individual-phenometrics
Retrieve start and end dates of phenological activity for individual plants and animal species to analyze phenological patterns, individual behavior, and variation within populations.
Instructions
About the tool: Provides start and end dates of phenological activity for individual plants and animal species, derived from status data. Each record represents one 'phenological episode' - a period of continuous activity for a specific phenophase on an individual organism (like when one specific maple tree's leaves went from bud break to full leaf drop).
When to use: To understand phenological patterns within species, analyze individual plant behavior, study variation between organisms of the same species, or investigate multiple episodes of activity within a single growing season.
Key applications:
Studying phenological diversity within populations
Analyzing individual plant responses to local microclimates
Documenting multiple flowering/leafing episodes in water-limited ecosystems
Understanding species-specific phenological strategies
Quality control for site-level aggregations
Research on plant physiological responses to environmental triggers
Important considerations:
For plants: Shows actual start/end dates for individual organisms
For animals: Shows presence/absence periods at species level (since individual animals aren't tracked)
Requires date range specification (typically calendar year)
Multiple episodes may occur for same individual/phenophase within one season (e.g., after frost damage or drought recovery)
Essential for understanding the biological basis of site-level patterns
Data interpretation: Records show individual_id, phenophase onset/end dates, and episode duration. -9999 values indicate missing data.
Input Schema
| Name | Required | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
| start_date | Yes | Start date in YYYY-MM-DD format. Must be used with end_date. | |
| end_date | Yes | End date in YYYY-MM-DD format. Must be used with start_date. | |
| bottom_left_x1 | No | X coordinate of the bottom left corner for bounding box filtering. | |
| bottom_left_y1 | No | Y coordinate of the bottom left corner for bounding box filtering. | |
| upper_right_x2 | No | X coordinate of the upper right corner for bounding box filtering. | |
| upper_right_y2 | No | Y coordinate of the upper right corner for bounding box filtering. | |
| species_id | No | Unique species identifier. | |
| station_id | No | Unique identifier associated with an observer’s location. | |
| species_type | No | Species type(s) the organism belongs to. Must match values from getAnimalTypes and getPlantTypes. | |
| network | No | Name of the network(s)/group(s) where the organism is observed. Must match values from getPartnerNetworks. | |
| state | No | State where the observation occurred. Uses two-character postal abbreviation. | |
| phenophase_category | No | Phenophase category. Must match values from getPhenophase. | |
| phenophase_id | No | Unique identifier of the phenophase. | |
| functional_type | No | Functional types of the species. Must match values from getSpeciesFunctionalTypes. | |
| climate_data | No | Flag to indicate whether all climate data fields should be returned. Accepts 0 or 1. Almost always beneficial to see climate data in relation to phenometric data. | |
| individual_ids | No | List of unique identifiers of the individuals for which the observations are made. | |
| additional_field | No | Additional fields to include in output. |