Terrestrial Ecosystems

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Terrestrial Ecosystems
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SCIENCE QUESTIONS

• The Grand Challenges in Ecology with
  examples of specific questions that are
  especially relevant to study with sensor
  networks

• What kinds of questions should define a
  broad-based environmental observatory network?

Barbara Bond Oregon State University
H.J. Andrews LTER
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Technology on the Horizon

• New developments in nanotechnology,
  biotechnology and information technology that
  may significantly impact environmental sensing
  in terrestrial ecology

Terri Fiez Director of the School of
Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Oregon State University
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Strategies and Pitfalls of sensor deployment in
terrestrial ecology

• a telemetry tracking system in Panama

• using animals to deploy sensors

• Challenges!

Roland Kays Curator of Mammals, New York
State Museum The Smithsonian Tropical
Research Center
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The Big Questions in terrestrial ecology
In September 2000 The National Research Council
identified eight Grand Challenges in
Environmental Sciences most of these are
relevant to terrestrial ecology .
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• The AIBS has been leading efforts to explore and
  modify these questions, asking how NEON can be
  designed to address them. Thematic areas
  include

• Invasive Species
• Ecological aspects of biogeochemical cycles
• Biodiversity, species composition, and
  ecosystem functioning
• Ecological implications of climate change
• Land use and habitat alteration
• Ecology and evolution of infectious disease

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Meanwhile . The LTER Planning Project just
completed a Meeting of 100 to kick of a
strategic planning process to identify ecological
research questions and theoretical,
experimental designs in four conceptual domains

• alterations in biodiversity,
• altered biogeochemical cycles,
• ecological effects of climate change and
  climate variability
• coupled human-natural systems

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I. Biodiversity
How can we monitor very broad spatial areas to
detect local changes in species (plant and
animal) composition? How can we detect where
animals move, and when, where and how they die?
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Overstory plants

• Aerial photography
• hyperspectral remote sensing

Understory plants
This is a more difficult problem!
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• Animals
• Telemetry

Roland Kays will be talking more about this in
the 3rd presentation
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Acoustics Stuart Gage has been doing pioneering
work in this area
Crescent Meadow-Sequoia Natl. Park
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• Microflora and Microfauna in soils
• Chemical indicators?
• Microarrays to
• detect DNA activity?
• DNA or RNA sequencing?
• Acoustics?

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II. Invasive species.
Gary Lovett, Center for Ecosystem Studies We
in the east are battling wave after wave of
exotic forest pests.  If we want to eradicate the
pests once they are introduced, we have to know
where they are  immediately after introduction. 
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III. Biogeochemistry.
What is the nature, amount, temporal variability
and impact of anthropogenic nitrogen additions to
natural ecosystems?

• A dense, wireless network of N (NO3 maybe
  other N species as well?) and pH sensors in
  rainfall collectors, soils and surface waters

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IV. Climate change. How do vegetation
processes, soil and climate interact to alter
carbon storage in forest ecosystems?
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There is still a need to better separate NEP into
component processes. One important need for
automated, accurate, inexpensive measurements of
soil respiration.

• Can we calculate CO2 fluxes from soils from
  measurements of static CO2 in soils profiles?
• isotope technologies are emerging

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Eddy covariance cant be used in many of the
worlds most productive ecosystems because of
patchy vegetation and mountainous terrain. Can
we use proxies to monitor vegetation responses to
changing environment?
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Air flows downhill at night, carrying respired
CO2 we are using isotopes in respired CO2 as an
indicator of variation in metabolic processes
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Optical properties are also good candidates as
indicators both passive (hyperspectral
reflectance) and active (Laser-induced
fluorescence)
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Are these the right questions to quide the design
and implementation of an environmental
observatory?
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Rephrasing the question What key features of
ecosystem structure and function should be
measured in an observatory network in order to
detect and forecast changes in Species
invasions, biodiversity, biogeochemical cycling,
coupling of human/natural systems, land
use/habitats, infectious diseases
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• For this we need inexpensive and robust sensors
  that
• can be deployed broadly (inexpensive)
• are environmentally benign (what about
  batteries?)
• function dependably over a long life span
  (POWER ISSUES ARE VERY IMPORTANT).
• function at different temporal and spatial
  scales
• measure key properties of ecosystems
• complement existing satellite remote sensing
  efforts

along with powerful computing systems to
continuously evaluate the massive data stream in
near-real-time, maintain QA/QC, and flag
changes that are out of the normal range.