Terrestrial Plants. Field ecologists take samples from herbaceous clips on the site of the Lajas experimental station. Plants convert the energy of the sun’s carbon dioxide (CO2) into living matter, energy that sustains life and drives ecosystem processes. They provide oxygen (O2), which is essential for all life on Earth and forms the basis of most food webs. They provide habitat for many species, regulate the global carbon and water cycle, and store energy in the form of water.
In addition to habitat and local fauna, the flora integrates biotic and abiotic factors that react to environmental changes. Understanding ecological change is only possible if feedback between vegetation and other ecosystem components is taken into account. To support this understanding, NEON collects data on plant diversity, biodiversity, biodiversity and species composition at terrestrial sites.
Humanity is destroying terrestrial ecosystems with increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide (CO2) and carbon monoxide. This will allow for an increase in greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuels and other sources, as well as from human activities.
Predicting the effects of these disturbances remains difficult, as interactions between the atmosphere, land vegetation, and soil generate feedback that can affect the balance of the C ecosystem in opposite directions. In order to reduce the impact of climate change on terrestrial ecosystems and to understand where we may be, it is essential to develop a better understanding of the human impact on C ecosystems and their response. An important contribution to the Community is to enable the development of a more precise and accurate model of the impact of CO2 and carbon monoxide on the terrestrial environment.
Plant phenology, including the time of leaves, flowering and fruit development, is one of the most important aspects of ecosystems C and their response to climate change. Plant phenology is also the basis for a variety of ecological and biological processes, such as the distribution of plant species, the composition of soil and water, and their distribution within and across ecosystems. Phenology has been an important factor in the development of a wide range of biological and ecological models.
The timing of the phenological transition is influenced by a variety of factors, such as climate, soil composition, water quality and plant species.
It is important that phenological shifts can lead to changing feedback to other factors such as climate, soil composition and water quality. NEON collects measurements and observations of land plants to record spatial fluctuations and trends. In addition to a rapid habitat assessment, measurements of plant phenology, soil and soil quality are collected by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Airborne Observation Platform, which collects NEon remote sensing products. The properties of the terrestrial plant are also recorded by its Remote Sensing Products (RSP).
Sampling Design and Methods
The data are crucial for understanding the causes and consequences of ecological change and for our understanding of the environmental impacts of climate change.
Plant species and individuals were collected and documented in parcels of terrestrial NEON sites and collected in terrestrial parcels scattered over the site (see Site Specific Sampling Design). Tower installations erected on NEONS towers generate plant data products linked to river weather and phenocamera data from instrumented data streams. Distributed plots, assigned to dominant 5% cover types, provide data to capture vegetation variations within an area.
The temporary design, which determines the frequency and timing of data acquisition, reflects the protocol associated with the installation of NEONS towers and associated protocols for collecting plant data.
Many terrestrial plant protocols implemented at 5-year intervals are synchronized to provide data for a given sampling year, such as the number of samples per year and the frequency of sampling events. The use of remote sensing flights over a wide range of terrestrial plants will allow explicit links between multiple data streams and maximise the scientific benefits of the data product. Log quantities and fine root biomass fall off roughly at the end of each sampling event, with the exception of a short period in the mid-1990s and early 2000s.
Data users who wish to understand and use multiple terrestrial plant data products should consult the spatial and temporal sampling strategy document, which can be downloaded and found in the terrestrial plant data product, and the terrestrial plant data management plan. The spatial and temporal relationships between terrestrial and remote sensing data streams are complex.
Collection
NEON data of terrestrial plants are generated from field observations of terrestrial plants in the USA, Canada and Australia. At terrestrial sites, field observation consists of digital hemispherical photos that allow the calculation of leaf area indices.
Field measurements of plants at terrestrial sites include structural features associated with wood biomass, such as the volume of wood, which is roughly in the range of 1,000 to 1.5 million cubic meters per hectare.
Laboratory analyses of samples taken from the terrestrial sites on site include structural features associated with wood biomass, such as the volume of wood, which is roughly in the range of 1,000 to 1.5 million cubic metres per hectare, and the analysis of litter and root chemistry. Observations of land plants in water at these sites include the presence of aquatic plants (see aquatic plants). A large number of physical plant samples were collected and archived and made available to the ecological research community.
LAI measurements at TREE at dawn
This is the first in a series of contributions on the life and death of one of the most important plants in the world, Terrestrial Plants.
Data Products
Together, these products provide researchers with important insights into how plants respond to drivers of change. They will allow a better understanding of the relationships between ecosystem functions and environmental changes such as climate change, climate variability and the effects of human activities.
Biogeochemical Terrestrial Plant Data Products
It provides information on plant tissues, including sunlit leaves, roots and litter, as well as information on the plant’s life cycle and health.
By studying living leaf tissue, researchers can see how nutrients change through surface and underground processes. Plants take carbon from the atmosphere (CO2) and store it as carbon dioxide in the form of carbon monoxide, a greenhouse gas, and other nutrients.
