International partnerships for ecosystem science_Karan

International partnership for ecological observations at the continental scale: TERN-

Australian Supersite Network/NEON partnership

Mirko Karan Mike Liddell Stuart Phinn

Overview

Introduction to the Australian Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network

(TERN)

Evolution of an Australian Supersite Network

Partnership with NEON / Future directions

Data sharing lifecycle/and

increasing knowledge

Ecosystem Science

Research Questions

Proposal and Funding

Researcher(s) and Data Collection

Data Sets + Meta-data

Research Outputs

Data Processing, Analysis, Integration and Synthesis.

TERN Data Portal+License +Identifier

State and Federal Agencies Universities

Other organisations

International Partners

Multi-Scale Plot System

Plot based monitoring in TERN

FNQ Rainforest

SEQ Peri-urban

Cumberland Plain EucFACE

Tumbarumba Wet Eucalypt

Victorian Dry Eucalypt

Warra Tall Eucalypt

Calperum Mallee

Alice Mulga

Litchfield Savanna

Great Western Woodland

FNQ Rainforest

SEQ Peri-urban

Evolution of the Supersites

FNQ Rainforest

SEQ Peri-urban

Warra Tall Eucalypt

Calperum Mallee

Great Western Woodland

FNQ Rainforest

SEQ Peri-urban

Cumberland Plain EucFACE

Tumbarumba Wet Eucalypt

Victorian Dry Eucalypt

Warra Tall Eucalypt

Calperum Mallee

Alice Mulga

Litchfield Savanna

Great Western Woodland

Australian Supersite Network

FNQ Rainforest

SEQ Peri-urban

Cumberland Plain EucFACE

Tumbarumba Wet Eucalypt

Victorian Dry Eucalypt

Warra Tall Eucalypt

Calperum Mallee

Alice Mulga

Litchfield Savanna

Great Western Woodland

‘Do contrasting ecosystems differ in their vulnerability to extreme weather events such as droughts and heat waves?’

‘Can ‘tipping points’ be identified and do those tipping points differ among contrasting environments?’

FNQ Rainforest

FNQ Tropical Rainforest Supersite

“What are the fundamental carbon & water stocks and flows in FNQ tropical forests and are these likely to change significantly in the future?”

“How does seasonal water availability relate to species distribution, growth and phenology?”

Great Western Woodland

Great Western Woodlands Supersite

Menzies line

fragmented wheatbelt woodland, shrubland

intact eucalypt woodland, shrubland

low acacia woodland (mulga)

“Are old growth semi-arid woodlands carbon sources or sinks”

“Where do woodland trees source water from and what are the impacts of changed hydrology associated with mining?”

Cumberland Plain EucFACE

Cumberland Plain EucFACE Supersite

“Does CO2 enrichment stimulate ecosystem Carbon storage?”

“Are species diversity and bio-structure altered by CO2 fertilisation?”

AusCover - satellite, 5 km x 5 km airborne LiDAR and Hyper-spectral scans, terrestrial laser scans, Digital elevation models, phenocams

Fraction of Photosynthetically Active Radiation (FPAR)

A collaborative Network approach

OzFlux - radiation, heat, water and CO2 flux measurements, Microclimate, soil sensors

A collaborative Network approach

eMAST - plant physiology measures 2010-2014

Leaf and branch analyses• leaf area/thickness/mass/N/P/C/13C/15N/water potential

Leaf gas exchange measurements• measurements of photosynthesis and respiration• CO2 and light-response curves of photosynthesis• temperature response curves of respiration

Plant water relations• Pre-dawn/midday leaf water potentials, pressure-volume curves • Whole tree hydraulic conductance

A collaborative Network approach

TERN SupersitesPlant trait analysis 2010-2014

FNQ Cape Tribulation

FNQRobson Ck

CumberlandEucFACE

WarraTall Eucalypt

CalperumMallee

AliceMulga

Greater Western Woodlands

Plant related science questions

Environmental sensitivity• How do plants’ drought-coping strategies differ between temperate/winter-

wet and tropical/summer-wet climates?

Predicting variations in traits • Are reported ‘global’ patterns in plant traits able to predict variations in

traits across the Australian continent?

Plant ecophysiology• How does stomatal behaviour relate to water availability?• Which is more important in determining the rate of net carbon gain by an

ecosystem – photosynthesis or respiration?

Vegetation protocolsCore 1 ha plot

Vascular plant list - voucher specimens

Abundance, Cover, StructureForests - Direct measures (stems ≥ 10 cm DBH); RAINFOR Gentry transects (stems < 10 cm DBH ); seedling transects Rangelands - Direct measures (stems ≥ 10 cm DBH); Basal wedges; Point intercept method

Biomass - Woody plant DBH, Height, Species, Coarse Woody Debris, clip plots,(Leaf litter)

Photopoints

Phenocameras

Leaf Area Index Digital Cover Photography (flat image), Digital Hemispheric Photography, Point Intercept Method / clip plots

Soil and Water protocolsCore 1 ha plot

Initial site and soil characterisation- Soil pit at flux tower, profile, bulk density, physico-chem analysis- 9 distributed cores for physico-chem analysis

Hydrogeological descriptionDigital Elevation Model

OzFlux soil instruments- volumetric water content, Soil temp, soil heat flux

Soil metagenomics - 16S Bact/archea; ITS Fungi; 18S Euk/algal (Baseline)

Stream monitoring - pH, N, P, major ions, EC etc

Bore(s) - depth logging

Fauna protocols

Bird Surveys

Acoustic recording

ASN Data Portal

Expanded protocols (subject to funding)

VegetationPlant functional traitsFruiting, FloweringRecruitment dynamicsC, N, P stocks 13C,15N, CHO

SoilMetagenomics - seasonalSoil moisture sensors - COSMOS cosmic ray sensorsSoil arrays 5 x (5m x 5 m) - CO2, temp, heat fluxRain and bore water isotopesCO2 / GHG soil chambers / soil flux

FaunaSmall mammal trappingCamera traps Invertebrate fauna - ants / beetles /moths / mosquitoes

ASN - NEON Interactions

Initial contact

Review vegetation protocols

Aug 2012

Nov 2012

Review soil protocols

Jan 2013

ASN meeting /TERN SymposiumMOU

Review flux measurements

Feb2013

Aug 2013

Review QA / QC protocols

TBA

Further interactions with TERN will focus on Data Products, Informatics, Science Education and Project Management

Facility and Program level discussions

ASN - NEON Interactions

Continue working towards accurate, reproducible and cross-comparable protocols for ground and airborne measurements.

Advancing standardization, calibration, QA/QC and uncertainty quantification of measurements, observations and data products

Developing, testing and deploying new and emerging technologies