Nature's Calendar: Spring Check - phenological observations made by Citizen Scientists

Nature's Calendar (www.naturenskalender.se, in Swedish only) is run by the Swedish National Phenology Network, a consortium of Swedish universities, governmental agencies and NGO:s. The Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences hosts the network. The main task for the Nature's calendar is to collect observations of different spring and autumn signs appearing during the vegetation season. Data about the nature's calendar is collected in two ways, the long-term environmental monitoring through "Calendars", where phenological observations are reported all through the year, and through "Checks", where phenology observations are reported during short-time campaigns, giving a snapshot of the phenological status at a certain time of the year. The long-term environmental monitoring is performed by citizen scientists and professional observers at research stations and like. Three calendars have been launched in the Nature's Calendar; the Plant's Calendar (from 2008), the Bird's Calendar (from 2016) and the Beekeeper's Calendar (between 2015 and 2018). Starting in 2015, a campaign called "Vårkollen" (i.e. "Spring Check") has been run during two (April 30 - May 1) or three (April 29 - May 1) days every year. The campaign, where the phenology of only 6 species (also available in the historical phenology dataset) gives a snapshot of how spring has proceeded all over the country at this time. Aims Phenological changes in nature gives the most obvious signs of the biological effect of climate change. Spring signs, autumn signs, the start, end and length of the growing season, and many other signs in nature are basic properties of ecosystems. Also, the interaction between different organisms, e.g. flowering plants and pollinators, are affected if the nature's calendar changes. Observations reported to the Nature's Calendar can be compared to similar observations collected for more than 100 years ago (see Swedish Historical Phenology Dataset, published in another place at this platform), to detect evidence of phenological shifts over time that can be connected to climate change. The aim of the Nature's Calendar is to collect phenological data from the first spring sign to the last autumn sign, to be able to offer nation-wide data to everyone interested, to facilitate research, environmental assessments, the evaluation of environmental goals, etc, to be better prepared to meet the effects of climate change. For example, the data collected in Nature's Calendar is continuously used to evaluate the Swedish environmental objective Reduced Climate through the indicator called ”Growing Season” (www.slu.se/vaxternasvaxtsasong). Three datasets are made available through SND: the Plant's Calendar, the Beekeeper's Calendar and the Spring Check datasets. They all originate from the same database in the Nature's Calendar, while the Bird's Calendar observations are published through the Swedish Species Observation System Portal (www.artportalen.se). In the Spring Check, Citizen Scientist's have reported observations of how far the development of - flowering of Liverleaf, Colt's-foot, Wood Anemone, Goat Willow and Bird Cherry - budburst of birch have progressed until Valpurgis Day (some years between April 29 and May 1, some years between April 30 and May 1). The aim with the data collection is to obtain nationwide data that can provide information to understand, track changes and predict effects of climate change on natural plants in Sweden by studying the progress of some species all over the country at one and the same date every year, and compare the current progress with what have been seen in historical records of the same plants. The dataset includes one file with observation data (spring_check_2015-2021.csv), one PDF file (metadata_spring_check_2015-2021.pdf) with metadata that describes how the included parameters should be interpreted and lists of included species and phases, and one PDF file (Varkollen_folder_2022.pdf) which is the instruction given to the observers (in Swedish, only). The observation data file includes totally 54 305 observations. Coordinates of the observation locations have been made diffuse, to make it impossible to trace back the observations to the observer (coordinates are rounded to 3 decimals).自然日历（www.naturenskalender.se，仅支持瑞典语）由瑞典国家物候网络（Swedish National Phenology Network）运营，该网络是由瑞典高校、政府机构与非政府组织组成的联盟，由瑞典农业科学大学（Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences）负责托管。自然日历的核心任务是收集植被生长季内出现的各类春季与秋季物候观测数据。 该数据集的采集分为两种途径：一是通过‘日历’开展的长期环境监测，全年持续上报物候观测数据；二是通过‘核查’开展的短期专项行动，在特定时段上报观测数据，以捕捉当年某一时刻的物候状态快照。长期环境监测由公民科学家与科研站等场所的专业观测人员完成。 自然日历目前已推出三款专属观测项目：植物日历（2008年上线）、鸟类日历（2016年上线）与养蜂人日历（2015年至2018年期间运营）。自2015年起，每年都会开展名为‘Vårkollen’（即‘春季核查’）的专项行动，为期2天（4月30日至5月1日）或3天（4月29日至5月1日）。该行动仅针对6个物种开展物候观测，相关数据同样收录于历史物候数据集，用于捕捉全国范围内此时节的春季进程快照。 ### 项目目标 自然物候变化是气候变化产生生物学影响的最直观表征。春季物候、秋季物候、生长季的起始、结束与时长，以及诸多其他自然现象，都是生态系统的基础属性。此外，不同生物类群间的相互作用（如显花植物与传粉者），也会因自然物候节律的改变受到影响。通过将自然日历上报的观测数据与一百余年前收集的同类观测数据（详见本平台另行发布的《瑞典历史物候数据集》）进行对比，可检测与气候变化相关的物候长期偏移证据。 自然日历的目标是收集从首个春季物候到末次秋季物候的全部物候数据，为所有感兴趣的群体提供全国范围的物候数据集，以支撑科研、环境评估、环境目标评估等工作，助力更好地应对气候变化带来的影响。例如，自然日历采集的数据正持续用于以‘生长季’为指标的瑞典环境目标‘减缓气候变化’的评估工作（www.slu.se/vaxternasvaxtsasong）。 目前共有三款数据集通过瑞典国家数据服务中心（SND，Swedish National Data Service）对外发布：植物日历数据集、养蜂人日历数据集与春季核查数据集。上述三类数据集均源自自然日历的统一数据库，而鸟类日历的观测数据则通过瑞典物种观测系统门户（www.artportalen.se）发布。 在春季核查行动中，公民科学家需上报以下物种的物候发育进度： - 獐耳细辛、款冬、银莲花、山羊柳与稠李的开花情况 - 桦树的芽绽情况 上报节点为瓦尔普吉斯之夜（部分年份为4月29日至5月1日，部分年份为4月30日至5月1日）。 本次数据采集的宗旨是获取全国范围的观测数据，通过每年同一日期对全国范围内部分物种的物候进程进行监测，对比当前物候进程与同类物种的历史观测记录，以理解、追踪并预测气候变化对瑞典本土植物的影响。 本数据集包含三类文件：1. 观测数据文件（spring_check_2015-2021.csv），共包含54305条观测记录；2. 元数据文件（metadata_spring_check_2015-2021.pdf），用于说明数据集内各参数的含义，并列出收录的物种与物候阶段；3. 观测指南文件（Varkollen_folder_2022.pdf，仅支持瑞典语），即向观测者提供的操作说明。 观测点位的坐标已进行模糊化处理，经四舍五入至小数点后三位，以避免通过观测记录反推观测者身份。