Advance notice of when a decision-relevant event will occur can dramatically improve the efficacy of management actions. For example, knowing that the eggs of a particular pest insect are expected to hatch within the coming week at a location of interest helps farmers, foresters, or natural resource managers prepare for undertaking control measures. Similarly, understanding when an invasive plant is approaching a life cycle stage during which control measures are most effective supports managers in prioritizing when and where to undertake treatment activities.
The USA-NPN produces and distributes daily national maps – or Pheno Forecasts – indicating the status of insect pest and invasive plant life cycle stages as part of a growing suite of phenology map products. These maps, available at 2.5km resolution for the conterminous U.S., indicate the status of insect pest or invasive plant life cycle stages in real time and six days into the future. Pheno Forecasts are currently available for 13 insect pests and two invasive plant species. The USA-NPN also offers a developmental forecast for winter wheat as a mechanism to assess frost damage. Maps are available on the USA-NPN website (www.usanpn.org) as publication-ready graphics and through an interactive visualization tool. As well, interested users may sign up to receive email-based notifications providing advance warning of activity for individual species two weeks and six days in advance of the life cycle event transition.
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