Film premier highlights 40 years of plant timing changes

With 800 observations of phenology — the timing of ecological events — those field notes became a treasure trove of data.

Seizing upon that opportunity were researchers Trevor Bloom, Donal O’Leary and Corinna Riginos. Starting in 2016, the botanists initiated contemporary observations following, as close as possible, Craighead’s path at Blacktail Butte in what is now Grand Teton National Park. During spring, summer and early fall for four years through 2019, the researchers visited the study site at least twice a week, or about every two to four days.

The threesome published their findings in the July 2021 edition of “Ecological Applications” by the Ecological Society of America. In the article’s abstract it states: “in the scientific world, climate change is widely known to affect plant phenology, but little is known about how these impacts manifest in the widespread sagebrush ecosystem of the Western United States.”

Bloom and his colleagues set out to find the answer comparing their data with that of Craighead’s notes made nearly 40 years earlier.

“Since 1979, we found the onset of spring is 17 days sooner,” Bloom said. “The snow melts about three weeks earlier than in Craighead’s days.”

Those species that bloom mid-summer are doing so 10 days sooner. Late season blooms are more of a mixed bag, but average two days earlier.

According to Bloom, a key reason for the earlier spring is increased temperatures. Spring is now 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit warmer since Craighead’s days. This increase results in snowmelt occurring 21 days sooner.

Such changes are certainly alarming with yet unknown ramifications within the entire Yellowstone ecosystem. While a published technical report reaches the scientific community, Bloom wanted to reach a wider audience.

A Wyoming native raised in Teton County, Bloom is not only a scientist, but also a guide, filmmaker and newly-appointed forest botanist for the Bridger-Teton National Forest. Along with good friend and director Noah Waldron, Bloom produced the film, “For Everything There Was a Season” with funding from The Nature Conservancy.

Speaking in the film’s trailer, Charlie Craighead, Frank’s son, reflected on the changes reported both in Bloom’s research paper and in the film.

“The seasons of the Rocky Mountains are shifting, fire seasons are getting longer, water is getting scarcer in the fall,” Craighead said. “Yet there is a beautiful rhythm to it all.”

This film retraces the footsteps of Frank Craighead through the eyes of Charlie Craighead, Bloom and a cadre of interesting experts. It also shows that beautiful rhythm not only in the natural landscape, but also in the plants and wildlife that call the Greater Yellowstone ecosystem home.

The film footage is stunning as a great gray owl swoops to its nest to feed its young and a mountain lion bounds over a stream. This is in addition to the splendor of Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks. The film is a visual treat.

The premier for the 20-minute film takes place in Laramie, hosted by the Wyoming Native Plant Society, on Wednesday, April 10. An opening reception and celebration of Wyoming Native Plant Month, complete with light refreshments, starts at 6 p.m. in the University of Wyoming Berry Biodiversity Conservation Center Auditorium. The film premier, followed by a question-and-answer session with Bloom, is from 6:30-7:30 p.m.