Biodiversity collections as tools for understanding changes in the Pamir Mtns by ellwood

@shree Thanks for your comment! I'm happy to collaborate with other proposers and welcome feedback, comments, or ideas to enhance the proposal.

Hi ellwood! Thanks for your submission! I agree with Shree and vramanu that this is a great idea! As you know, there have been many herbarium-based studies of changes in plant phenology, but the results are rarely communicated to farmers and others who can use this information for climate adaptation. Can you be more specific as to how we would use the data from biodiversity collections to update the calendars? I scanned through your publication record and it looks like you would have some great ideas as to a methodology. I think an important first step would be to find correlations between plant phenologies and weather, and we will need the kind of historical data you are discussing to do so, but we will also need a source of historical weather data. I have worked with Lakota elders who use plant phenophases as seasonal cues (e.g. the roses bloom when the frost is out of the ground). In those cases, the cue is usually used to take an immediate action, because it refers to a simultaneous event. The neat thing about the calendars of the human body is that they detect temporal relationships that are separated in time. For example, you might find out that the rose blooms are reliably correlated with something that occurs three weeks later, by counting 7 body parts forward (three days each). I think vramanu is suggesting community participation in data collection, and I think that is a great idea. The USA National Phenology Network is a great example of citizen science related to plant and animal seasonality. I think this would really complement the work you have already proposed, because it would generate data, raise awareness, and inspire local application. It would also be great to train/support Pamiri scientists as they digitize their biodiversity collections. An important local partner might be the Pamir Biological Institute: http://pbi.narod.ru/index.html Thanks again and I really look forward to seeing this proposal grow!

Thanks for all the helpful comments! @vramanu - Bringing this idea into schools and colleges could be very powerful indeed. Because the data are freely available, it really comes down to ideas about what data to look for and what to do with it. With minimal training, just about anyone can participate and of course local knowledge is essential. @morganr - You're right, weather data is the other important factor to this. Local weather would be ideal, but access to even regional weather data can be very helpful. Generally a warm year in the valley, or in the nearest city, is also a warm year in the nearby mountains. I will try to find a source for relevant weather data to add to the proposal. Your work with Lakota elders sounds very interesting. And, yes, a program like the National Phenology Network would be great for the Pamir region. I can envision a simplified version for the plant phenophases that are specific to the region. I worked on a project like this for the New England, where we developed a very simple, easy-to-use website for people to record their phenology observations, http://www.nelop.net/ . A site like this can easily be made that incorporates phenology observations, the body calendar, and even data from specimens. It would be great to partner with Pamir Biological Institute and see what specimens are in their collections. Do you know if they have digitized any of their collections yet? I may be able to point them to resources if this is still a work in progress. @kassam - Thanks for the suggestions - I agree that identifying an area for which we have the largest dataset would be helpful. I read the fascinating article you linked, and would like to know some of the specifics behind it. For example, is it possible to find out which species of crops are grown, which animals (migratory birds, birds of prey, worms, etc) were observed, or any other information that is part of the body calendar that I might be able to corroborate with specimen data? This type of information will go far in formulating a more comprehensive proposal. Thanks! Libby.

Hi again Libby, Just to follow up on my last comment, I wrote to a friend at the Pamir Biological Institute and she said that to her knowledge, none of the herbarium specimens in their holdings have been scanned. Best, Morgan

Hi Libby, I wanted to let you know that Climate CoLab as expanded the 'Summary' field to 4000 characters so that you can incorporate some of these new ideas into your proposal. I hope that helps! Best, Morgan

Hi Libby, 29 days until this contest ends! At this point, I would encourage you to start fine-tuning your proposal. We now have an amazing set of judges from the National Consortium for Atmospheric Research (Dr. Greg Holland), The University of Maryland (Dr. Surya Sharma), College of the Atlantic (Dr. Doreen Stabinsky) and The Lowlander Center (Dr. Kristina Peterson) not to mention, our two esteemed advisors. Please see: https://www.climatecolab.org/web/guest/plans/-/plans/contestId/1301102. I hope your proposal will wow them! Best of luck! Natasha

Thanks @gharp for your helpful comment. I have made major edits to the proposal and included steps to activate local participation, particularly under "Who will take these actions".

3 days left until the judges will read through your proposal! Take this chance to invite others to weigh-in and ensure your proposal is as comprehensive and accurate as possible! Now is the time to make any last minute changes!

Hi Libby, Just to let you know, proposals are blocked for any edits until the end of the voting period (August 3 - September 12). Apologies for the delay in my reply, I've been out of the country for some time. Thanks, Natasha