1. Linking ecotron to an ICOS tower to better simulate the effect of climate change on ecosystem functioning
How plant-soil interactions are at the core of our research
Natalie Beenaerts, Ivan Janssens, Jan Clerinx, Marilyn Roland, Nicola Arriga, Inne Vanderkelen, Reinhart Ceulemans, Wim Thiery, Jaco Vangronsveld, Francois Rineau, Lukas Gudmunsson, Jakob Zscheischler, Edouard Leopold Davin, Sonia I. Seneviratne

2. Climatron (St Louis, USA), 1960
Introduction
Reproducing climate
Manipulating climate
First data
Ecotrons
Climatron (St Louis, USA), 1960
Silwood Park (UK), 1996
Gembloux (Belgium), 2018
set of replicated experimental units where environmental conditions are tightly controlled and some ecosystem processes automatically monitored
Can be designed to study climate OR diversity (vary climate conditions or same conditions but different diversity)
Ecocells in Reno, NV
Montpellier (France), 2010
Hasselt (Belgium), 2016

3. Pros & cons Clobert et al., 2018. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution
Introduction
Reproducing climate
Manipulating climate
First data
Pros & cons
Ecotrons in the continuum between pure control (lab microcosms) and pure high ecological relevance (in natura ecosystems).
Clobert et al., Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution

4. It is crucial to accurately i) reproduce and ii) manipulate climate
Introduction
Reproducing climate
Manipulating climate
First data
It is crucial to accurately i) reproduce and ii) manipulate climate
Many ecotrons designed to estimate effects of climate change on ecosystem functioning
->need both reproduce climate (1st part)
->and manipulate climate (2nd part)
Rineau et al., in prep.

5. 1. Accurately reproduce climate: models VS field data
Introduction
Reproducing climate
Manipulating climate
First data
1. Accurately reproduce climate: models VS field data
Even best models cannot perfectly reproduce weather and its variability
Good accuracy for temperature, but not for precipitation or relative humidity
3 hours resolution at best
Rineau et al., in prep.

6. The UHasselt ecotron Rineau et al., in prep. Introduction
Reproducing climate
Manipulating climate
First data
The UHasselt ecotron
Rineau et al., in prep.

7. Soil-vegetation columns extracted “undisturbed”
Introduction
Reproducing climate
Manipulating climate
First data
The UHasselt ecotron
Soil-vegetation columns extracted “undisturbed”
Rineau et al., in prep.

8. The UHasselt ecotron Rineau et al., in prep. Introduction
Reproducing climate
Manipulating climate
First data
The UHasselt ecotron
Rineau et al., in prep.

9. The ICOS ecosystem tower
Introduction
Reproducing climate
Manipulating climate
First data
The ICOS ecosystem tower
-Precipitation
-Air temperature
-Air relative humidity
-Air CO2, CH4, N2O concentration
-Soil temperature
-Soil water tension

10. The ecotron-ICOS interface
Introduction
Reproducing climate
Manipulating climate
First data
The ecotron-ICOS interface
ICOS ecosystem tower
Controller
Datalogger
UHasselt ecotron
Gateway
At both ICOS ecosystem station and the ecotron, the sensors are connected to dataloggers (controllers) that gather their data. At the ICOS site, we use a gateway (in this case an industrial PC) that is connected with the controllers and downloads their instantaneous measurements at a 30 minutes frequency (which will be improved to 1 minute frequency within the year 2018). This gateway is located in the ICOS building. The wind data are then transformed from 3D speeds (as for any Eddy-covariance tower) into i) one-dimensional speed and ii) angle. The air pressure data are converted to sea level pressure to account for the 45-meters difference in altitude between the ICOS station (85m above sea level) and the ecotron (40m). Other data are not transformed. The data are then transferred to a server-hosted database optimized to store time series data. These data are then accessed by the controllers in the ecotron facility through a second gateway, located in the unit 0, and used to simulate field conditions in every unit. At the same time, as in the ICOS station, the ecotron controller measurements are also sent to the database on the server through the second gateway.
In case of interruption in the internet connection between the two facilities, the data are stored in both gateways for later analysis, and the ecotron switches to a local meteorological station as a backup (one-dimensional wind speed and angle, air temperature, relative humidity, soil temperature).
Internet
Server-hosted Database
Gateway

11. Accuracy of the ecotron facility
Introduction
Reproducing climate
Manipulating climate
First data
Accuracy of the ecotron facility

12. Accuracy of the ecotron facility
Introduction
Reproducing climate
Manipulating climate
First data
Accuracy of the ecotron facility
High value cultural landscape
All NWE
Former forests->plaggen + sheep
But since chemical fertilizers, decreased a lot in surface

13. Global mean temperature gradient
Introduction
Reproducing climate
Manipulating climate
First data
2. Manipulating climate
Experimental dome 1
Technical dome 14
PPT regime gradient
Global mean temperature gradient 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13

14. PPT regime gradient Rineau et al., in prep. Introduction
Reproducing climate
Manipulating climate
First data
PPT regime gradient
Rineau et al., in prep.

15. Global mean temperature gradient
Introduction
Reproducing climate
Manipulating climate
First data
Global mean temperature gradient
+0 ° ( )
+1°C (projections of RCP8.5 scenario for )
+1.5 °C ( )
+2 °C ( )
+3 °C ( )
+4 °C ( )
Vanderkelen et al., in prep.

16. Lysimeters results: drought effects
Introduction
Reproducing climate
Manipulating climate
First data
Lysimeters results: drought effects

17. Acknowledgements Jan Clerinx Natalie Beenaerts Jaco Vangronsveld
Sonia Seneviratne
Edouard Davin
Lukas Gudmunsson
Jakob Zscheischler
Ivan Janssens
Reinhard Ceulemans
Marilyn Roland
Nicola Arriga
Ivan Nijs
Hans De Boeck
Wim Thiery
Inne Vanderkelen
Thomas Puetz
Johannes Groh
Harry Vereecken

18. Lysimeters results: TOC, TN
Introduction
Reproducing climate
Manipulating climate
First data
Lysimeters results: TOC, TN
TOC in soil pore water of 12 lysimeters (L1 to L12) at 5 depths and along 3 vertical profiles (P1, P2, P3)