Objectives

RitmeNatura.cat is looking for Nature-lover citizens that are willing to learn how to collect phenological information and help scientists in studying the impact of climate changes on plants and animals.

If you are interested in watching nature, please help us to follow the cyclic rhythm of the seasons and the changes we are currently facing. You just have to choose one plant or a specific area that you would like to observe carefully along the year. You will have to take notes of the dates that the specimen(s)s are changing: migration of birds, flowering of plants, ripening of fruit, hibernations, fall of leaves, and register it into the RitmeNatura.cat portal.

At RitmeNatura.cat you will find information about the life cycles of the species that will help you in the phenological observation, as well as observation guides and phenological wheels to facilitate your follow-up, so that you can learn to observe and become a true professional observer.

Your comments will inform scientists and managers about the changes that may be happening as a result of climate change. Observing nature is fun and can be very helpful!

Changes in the rhythm of nature give scientists a lot of information about the effects that climate change produces on natural ecosystems.

WHAT IS PHENOLOGY?

Phenology is a science that studies the phases of the life cycle of living beings and how seasonal and interanual climate variations affect them.

That study can not be done by automatic sensors and is based on the periodic observation of the surroundings. Experts and volunteers note the dates in which changes occur in the biological cycles of the species (fenofases), such as the flowering date of the plants or the migratory cycles of birds.

Phenology studies the seasonal key changes in plants and animals, such as flowering, appearance of insects or migration of birds. The moment and duration of the particular phenological stages varies each year depending on the weather situation. For this reason, phenophases of sensitive species can be related to variations in climatic and environmental conditions.

In order to be able to make this relationship and guarantee complete and valid scientific conclusions, long, homogeneous, validated and well-scattered time series throughout the entire territory are needed. RitmeNatura.cat wants to create a community of phenological observers that help complement the phenological observation networks of Catalonia and Europe. The more observers we are, the wider the territorial, thematic and temporal coverage of the observations.

Thanks to phenology we can study and evaluate the effects of climate changes and the strategies of the species to adapt. In the case of cultivated species, phenology can improve the management and productivity of crops.