Project Overview: 

The world’s estimated 425 oak species exchange genes with their close relatives through hybridization. The Quercus Quest campaign is supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation's Dimensions of Biodiversity Program (learn more about our research partners), which is investigating how this exchange of genetic material allows oaks to adapt to new environments, and how oaks then shape the populations of insect and fungal species that depend on them. Because hybridization depends on the timing of pollen movement between species, and because the fungi and insects that live on oaks respond to the timing of leaf and root production, phenology is key to understanding the complexities of oak ecosystems.

Your data collected as part of this campaign will be used to understand the relationship between climate and leaf and flowering phenology in eastern white oak, bur oak, and their relatives.

How to Participate:

1. Select one (or more) individual oak trees to track from the list below. Need help identifying oaks? Check out this great resource from the US Forest Service.

• white oak (Quercus alba; Phenophase Photo Guide)
• swamp white oak (Quercus bicolor)
• sand live oak (Quercus geminata)
• overcup oak (Quercus lyrata)
• bur oak (Quercus macrocarpa)
• swamp chestnut oak (Quercus michauxii)
• chestnut oak (Quercus montana)
• chinquapin oak (Quercus muehlenbergii)
• dwarf chinquapin oak (Quercus prinoides)
• post oak (Quercus stellata)
• southern live oak (Quercus virginiana)

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 oak trees. Sites that contain more than one oak tree are especially valuable for this campaign. 

Note: When you register your oak tree(s), please include details on the Add or Edit a Plant page in your Observation Deck about whether the tree was planted (if known), and if so, the approximate planting date. 

3. Sign up to receive our oak 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 leafing and flowering in your trees ideally 2-4 times a week, in the spring and autumn. We are especially interested in the following phenophases, though you are welcome to report on fruiting as well.

Phenophase	Definition	Photo (Click to enlarge)
Breaking leaf buds	One or more breaking leaf buds are visible on the plant. A leaf bud is considered "breaking" once a green leaf tip is visible at the end of the bud, but before the first leaf from the bud has unfolded to expose the leaf stalk (petiole) or leaf base.
Leaves	One or more live, unfolded leaves are visible on the plant. A leaf is considered "unfolded" once its entire length has emerged from a breaking bud, stem node or growing stem tip, so that the leaf stalk (petiole) or leaf base is visible at its point of attachment to the stem. Do not include fully dried or dead leaves.
Increasing leaf size	A majority of leaves on the plant have not yet reached their full size and are still growing larger. Do not include new leaves that continue to emerge at the ends of elongating stems throughout the growing season.
Colored leaves	One or more leaves show some of their typical late-season color, or yellow or brown due to drought or other stresses. Do not include small spots of color due to minor leaf damage, or dieback on branches that have broken. Do not include fully dried or dead leaves that remain on the plant.	photo coming soon
Falling leaves	One or more leaves with typical late-season color, or yellow or brown due to other stresses, are falling or have recently fallen from the plant. Do not include fully dried or dead leaves that remain on the plant for many days before falling.	not pictured
Flowers or flower buds	One or more fresh open or unopened flowers or flower buds are visible on the plant. Include flower buds or inflorescences that are swelling or expanding, but do not include those that are tightly closed and not actively growing (dormant). Also do not include wilted or dried flowers. For Quercus macrocarpa, the male inflorescence is a catkin which is initially compact and stiff, but eventually unfolds to become longer and hang loosely from the branch. Female flowers are very small and petal-less, emerging from the growing stem at the point where a new leaf is attached.
Open flowers	One or more open, fresh flowers are visible on the plant. Flowers are considered "open" when the reproductive parts (male stamens or female pistils) are visible between or within unfolded or open flower parts (petals, floral tubes or sepals). Do not include wilted or dried flowers. For Quercus macrocarpa, the male flowers will open once the initially compact catkin has unfolded and is hanging loosely. Female flowers are open when the pistils are visible, but will be very difficult to see where they are out of reach.	photo coming soon

 5. Report your observations. As you collect data during the season, log in to your Nature's Notebook account and enter the observation data you recorded. You can also use our smartphone apps to submit your observations! 

Research team

	Andrew Hipp, Senior Scientist in Plant Systematics and Herbarium Director, The Morton Arboretum
	Heather McCarthy, Department of Microbiology and Plant Biology, University of Oklahoma
	Jeannine Cavender-Bares,  University of Minnesota
	Ian Pearse, U.S. Geological Survey, Fort Collins Science Center, Fort Collins, CO
	Paul Manos, Professor, Department of Biology, Duke University

This campaign is supported by the NSF Awards 2129237, 2129236, 2129312, 2129281.

We are collaborating on this campaign with Adventure Scientists, which engages volunteers in collecting data in far flung places! The phenology data that their volunteers collect will help to fill in the geographic gaps across the range of white oaks. 

Questions about this campaign? Email Erin Posthumus, USA-NPN Outreach Coordinator at erin@usanpn.org.