The third day of the 1st International Phenological School-Seminar 2018 “The Chronicle of Nature of Russia: Phenology”, which was held in the Central Forest Reserve, was devoted, like the whole seminar, to the problems of phenology in Russia. On this day, the phenologists gathered here sat down at the round table talks.
All participants spoke out about the situation in their region. Many people have problems with the digitization of phenological data, many see the problem in the absence of a single terminology.

The conference participants decided to create an initiative working group to create a unified methodology for conducting phenological observations. The methodology should combine all previously existing techniques and take into account the diversity of environmental conditions in which observations are conducted.

The staff of the Prioksko-Terrasny reserve, of course, showed their initiative and expressed their desire to take part in the work of the group. Deputy director for research work of our reserve, Yuri Buivolov is included in the group and is responsible for the development of a section dedicated to the phenology of birds.

The next point of discussion was a single phenological basis, which will be created according to a uniform methodology and processed for all participants simultaneously. The next point of discussion was a single phenological basis, which will be created according to a uniform methodology and processed for all participants simultaneously.

Modern technologies were also taken into account by the participants of the round table. An application for data entry could facilitate the introduction and use of a single format.

Another modern trend in phenological observations, including in the phenology of animals have become photo-traps. With their help, you can not only observe animals living in the study area, but also record changes in vegetation on trial plots.

Graphic processing of images from the trial plot, which can be obtained with almost any frequency (1 time per day – most convenient), makes it possible to maintain remote phenological observations. Especially relevant are such projects in nature reserves and national parks with large areas, hard-to-reach trial plots where frequent trips to the sites are impossible.

At the end of the third day, the participants visited the excursion “The Secret of the Oka Forest” on the ancient spruce forests of the Tver region.