Planning for a Great Basin Ecological Observatory: from NevCAN to the Spring Valley Field Station

该项目将支持位于北美大盆地的春谷野战站的战略规划。森林生态系统的长期变化很难预测和发现，而且野外站点允许进行多年调查，否则很难进行调查。虽然该项目将利用与内华达州气候-生态-水文评估网络(NEVCAN)相关的现有长期基础设施，但它将支持关于大盆地物种的新的生物学研究和教育，从山艾树到标志性的刺杉。因此，空间站将为半干旱地区的生态研究做出贡献，该地区被认为存在与气候变暖有关的大范围死亡风险。该项目的主要目标是为空间站制定一个长期愿景，以及在最初五年的现实管理战略。从谷底的山艾树草原到亚高山林线上的刺杉松林，三个内肯遗址将成为春谷野外空间站的一部分，以捕捉2000米海拔梯度上的生态模式和过程。空间站将满足对关于大流域种群动态、生态系统过程、入侵物种对生物多样性的威胁以及对未来气候变化的总体适应能力的长期信息的日益增长的需求，特别是与前瞻性资源管理、保护和恢复有关的信息。将于8月底在拟建车站附近举行为期一周的研讨会，将来自内华达州内外的大学教职员工和利益攸关方聚集在一起，起草总体规划文件，包括设施需求、数据管理细节和费用结构。大盆地的特点是有一条上、下两条林线，因此泉谷野外站非常适合研究气候和生态系统动态在空间和时间上的联系，包括生态系统边缘的扩张、后退或持续。

This project will support strategic planning for the Spring Valley Field Station, located in the Great Basin of North America. Long-term changes in forest ecosystems are difficult to predict and detect, and field stations allow for multi-year investigations that are otherwise very difficult to perform. While this project will utilize existing long-term infrastructure associated with the Nevada Climate-eco-hydrological Assessment Network (NevCAN), it will support new biological research and education on Great Basin species, from sagebrush to the iconic bristlecone pine. The station will therefore contribute to ecological studies in a semi-arid region that is considered at risk of widespread mortality linked to warmer droughts. The main objective of this project is to develop a long-term vision for the station, together with a realistic management strategy during its first five years.Three NevCAN sites, from the sagebrush steppe on the valley floor to the bristlecone pine stands at the subalpine tree-line, will be part of the Spring Valley Field Station to capture ecological patterns and processes over a 2000-m elevation gradient. The station will fill a growing demand for long-term information on Great Basin population dynamics, ecosystem processes, threats to biodiversity from invasive species, and overall resilience to future climatic changes, especially in connection with forward-looking resource management, conservation, and restoration. A one-week workshop to be held at the end of August near the proposed station will bring together university faculty and stakeholders from inside and outside of Nevada to draft the master planning document, including a facility needs, details of data management, and fee structure. The Great Basin is characterized by both an upper and a lower tree-line, hence the Spring Valley Field Station will be ideally suited to investigate the linkages between climate and ecosystem dynamics in space and time, including the expansion, retreat, or persistence of trailing and leading ecotonal edges.