Title: The PeatPic project: Predicting plot-scale green leaf phenology across peatlands
Citation: Davidson, Scott; Malhotra, Avni (2025). The PeatPic project: Predicting plot-scale green leaf phenology across peatlands [Dataset]. Dryad. https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.cz8w9gjgp
Study Site: Global
Purpose: This dataset comprises standardized plot-scale photographs and associated metadata collected from 42 peatland research sites during the 2021 and 2022 growing seasons. Using the PeatPic protocol, participants photographed dominant vegetation communities weekly to bi-weekly from pre-growth through senescence, capturing seasonal dynamics across bog, fen, and swamp ecosystems. Metadata includes vegetation type, microform, site characteristics, and disturbance history. RGB imagery was analyzed using the Phenopix R package to derive a greenness index, and seasonal trajectories were modeled using a Gaussian function to estimate the timing and magnitude of peak greenness. These data support cross-site comparisons of peatland green leaf phenology (GLP) and facilitate broader investigations into vegetation responses to climate and disturbance.
Abstract: Between 2021 and 2022, researchers and volunteers from the peatland research community collected standardized, plot-scale photographs (0.036–1 m²) of dominant vegetation at various peatland sites using the PeatPic protocol. Each site included 4–12 plots that were either permanent monitoring points or temporarily marked areas. Photos were taken weekly or bi-weekly from directly above the vegetation throughout the growing season, under consistent lighting conditions, using a single camera type per site.
Alongside each photo, participants recorded key environmental details such as peatland type (bog, fen, swamp), vegetation community (e.g., feather moss-, Sphagnum-, graminoid- or shrub-dominated), microform (hummock, lawn, hollow), tree cover, permafrost presence, and disturbance signs.
The photographs were analyzed in R v2.4 using the Phenopix (Fillicetti et al. 2016) package to calculate a greenness index (a proxy for plant growth) and to model seasonal vegetation dynamics. Gaussian models were fitted to determine the timing and peak of greenness (growing season progression), with adjustments made to align data from northern and southern hemispheres.
Supplemental Information Summary:
Research:
Further Info:
Status: Complete
Keywords:
vegetation,
Geographical coordinates: North: 83.15, South: 41.909 East: -52.619 West: -141.010
Bounding Temporal Extent: Start Date: 2021-01-01, End
Date: 2022-12-31
