Phenocam network for tropical forest phenology monitoring across latin america and the caribbean

The network targets the full spectrum of tropical forest types, with a particular focus on seasonally dry forests where the timing of leaf flush, flowering, and senescence is highly sensitive to climate variability and drought. Funding will support camera procurement, Starlink subscriptions, field installation, and ongoing maintenance across all sites. A key investment is in human capital: graduate students and postdoctoral researchers will develop and maintain an automated data pipeline for quality assurance and quality control (QAQC), and for near-real-time data visualization accessible to partner institutions and the public. The research team will use these data to model how future climate scenarios will shift phenological cycles and alter the geographic distribution of deciduous tropical forests, a major but poorly understood carbon pool. Outputs will include open datasets, forecast models, and tools directly applicable to carbon market verification, biodiversity credit assessment, deforestation early-warning systems, and sustainable land management across one of the most climate-vulnerable and biodiverse regions on Earth - the tropics.