Life is hectic, but taking time to stop and smell the roses this weekend could help scientists track how climate change and other environmental factors are affecting Indianapolis.
If you’re like me, most mornings feel like a white-knuckle race against the clock and other drivers.
But weekends are different. I get to ease into the day and walk around my yard in shorts, long socks and sandals.
In just a few minutes, I see sparrows, robins and mourning doves fighting for a piece of bread my neighbor tossed out. A groundhog climbs out of a hole beneath my shed, wondering what I’m doing on his property. Herbs in a flower bed struggle with the wild temperature swings, while clover and grass thrives throughout the yard.
Observations like these may seem small, but they are snapshots in time that scientists can use to track changes in our world and influence decision makers.
Scientists know climate change has made Indiana hotter and wetter, on average, and has changed how animals and plants in aquatic, forest and other ecosystems live.
Data collected by Indy residents could help scientists understand how climate change is affecting the Indianapolis area.
“With that information, scientists can start to see patterns of what’s happening in cities,” said Angela Herrmann, program manager for Indiana University Indianapolis’ Center for Urban Health. “And if cities are indeed getting warmer, then the patterns for blooming times for plants or the emergence of certain kinds of insects are going to reflect that.”
Herrmann is co-organizer of the Indy City Nature Challenge, a four-day effort to get residents to experience the world around them and collect data in the form of phone photos and sound recordings in order to create a “living map” about the plants, animals and fungi near them.
The event, which will be April 24-27, is one of three happening in the state. The data collected could help make decisions that could slow climate change effects or help future Hoosiers see how past decisions impacted them.
“This is valuable for understanding where we are and what’s happening to us now, but it’s also going to be valuable 100 years from now,” said Indianapolis-based plant ecologist Amanda Wanlass.
Plants and animals signal change
Animals and plants have signalled the changing of the seasons for centuries.
According to folklore, the size of the black bands on a woolly bear caterpillar or its overall wooliness can signal how severe winter will be. Some say splitting open a persimmon seed is another way to gauge the coming winter. And, of course, thousands of people watch Pennsylvania groundhog Punxsutawney Phil’s winter prediction every Feb. 2.
More reliable indicators of seasonal change are the appearance of birds like the dark-eyed junco, which signal the coming of winter, or the robin, which usually indicates spring is near.
But lately, the juncos have been arriving at unusual times. Herrmann said she saw juncos in Indianapolis in September, a few weeks earlier than usual.
On its own, it’s just an observation, but when compared to the appearance of the birds a century ago, it gives scientists a chance to see if and how things have changed in the city.
Wanlass is executive director of Indiana Phenology, a Carmel-based nonprofit that seeks to gather scientific data about seasonal changes in Indiana.
She and other phenologists are combing through records from a nature study club based in Indianapolis in the late 1920s and historical records from Butler University’s Friesner Herbarium to see whether there are differences in plants, animals and the environment in central Indiana.
They have identified changes here that are also being seen throughout the world.
“Scientists across the world are seeing earlier springs,” Wanlass said “There is a lot of variation from year to year, but when you look at it on the scale of 100 years, that’s when you see that trend line is changing. We’re seeing earlier flowering, earlier breeding of birds and amphibians. At the same time we’re seeing a lot more extremes in our weather.”
That sort of information will help people make personal decisions, like when they plant their garden, and potentially inform decisions made by state and federal lawmakers, who can regulate the things that accelerate climate change.
Researchers need current data to compare with historic data to see changes.
But Herrmann and Wanlass say researchers need help from residents to get that data, and one of the best ways to help is by participating in the Indy City Nature Challenge.
“One of the ways that it’s helpful for scientists to have people out there collecting data, is that they can see how so many more species and so many more locations are responding to changing conditions, so they can see potential problems before they occur,” Wanlass said.
Here’s how to help
To participate, register for an account at the iNaturalist website, then join the Indy City Nature Challenge by clicking the “join” button on the event’s page.
Then, you’ll need to download the iNaturalist app and ensure to enable the location permissions.
Next, go on a walk around your home or in your neighborhood and take photos of any wild plant, animal, fungi or slime mold you find. You can submit domesticated finds, like plants growing in your garden or your pet, but they won’t be counted by researchers.
Nearly 14,000 different species of living things are found in Indianapolis, so you can potentially find many varieties of songbirds, rodents like groundhogs and squirrels, herbs, grass, trees, flowers and insects.
Herrmann says exploring will help you spot things you normally don’t see.
“When the average person walks out their door, they see a sea of green but it all kind of looks the same,” Herrmann said “When people start to explore what’s in their backyard or the park, they start to notice differences in the shapes of leaves and how they’re attached to stems.”
The same goes for animals and fungi, which may look familiar, but a closer look could reveal that it’s a species you’ve never seen before.
“I think what’s so important and so valuable about participating in the City Nature Challenges is that it’s an opportunity to go out and look and slow down and connect to where we live, because there is so much life here that we just miss,” Wanlass said. “When you think about another living creature, you are more inclined to care about it. And when we take better care of our environment, we’re actually taking better care of ourselves.”
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Mirror Indy reporter Enrique Saenz covers west Indianapolis. Contact him at 317-983-4203 or enrique.saenz@mirrorindy.org. Follow him on Bluesky at @enriquesaenz.bsky.social.
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