March 15, 2022
Project Budburst, which is managed by the National Ecological Observatory and Chicago Botanic Garden, collects data on the timing of leafing, flowering, and fruiting of plants throughout the year to help scientists investigate the impact of climate change on different species. Users create lists of plants to track and then enter data and images to document the phenological stage of those plants on a regular basis.
The app provides support to citizen scientists by offering recommendations for plants to track, information on local species, and lists developed by conservation organizations and other entities of interesting plants. The app also provides background information on each species and images of the different phenological stages of each plant. For fun, the app includes a floracaching game that challenges users to find different types of plants using a variety of clues. The app is available, free of charge, for iOS and Android devices. The project’s mobile site will work on any smartphone.