



A new nationwide project aims to monitor the environment of the U.S. and enable comparisons of large-scale problems and variables such as climate change, pollution and sprawl
By David Biello | November 21, 2011 | 2
Sensors atop this tower in the Harvard Forest—a 1,400-hectare reserve in Massachusetts—have provided the longest-term measure ever collected by scientists in the U.S....[More]
Sensors atop this tower in the Harvard Forest—a 1,400-hectare reserve in Massachusetts—have provided the longest-term measure ever collected by scientists in the U.S. of the interactions between an ecosystem and the atmosphere. The National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) will soon install a similar tower elsewhere in the forest as part of its system. [Less] [Link to this slide]
Researchers surveying Guanica State Forest in Puerto Rico as a site for a future NEON observation tower found vegetation shaped by strong winds (pictured) and mangrove forests, primarily atop a slowly dissolving subsurface of limestone....[More]
Researchers surveying Guanica State Forest in Puerto Rico as a site for a future NEON observation tower found vegetation shaped by strong winds (pictured) and mangrove forests, primarily atop a slowly dissolving subsurface of limestone. NEON will monitor the impact of introduced species, land use and climate change on such a biome. [Less] [Link to this slide]
A stream and surrounding wetlands at the University of Notre Dame Environmental Research Center will allow researchers to better understand how water flow helps transport nutrients and carbon....[More]
A stream and surrounding wetlands at the University of Notre Dame Environmental Research Center will allow researchers to better understand how water flow helps transport nutrients and carbon. A total of 10 streams across the country will undergo purposely induced boosts of nitrogen and phosphorus levels over a decade, and the resulting data will be used to better understand the impacts of farming, which has contributed to similar jumps in fertilizer levels in waterways across the country. [Less] [Link to this slide]
What impact does the eradication of invasive species, such as the kudzu pictured here in Tennessee, have on an ecosystem? The NEON tower in this region will attempt to answer that question as well as monitor other environmental challenges....[More]
What impact does the eradication of invasive species, such as the kudzu pictured here in Tennessee, have on an ecosystem? The NEON tower in this region will attempt to answer that question as well as monitor other environmental challenges. [Less] [Link to this slide]
Data collected in the Talladega National Forest in Alabama will be part of NEON. Observations from this location will enable research on the impacts of climate change on the ecological domain, and on how water distribution and its movement affect ecology....[More]
Data collected in the Talladega National Forest in Alabama will be part of NEON. Observations from this location will enable research on the impacts of climate change on the ecological domain, and on how water distribution and its movement affect ecology. [Less] [Link to this slide]
Creosote bushes dominate the Santa Rita Experimental Range in Arizona, which has already been under study by scientists for a century. The site will allow NEON to focus on how the rapid development of Tucson affects desert wildlands....[More]
Creosote bushes dominate the Santa Rita Experimental Range in Arizona, which has already been under study by scientists for a century. The site will allow NEON to focus on how the rapid development of Tucson affects desert wildlands. [Less] [Link to this slide]
The Dalton Highway and Trans-Alaska Pipeline head into the Brooks Range of Alaska, not far from the Institute of Arctic Biology's Toolik Field Station where NEON will examine the impacts of climate change, permafrost and water pollution on the local ecosystems....[More]
The Dalton Highway and Trans-Alaska Pipeline head into the Brooks Range of Alaska, not far from the Institute of Arctic Biology's Toolik Field Station where NEON will examine the impacts of climate change, permafrost and water pollution on the local ecosystems. [Less] [Link to this slide]
On the slopes of Mauna Kea volcano on the island of Hawaii, the largest forest redoubt of native plant and animal species in the entire island chain persists....[More]
On the slopes of Mauna Kea volcano on the island of Hawaii, the largest forest redoubt of native plant and animal species in the entire island chain persists. At this locale NEON will attempt to monitor the impacts of land-use changes as well as invasive species. [Less] [Link to this slide]
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2 Comments
Add CommentAre there twenty separate biomes in the U.S., as the article says? I thought they were fewer (Arctic, Taiga, Deciduous Forest, Desert, Savannah, Grassland). Are marine biomes being included? How many are in Hawaii? Thanks!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThey are probably not looking at the n. boreal forest in Alaska. It just got severely burned from uv light. The ozone is damaged to the point of plants dying, and it didn't even make the news. If it dies, it will be 703 Pg of carbon to be released as co2 when it decomposes, only a few yrs away. It will send it to around 800 ppm, and its dying now. Last yr almost everything died, or burned. I drove the alcan and it was burned to the middle of Canada. Gardeners there ported plants going crispy even with water. This is huge news.cover it.
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