Speaker: Martyn Caldwell Group D Participants: Julia Allen Jones Ingrid M' Parker Carol Shearer Thom

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Breakout Group D

• SpeakerMartyn CaldwellGroup D
  ParticipantsJulia Allen JonesIngrid M.
  ParkerCarol ShearerThomas WhithamHilary Swain

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Theme

• Cascading interactions across levels of
  ecological organization due to disturbance,
  including biological invasions.
• Includes responses to disturbance over scales
  from molecular to ecosystem levels. The obvious
  ecological scale of responses may not be the most
  important or the scale at which disturbance is
  caused (e.g., in the case of biological
  invasions).

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Approach

• Rather than being located at a fixed site (like
  LTER sites), our NEON would combine some
  selective broadscale baseline monitoring with
  mobile monitoring capability that can respond to
  disturbance events(Environmental "SWAT"-teams).

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Approach (cont.)

• Selective baseline environmental monitoring that
  takes advantage of and complements monitoring
  being conducted by federal and state agencies.
  Monitored variables emphasize those that will
  likely beinfluenced by disturbance
  Hydrometeorological parameters, ecosystem flux
  rates, demography of selected populations,
  vegetation sampling, remote sensing, stable
  isotope signatures in soil, vegetation and air
  samples, etc.
• Long-term manipulative experiments
• removal of common or putative "keystone" species
• repeated disturbance events

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Approach (cont.)

• In response to disturbance events or manipulative
  experiments, multi-scale ecological responses
  will be measured including
• genetic responses in critical populations
• population (demographic) responses
• CO2, H2O, trace gas fluxes including stable
  isotope signatures
• soil/ responses
• remote sensing

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Approach (cont.)

• Regional synthesis center for each NEON ----
  (i.e., mini-NCEAS) to focus on regional questions
  appropriate to NEON. This would alsofacilitate
  cooperation among investigators working at
  different ecological scales. This would also be
  the site for coordinating"Environmental SWAT
  teams".

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Instrumentation and monitoring needs

• Centralized for the site e.g.
• DNA sequencers
• Mass spectrometers
• Depositories for biological samples (including
  cultures, etc)
• Environmental SEM
• CHN analyzers and normal wet lab facilities
• More specific to the sites e.g.
• Hydrometeorological monitoring equipment
• Eddy covariance (both fixed and mobile) towers
• High resolution GIS/GPS capabilities
• Remote sensing broad-scale, normal spectral
  resolution and high-resolution hyperspectral
  platforms