Report flowering and become a Pollen Tracker

Hi USA-NPN,

This year's Pollen Trackers campaign has come to a close. Thank you for all of your reports of open flowers and pollen release on your Pollen Trackers plants this year! Below, we take a look at the data you reported this year.

Your data collected on flowering and pollen release as part of this campaign will be used to help fill gaps in understanding pollen concentrations, leading to improved forecasts of allergy season timing and severity. Further, since the observations you contribute to Nature’s Notebook are available to users very soon after you submit them, they allow for pollen forecasts to be updated in near-real time with incoming reports.

Photo: Eastern white pine (Pinus strobus) flowers for flower buds, open flowers, and pollen release, Photo Credit: Ellen G. Denny

What you reported this year

This year, 1,366 observers reported data on 95 Pollen Trackers species at 805 sites. There are 140 Local Phenology Programs submitting data on Pollen Trackers species, as well as 415 independent observers. The top 10 Local Phenology Programs submitting data for Pollen Trackers species are listed below. Thank you all for your efforts!

The map below shows the months when a first "yes" was reported for open flowers (circle) and pollen release (plus symbol). The color of the icon indicates the month that open flowers or pollen release was first reported at that site. This year, we had reports as far south as Florida and as far north as Alaska.

The table below takes a closer look at when "yes" records were reported by genus for each region since the beginning of this year. We can see some regional differences, with reports throughout the year in the Southwest and more concentrated in the spring in the Northeast.

The curves below show how many "yes" records were reported for open flowers for Pollen Trackers genera by region. These curves highlight the regional differences, with reports in the Southeast concentrated in the first four months of the year, while reports in the Northeast and Midwest peak in late April and May. What other patterns do you notice in the data?

You can explore these results further on our interactive Pollen Trackers campaign results dashboard.

We hope that you will join us again next year to report on flowering and pollen release in your Pollen Trackers species! Your data become even more valuable when collected on the same individual plants over multiple years. Thank you for being part of this important project!

Earn your Pollen Trackers badge!

Did you earn your Pollen Trackers badge this year? You can earn this badge by submitting observations of one of the Pollen Trackers species in six different weeks within the year.

The badge will appear on your Observation Deck.

Contact

Erin Posthumus

Outreach Coordinator

erin@usanpn.org

This campaign is a collaboration with researchers from Cornell University, CDC Climate and Health Program, University of Michigan, Fordham University, and MercyOne Waterloo Medical Center. Learn more about the research team behind this campaign.