North America

North America is characterized by a long and rich history of tracking plant and animal phenology through a variety of approaches. Indigenous peoples have woven an understanding of seasonal changes into their lifeways for centuries. More recently, formal monitoring has been undertaken by a wide range of individuals, governmental programs, and community science efforts. In Canada, the PlantWatch program is currently active in a few provinces. The USA National Phenology Network’s Nature’s Notebook platform, iNaturalist, and Budburst engage volunteer and professional scientists in tracking phenology across the United States. In Mexico, the recently established National Phenology Network MX is growing rapidly. The observations captured through these efforts are invaluable for documenting and understanding phenological changes. This chapter summarizes historical and current efforts to document plant and animal phenology and briefly demonstrates how both datasets can be combined to reveal novel insights into species response.