Plant Phenology Transects

This study is designed to determine the timing of phenological events for plant species at the four core research sites identified on the Sevilleta National Wildlife refuge. The four sites are Goat Draw/Cerro Montosa, Five Points/Deep Well, Rio Salado, and Red Tank/222. The Phenological events monitored include all of the major events observable in a plants life : germinating, vegetating, budding (flowers), flowering, fruiting, dormant, dying, and dead. All transects were placed close to Sevilleta LTER meteorological stations. The phenological information collected will give researchers baseline data for use in plant reproductive or phenological studies. The proximity of sites to weather stations allows coupling of biotic and abiotic data to ascertain cause and effect relationships of climate and plant growth. Monitoring these sites through time will allow researchers to see how the timing of different events changes from year to year and over many years