Project Overview:
Ashe's juniper, Juniperus ashei, also known as mountain cedar, is one of the most important allergenic pollen-producing species in the United States. Forecasts of airborne pollen concentrations could help people who suffer from allergies avoid pollen exposure and manage their allergy medications, but existing data sources are inadequate. Your observations of pollen cones and pollen release in Ashe's junipers will help scientists make better airborne pollen forecasts.
This campaign is related to the national Pollen Trackers campaign but is focused specifically on Juniperus ashei in Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Missouri.
SIGN UP FOR PollenCAST MESSAGES!
You will receive messages full of findings, observation tips, and campaign-specific opportunities. Don't miss out!
How to Participate:
1. Select one (or more) individual plants of Ashe juniper (Juniperus ashei) to track. Find a plant that is in a location that is convenient that you can visit once a week or more during the campaign season.
2. Join Nature's Notebook. If you haven't already, create a Nature's Notebook account. If you need more details on getting started, take the Observer Certification Course available at learning.usanpn.org. Follow the steps to create a site and register one or more juniper plants.
Note: We are very interested in the location of your PollenCAST plant. Consider using the pin on the Google map to mark the exact location of your plant, or as close as you can make it.
3. Sign up to receive PollenCAST campaign messages. You will receive messages approximately every 4-6 weeks during the growing season, providing early results, encouragement, observation tips, interesting links, and campaign-specific opportunities. Don't miss out!
4. Take observations. We invite you to track flowering in your trees ideally 2-4 times a week during the pollen season in the winter between December and March. We are especially interested in the pollen cone and pollen release phenophases, though you are welcome to report on the other phenophases for seed cones as well.
EARN YOUR PollenCAST BADGE
See it on your Observation Deck.
Research team
The individuals below helped to shape the PollenCAST campaign, and they will use the data that you collect in their research.
| Daniel Katz, Cornell University |
| Hosein Foroutan, Virginia Tech University |
| Theresa Crimmins, University of Arizona/USA-NPN |
| Kai Zhu, University of Michigan – Ann Arbor |
Questions about this campaign? Email Erin Posthumus at [email protected].