MeadoWatch: a long-term community-science database of wildflower phenology in Mount Rainier National Park

We present a long-term and high-resolution phenological dataset from 17
wildflower species collected in Mt. Rainier National Park, as part of the
MeadoWatch (MW) community science project. Since 2013, 500+ unique
volunteers and scientists have gathered data on the timing of four key
reproductive phenophases (budding, flowering, fruiting, and seeding) in 28
plots over two elevational gradients alongside popular park trails.
Trained volunteers (87.2%) and UW scientists (12.8%) collected data 3-9
times/week during the growing season, using a standardized method.
Taxonomic assessments were highly consistent between scientists and
volunteers, with high accuracy and specificity across phenophases and
species. Sensitivity, on the other hand, was lower than accuracy and
specificity, suggesting that a few species might be challenging to
reliably identify in community-science projects. Up to date, the MW
database includes 42,000+ individual phenological observations from 17
species, between 2013 and 2019. However, MW is a living dataset that will
be updated through continued contributions by volunteers, and made
available for its use by the wider ecological community.