This repository is created to facilitate our fellow tree enthusiasts in retrieving data and doing analysis. Hooray!!
For route maps, datasheets and handbooks for Tree Spotters program, visit https://temporalecology.org/treespotters/
The Tree Spotters are a group of tree enthusiasts and citizen scientists based in eastern Massachusetts who collect phenology data and contribute their findings to the National Phenology Database in the United States.
Lizzie Wolkovich, Associate Professor of Forest and Conservation Sciences, University of British Columbia (formerly Assistant Professor of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University) founded the original Arnold Arboretum Tree Spotters program pilot in Boston, Massachusetts, in 2015. It was a perfect match for her research that explores how climate and community assembly may explain and forecast plant phenology. The program was based on the premise that phenology is strongly linked to climate and can be easily observed.
In 2018, with Lizzie's move to UBC, the Tree Spotters became an official program of the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University. From 2015-2020, the Tree Spotters program trained hundreds of citizen scientists to observe 75 trees and shrubs representing 15 native species. During that time, volunteers submitted over 330,000 phenological observations to the National Phenology's Database.
While the official program at the Arnold Arboretum concluded in December 2020, a core group of Tree Spotters continues as a volunteer-run citizen science group.
To learn more about citizen science and phenology, visit the National Phenology Network.
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To download Tree Spotters data and perform some analysis, please consult:
a. https://github.com/alinazeng/Tree_Spotters/blob/main/analyses/how_to_download_TreeSpotter_data.R if you prefer working with an R script
b. https://github.com/alinazeng/Tree_Spotters/wiki/How-to-download-&-tidy-&-analyze-Tree-Spotters-data if you prefer looking at a Wiki page
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Alina did many other analyses when preparing this document [insert link]. You can visit Tree_Spotters/analyses/process_work_alina/ (https://github.com/alinazeng/Tree_Spotters/tree/main/analyses/process_work_alina) if you are interested in seeing the code.
A platform for Tree Spotters and fellow enthusiasts who know R to refer to, if they wish to download data and perform some analyses.
If you are having issues, please contact Alina Zeng (she/her) at alinazengziyun@yahoo.com who can hopefully point you to the right direction :D (Contacting project leads Lizzie and Catherine is okay but not recommended because Alina is less occupied and can get back to you sooner.)