Sierra Nevada Research Institute UC Merced The National Ecological Observatory Network is a project sponsored by the National Science Foundation and managed under cooperative agreement by NEON Inc. Roger Bales Professor & Director Sierra Nevada Research Institute UC Merced Thanks to Tony Beasley for the NEON slides

NEON in California & the CalEON network Ecosystem services & water Changes in native biodiversity & invasive species. Designed with climate change as the driver Three broad west-east transects & paired north-south transects down the coast ranges &Sierra, joining at the transverse ranges &extending to the peninsular ranges B D T V B 36 J M SC NRS sites Ameriflux sites Jasper ridge UC campuses. San Joaquin Experimental Range SB LA I R http://www.caleon.org S SD

San Joaquin Experimental Range, proposed NEON core site for California

NEON: National overview NEON: A continental-scale ecological observatory Four fundamental science subsystems sampling the drivers/responses of ecological change on spatial scales from microbes to land-masses Enable forecasting the impacts of climate change, land use change & invasive species on continental-scale ecology Infrastructure backbone for other experiments in NEON domains… GCE, STREON Design & development phase, construction 2010

NEON Fundamental Science Systems FSU: Fundamental Sentinel Unit Human Observers/Samplers FIU: Fundamental Instrument Unit Automated Instrumentation AOP: Airborne Observation Package Aircraft Remote Sensing LUAP: Land Use Analysis Package Satellite Remote Sensing + + Education: Prepare society & the scientific community to use NEON data, information, forecasts.

NEON scientific deployment 20 Domains in U.S. 20 Core sites 40 Relocatable sites 18 Mobile laboratories 2 Airborne observing packages Land use analysis package

NEON Domains 20 = Science + pragmatism….

Vegetation plot design 168 m2 plot National Forest Service Inventory and Analysis Program (Frayer and Furnival 1999; Fig.1). These plots are faster to sample than other nested designs and therefore they can be distributed more widely within a site. This design will allow us to compare across scales at NEON sites, as well as lend our data to analyses with other datasets collected on federal lands. Litter decomposition plot (1 m2) Litterfall plot (1 m2) Biomass plot (1 m2) Soil Sampling (point sample) National Forest Service Inventory and Analysis Program (Frayer and Furnival 1999) Annular plot (17.95 m radius) Downed Woody Debris (7.32 m) Herb cover (1 m2) Sapling/shrub biomass (2.07 m radius)

Towers 1 2 3 X Advanced – Basic – Relocatable - Mobile

Supporting facilities for science & education Chemical analysis facility Isotopic analysis facility Genomic analysis facility BioArchive collections and curation Calibration/Validation (cal/val) Laboratory Training manuals and courses, colloquia Digital field guides, keys, & manuals Information for decision support (longer term) Data and forecast production facility

NEON aquatic experiment: STREON STREON Experiment Stream manipulation 10 locations in U.S. Low-order streams Nutrient additions (5x ambient) Top consumer removals Conceptual design ready Stream packages planned for KREW & Teakettle

Ongoing national activities Program & preliminary design reviews ongoing Arch/Eng – designs for 20 core sites, 40 relocatable sites, associated cost estimates Environmental review underway, site permitting late 2009 Construction… 2010, 5-yrs, early science ops 2012 Aircraft evaluation program & instrument design studies underway Prototyping of key technical systems, construction + M&O procedures, underway – Table Mountain

NEON Transect SJER KREW Wishon Soaproot Teakettle

Current domain activities Respond to information needs for design & NEPA Forming Domain Science & Education Committee