This effort was spearheaded by the USA National Phenology Network’s pilot project with the US Fish & Wildlife Service’s Valle de Oro National Wildlife Refuge. The organizations in the Partners tab below are currently conducting weekly phenology monitoring on a suite of focal species, including the Rio Grande cottonwood (Populus deltoides wizlensii) and Siberian elm (Ulmus pumila).

Monitoring of plants and animals is conducted using Nature’s Notebook, a project of the USA-NPN. Weekly monitoring will result in scientific data that will provide information on phenological changes both on and off the National Wildlife Refuge System. This information will assist managers to better understand how this region is being impacted by a changing climate, and make management decisions at the Refuge in relation to ecological restoration goals, as well as summarize and present this information back to local communities and schools.

Watch a video about the Rio Grande Phenology Trail, created by Crockett Howard, Nature's Notebook volunteer and Bernalillo County Master Naturalist.