National Ecological Observatory Network's Role In M & E

In an earlier post, I mentioned that I'd love to see a system (for forest plan monitoring and evaluation, for EMS, for both perchance) that used indicators as simple at the famed Chesapeake Bay "tennis shoe indicator" complimented with more rigorous measurements that are developed more by FS and other researchers than by NFS and national forest/districts.

Yesterday I got an email talking about the National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON). I didn't even know such a thing existed. Good news! Maybe this coalition effort can do what the National Biology Survey (Clinton-era sponsored organization that succumbed to the ABC (Anything But Clinton) axe shortly after the last Administration change) could not.

Maybe, just maybe this is the beginning of being able to answer some for-now unanswerable questions about biological diversity, species endangerment, etc. that have plagued forest planning and management under rules and regulations that pretended that answers would be forthcoming if only forest-level practitioners were better at compliance with the rules (e.g. the 1982 NFMA Regulation). I'll not conjecture here as to whether or not the 2005 NFMA rule (and accompanying Manuals and Handbooks, ISO 14001 standards, etc.) will serve us better than did the 1982 rule and other trappings of the bygone era, and era I have referred to as moving from multiple use to sustained conflict.

Questions for we who are charged with keeping track of all the various pieces of information that feed into our various assessment, planning, monitoring and evaluation, performance accountability, etc. systems: How are we supposed to keep track of who has what information? Is there a clearinghouse for such? Are any of our Forest Service forums helpful in making sense of this? Do we have a group, or several interrelated groups charged with keeping us all up to speed on who is doing what? Will someone, likely from the WO, please step up and set up a blog (or something better) to help us better understand what is going on in this area? Or is such already in place and as usual I'm the last to know, being sucked too deep into my computer screen and my blog-fascination.

Here's part of what the email tells us about the NEON:

NEON will support systematic study of seven US ecological priorities: invasive species, infectious disease, climate change, land-use change, biogeochemical cycles, biodiversity, and aquatic ecosystems. These elements are reflected in three overarching questions that the Observatory will address:

1. How are ecological systems affected by changes in land use, climate, and biogeochemistry across a range of spatial and temporal scales?
2. How do changes in the availability and distribution of the Nation's water affect ecological systems and what are the feedbacks that in turn affect water resources?
3. How do the patterns and movement of genes and organisms across the continent affect biodiversity, ecosystem function, and the spread of infectious diseases and invasive species?A standardized set of sensor technologies, Biotic survey protocols, and cyberinfrastructure will enable continuous, long-term data collection, storage, and dissemination. NEON will deploy sensors, systemaic biotic sampling, and cyberinfrastructure within 20 distinct climatic domains across the United States (including two distinct domains in Alaska (tundra/taiga), Hawaii/Pacific Tropical, and Atlantic Neotropical). The domain boundaries were determined using a cluster analysis of climate state variables, combined with air mass seasonality data. (For more on the climate domains, see http://www.neoninc.org/archive/2005/08/first_draft_yie_1.html)

Within each domain, infrastructure will be deployed in three land-use/land-cover types: wild, managed, and urbanized, each of which will contain transition zones between terrestrial and aquatic systems. Every NEON site will feature a range of standardized instruments deployed at three fixed locations to provide critical data streams related to the ecological priorities and to sample a suite of key organisms that are sensitive to ecological change. Biotic measurements will be based on sampling of organisms as different as soil microbes and deer mice as well as many forms in between. In addition, mobile capacity will be deployed to enable classic campaign-style investigations and to respond to sudden ecological events, such as the outbreak of an infectious disease.

At its October 17-21, 2005 meeting in Washington, DC, the NNDC focused much attention on the ongoing task of defining the generalized instrument arrays to be deployed in NEON. On the issue of experiments: The NNDC decided that experiments will be described as unique scientific opportunities that are only possible with the NEON infrastructure in place, but that the experiments will not be implemented in the first phase of NEON construction.

On October 18th, the NNDC briefed the NEON Advisory Board and received input from the Board on a range of issues, including design, the climate domain structure, potential experiments, partnership opportunities, and progress toward the final draft of the Integrated Science and Education Plan (ISEP). Drafts of both the ISEP and the Network and Informatics Baseline Design (NIBD) have been submitted to NSF. We are currently revising the ISEP in response to initial input from the Foundation and reviewers from the ecological community.

Early next year we expect to be able to circulate an ISEP that elaborates the specifics of the NEON design. Both documents will undergo independent reviews coordinated by NSF.