Phenology is the study of recurring plant and animal life cycle stages, specifically known as phenophases: budburst, leafing, flowering, fruiting, emergence of insects, migration of birds, and its interaction with biotic and abiotic factors. Across the globe, phenology as a tool has been widely used to study the impact of climate change on plant and animal communities. Its potential, however, is not yet explored in Bhutan.

With an operationalization of BPN (Bhutan Phenology Network) in 2014, it has generated significant interest both from schools and public. As of now, it involves 170 students from 17 schools in observing and recording phenological event of 306 plants on daily basis. Besides phenology data, schools also logs and transmit climate data at the temporal resolution of 10 minutes from 17 weather stations. As of August 2015, one-year climate data has been logged and stored in UWICE climate database.

As a status update on BPN implementation, UWICE is pleased to bring out its first annual report titled, ‘BPN: ANNUAL REPORT 2015’. Among others, the report summaries BPN’s core objectives, its achievements over the years and the way forward.

For details, click the following link below

Bhutan Phenology Network : Annual Report 2015

Watch a video of students at Sakteng Lower Secondary School collecting phenological data below