Project BudBurst

Phenology. Literally "The Science of Appearances." We're concerning ourselves with the physical manifestation of phenotypes, but in this case, the *timing* of those things. Migration. Reproduction. Flowering. Budburst.

Project BudBurst is a.... well, I'll let them speak for themselves. From their website:

What is Project BudBurst?
We are a network of people across the United
States who monitor plants as the seasons change. We are a national field
campaign designed to engage the public in the collection of important ecological
data based on the timing of leafing, flowering, and fruiting of plants (plant
phenophases). Project BudBurst participants make careful observations of these
plant phenophases. The data are being collected in a consistent manner across
the country so that scientists can use the data to learn more about the
responsiveness of individual plant species to changes in climate locally,
regionally, and nationally. Thousands of people from all 50 states have
participated. Project BudBurst began in 2007 in response to requests from people
like you who wanted to make a meaningful contribution to understanding changes
in our environment.

Project BudBurst is a lot like the Great Backyard Birdwatch in that it is a scientific effort being undertaken by individuals to create a large enough, statistical data base to be relevant in the field. While this is not related to bonsai specifically, the findings and information gathered by the project is useful to environmental and botanical endevours all around. It is free to participate it and you can participate in as small (or as large) of a way as you desire. At the moment, it is limited to the US (though if anyone knows of similar projects for other areas of the world, I would be very interested, drop me a link). Check it out. For SCIENCE!