Abstract
Abstract. A phenological data set collected by citizen scientists from 1970 to 2018 in Latvia is presented, comprising almost 47 000 individual observations of eight taxonomical groups, in addition to agrarian activities and abiotic parameters, covering in total 159 different phenological phases. These original data published offline in annual issues of the Nature and History Calendar (in Latvian, Dabas un vēstures kalendārs) have been digitized, harmonized, and geo-referenced. Overall, the possible use of such data is extensive, as phenological data are excellent bioindicators for characterizing climate change and can be used for the elaboration of adaptation strategies in agriculture, forestry, and environmental monitoring. The data can also be used in cultural–historical research; for example, the database includes data on sugar beet and maize, the cultivation of which was imposed on collective farms during the Soviet period. Thus, such data are not only important in the Earth sciences but can also be applied to the social sciences. The data significantly complement current knowledge on European phenology, especially regarding northern regions and the temporal biome. The data here cover two climate reference periods (1971–2000; 1981–2010), in addition to more recent years, and are particularly important in monitoring the effects of climate change. The database can be considered the largest open phenological data set in the Baltics. The data are freely available to all interested at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3982086 (Kalvāne et al., 2020).
Highlights
From the relatively narrow study of natural rhythms, phenology has developed into an interdisciplinary field of science, the application of which is constantly expanding
Phenological data are important for agriculture, forestry (Peñuelas et al, 2009), understanding ecological processes (Walther et al, 2002), human health (Dierenbach et al, 2013), tourism, and education (Kalvane, 2011), and on-site phenological observations are used as ground truth for satellite data calibration (Nagai et al, 2018)
In Lithuania and Estonia, more systematic observations have been undertaken in botanical gardens: when the Botanical Garden of Vilnius University was founded in Lithuania in 1782 (Romanovskaja and Baksiene, 2008) and Published by Copernicus Publications
Summary
From the relatively narrow study of natural rhythms, phenology has developed into an interdisciplinary field of science, the application of which is constantly expanding. The oldest phenological data series in Europe dates back to 1354 and holds the dates of grape harvest in Beaube, Burgundy, France (Labbé et al, 2019), as well as data from 15th century France and Austria (Schleip et al, 2008). The earliest known data collection in the Baltic region, fragmentary in nature, dates back to the 17th century, obtained by reconstructing the date of the rye harvest in Estonia (Ahas, 2008). In Lithuania and Estonia, more systematic observations have been undertaken in botanical gardens: when the Botanical Garden of Vilnius University was founded in Lithuania in 1782 (Romanovskaja and Baksiene, 2008) and Published by Copernicus Publications
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