from year to year—such as flowering, emergence of insects and migration of birds—especially their timing and relationship with weather and climate.

Learn more about phenology

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USA National Phenology Network

News

Comparison of Spring Equinox and USA-NPN's First Leaf Index for Washington DC

How does Spring Equinox stack up to the real thing?

March 20, 2018

In most of the last ten years, the First Leaf Index has arrived days to weeks earlier than calendar spring in the Washington, DC area. This year, spring leaf out arrived 25 days earlier than the Spring Equinox in Washington, DC. 

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 Celebrating 10 Years of Nature’s Notebook

American Robin Photo: Tom Grey

This month we highlight two of the many species on which our observers collect data. Red maple is our most frequently observed plant with over 700,00 records and American Robin is our most frequently observed animal with over 190,000 records. Data on these species and over 1200 other species on the Nature's Notebook list are freely available for download and use. Download them from the Phenology Observation Portal or explore them on the Visualization Tool.

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