We live in a world that is about documenting our lives on social media. So why not use our phone cameras to document nature too? That is the idea behind a new scientific program.
21st century life tends to distance us from observing the details of seasonal changes around us – from water temperature and plant metabolism to migrations of fish, crabs, birds and wildlife. Sure, we notice the autumn colors on the trees and put on a fleece when the first cold fronts come through in October. However, details like the late July blooms of wild rice and other seed-bearing marsh plants elude most of us, as do the first waves of bobolinks, sora-rails, and blue-winged kicks that wander around Labor Day to feed on swamp riches.
Now, with our climate change, scientists want to document when seasonal events like this occur in order to get better data on the specifics of the changes. However, better data means that a lot of data is needed over long periods of time. Now comes Chronolog, a web-based system for recording changes with photos that you as a citizen scientist take yourself. Simply place your smartphone on one of the rigid brackets installed at one of two dozen stations in the bay. Then email the images to Chronolog, along with the name of the specific station and mount. The company compiles the images for this station into a visual log that records changes over time.
Chronolog says its mission is twofold: “First, to connect people to nature in a new interactive way. Second, to keep records of changes for scientific purposes. By making environmental protection a collaborative activity, people become interested in participating and are compelled by the results. There are no limits to where you can place a Chronolog or what you can monitor. You choose which story you want to tell. ”Examples include restoration projects, water levels, invasive and native species, storm recovery, and education. Any person or organization can install a Chronolog for $ 200 per year.
Who offers Chronologs related to the Chesapeake? A look at the company’s website revealed a few dozen locations nearby sponsored by county and state parks, Shenandoah National Park, Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge, and Chesapeake Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve in Virginia. The latter, numbered CBV-101, is located at the beautiful Taskinas Creek Lookout in York River State Park. Another long-standing favorite is PRP-101, which looks downriver over Mattaponi Creek in Maryland from the bridge between Patuxent River Park and the state’s Merkle Wildlife Sanctuary. The location of the Blackwater NWR observation platform BWR-101 is particularly interesting because it helps to document the changes in sea level and the loss of march at this critical location. Near this correspondent are three locations at the University of Richmond on Westhampton Lake (UOR-101) and the Gambles Mill Eco-Corridor restored floodplain (UOR-102, UOR-103) that drains the lake to Little Westham Creek leads and the James River.
Check the Chronolog map to find a site near you and start adding to its log. It provides valuable observation, and now you have a good excuse to visit.
-John Page Williams