Those who make their living off the land are best suited to monitor their natural surroundings, says Lacey Weeks of Nature Saskatchewan.
“Rural people are out on the land all the time. They make their living off the land, so they’re the perfect people to watch for plants. They probably already do this anyway,” said Weeks, conservation and education manager for the provincial organization, which is part of NatureWatch.
NatureWatch is asking Canadians to get outside and contribute environmental data that will help scientists monitor the changing climate. It’s also an opportunity for people to learn about the environment in their local area.
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The collected data goes into a national database at the University of Ottawa, where it’s used to better understand the impacts of biodiversity in relation to climate change.
“We’re all going to have to adapt to our climate changing,” Weeks said.
“It gives us an idea of how things are changing.”
NatureWatch organizes four programs: PlantWatch, FrogWatch, WormWatch and IceWatch.
PlantWatch participants monitor the blooming dates of plants. They need to observe and note the first bloom, mid-bloom and leaf-out of 18 native and two non-native plants: dandelion and lilac.
Weeks said observing a single plant over several years will help researchers understand how climate change affects the blooming times of plants in Saskatchewan.
“You get a record over time. If they continue to do this year after year, then you can start to see a trend in climate,” she said.
Taking part in FrogWatch means listening for male toads and frogs to start singing during mating season in the spring. They are vulnerable to changes in the atmosphere, land and the water and can be used as an indicator of a healthy environment.
“If you have a slough in your yard, go out in the spring and listen for frog calls. This might be a little tricky because we do have a number of different species,” she said.
“On our website is all the calls listed for Saskatchewan.”
WormWatch studies the number and types of species located at a site. Earthworms are extremely sensitive to soil disturbance, and recording their number in a specific volume of earth reveals how the habitat is being managed.
“When you’re in your garden and you first see the worms come out, mark down that date,” she said. “On the website, there are ways on how you ID a worm in finding the species.”
IceWatch records the freezing and thawing dates of local lakes and rivers.
Analyzed data is revealing that the freeze-thaw cycles of northern water bodies are changing.
Participants can visit naturewatch.ca and create a profile to upload data as well as photographs. Help is available to identify species.
For more information, phone 306-780-9481 in Regina and 800-667-4668 outside of Regina, or e-mail lweekes@naturesask.ca.
