COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: EAGER-NEON: Prototyping Assessment of Ecoclimate Teleconnections Affecting NEON Domains

由于气温和干旱的增加，树木死亡在美国各地变得越来越普遍。大规模的树木死亡可以通过水平衡和地表反射率(反照率)的变化来反馈影响气候。该项目将利用国家生态观测网(NEON)的空中观测平台(AOP)来研究树木死亡对当地气候的影响，并将这些信息与地球系统模型联系起来，研究一个地区的生态变化影响另一个地区的气候和相关生态反应的“遥相关”。该项目将根据先前实验中确定的特定物种的温度反应函数，首次大规模评估森林对干旱引起的树木死亡的脆弱性。这些结果将与来自霓虹灯AOP数据的植被结构分析和气候反馈建模相结合。这项活动将为一种新的大陆尺度科学方法提供原型，该方法能够量化霓虹区树木死亡的生态气候遥相关和风险，并可广泛应用于其他主要类型的陆地变化。该项目将综合先前存在的气候和与通量(反照率、潜热通量)有关的表面特性的遥感(激光雷达和高光谱)观测，以估计植被的变化如何迫使大气。这些信息将被用来评估这种强迫如何通过生态气候遥相关影响其他霓虹区。该办法最初将重点放在森林死亡这一与气候信号有直接联系的快速生态变化上。它将开发第一个基于实验确定的温度敏感性的干旱引起的树木死亡的大规模评估，并将通过纳入霓虹灯AOP数据来改善对生态气候遥相关预测的约束。可交付成果包括：1)按区域对树木死亡的可能性和程度进行当前评估；2)利用模型实验通过生态气候遥相关，量化一个区域内树木死亡对其他区域的影响；以及3)按区域估计相关区域对特定区域的死亡影响的风险。该项目还为博士后和职业生涯早期科学家提供专业发展，并通过艺术-科学合作和生物圈2研讨会提供广泛的外联部分，每年有100,000名参观者。

Tree mortality is becoming increasingly widespread throughout the U.S. as a function of increasing temperature and drought. Large-scale tree die-off can feedback to affect climate through changes in water balance and surface reflectance (albedo). This project will use the Airborne Observation Platform (AOP) of the National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) to study the effects of tree mortality on local climate, and link this information to earth system models to study "teleconnections" in which ecological changes in one area influence climate and associated ecological responses in another. The project will develop the first large-scale assessment of forest vulnerability to drought-induced tree mortality based on species-specific temperature response functions determined in previous experiments. These results will be combined with analysis of vegetation structure from NEON AOP data and modeling of climatic feedbacks. This activity will provide a prototype for a new approach to continental-scale science capable of quantifying ecoclimate teleconnections and risks of tree die-off across NEON Domains and which can be broadly applied to other major types of land transformation.The project will synthesize pre-existing climate and remotely sensed (LiDAR and hyperspectral) observations relating surface properties to fluxes (albedo, latent heat fluxes) to estimate how the changes in vegetation force the atmosphere. This information will be used to evaluate how this forcing impacts other NEON Domains through ecoclimate teleconnections. The approach initially focuses on forest die-off as a rapid ecological change with direct linkages to climate signals. It will develop the first large-scale assessment of drought-induced tree mortality based on experimentally determined temperature sensitivities, and will improve constraints on ecoclimate teleconnection predictions through incorporation of NEON AOP data. Deliverables include 1) a current assessment of the likelihood and magnitude of die-off by Domain; 2) quantification of impacts of tree die-off in one Domain on others via ecoclimate teleconnections using model experiments; and 3) estimation of associated Domain by Domain risks of die-off impacts from a given Domain. The project also provides professional development for post-docs and early career scientist and has a broad outreach component through an art-science collaboration and seminars at the Biosphere 2 that reach 100,000 visitors/year.