Mike W. Bryant
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (June 19/02) - Plants may not be the window the soul, but they are a good indicator of what the summer season has in store, say members of the NWT chapter of PlantWatch.

Checking out for the emerging "green wave of spring," as NWT PlantWatch co-ordinator Jennifer Morin calls it is exactly what the organization is all about.

"It's like a dual function program," says Morin. "One is just to get people out there and see what's in their backyards and the environment, and the other is to collect usable information for science."

Recording the annual emergence of plant life in spring is particularly important in the NWT, says Morin, because it is here where scientists believe climate change will have the most effect.

The time certain plant species begin to sprout and bloom is noted and imputed onto the organization's website where researchers and students alike can compare with previous years from all across Canada.

"Usually trembling aspen are the first one of trees to come out," says Morin who, out walking trails around Yellowknife last week, was looking for catkins on the ends of branches, on which they release their pollen.

"We also record leaf outdates, when they completely unfold."

Morin says there are 15 plant species in the NWT that she looks for every spring, including aspen, labrador tea, bearberries, and cranberries.

The first stage note is mid-bloom, where flowers have opened in at least three areas of a "patch" -- about one square metre.

The second stage, full-bloom, is when at least half the plants in a patch have begun to bloom.

Morin is hoping other communities, especially within the schools, will take interest in the program and begin collecting information on their own.

One teacher, Bob White, from Harry Camsell school in Hay River has already begun.

He started taking his Grade 6 class out for PlantWatch field trips last year.

"We didn't log in this year, we just paid attention to the dates," says White. "But it's a really good idea, something to pay attention to with this late spring.

"For the kids, when you're 11-years-old, you haven't seen a lot of springs yet."