NEON and STREON: opportunities and challenges for the aquatic sciences

Abstract

Creation of the National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) provides unparalleled opportunities for continental-scale research and synthesis in aquatic sciences. Organizers of the NEON aquatic network will equip sites at 29 streams or small rivers across bioclimatic regions of the USA to measure O 2 dynamics, aquatic community structure, and aquatic chemistry for up to 3 decades. Data will be collected via a suite of sensors and traditional measurements of a wide range of variables with standardized techniques. The availability of such data will usher in a new era for aquatic scientists, who can use the data to understand the influence of major drivers of stream ecosystem structure and function at regional to continental scales. This rich data stream also will present challenges for the aquatic community. These challenges include interpreting field measurements at distant sites, analysis and management of large data sets, development of appropriate tools for synthesis, and changes in the culture of aquatic science. With the advent of NEON, the most successful aquatic scientists in the coming decades will be equally versed in field measurements and sophisticated analysis of large data sets.

The metabolic regimes of flowing waters

“…The capacity of rivers to support these critical functions depends, fundamentally, on ecosystem metabolism, defined as “ the production and destruction of organic matter, and the associated fluxes of nutrients, through the gross photosynthetic and respiratory activity of organisms ” (Odum ). Although H. T. Odum developed the general concept and made the first measurements of whole ecosystem metabolism in a river over 60 yr ago (New Hope Creek, North Carolina, Odum ), stream ecologists have made remarkably little progress in building our empirical understanding of stream metabolism (McDowell ).…”

The Next Decade of Big Data in Ecosystem Science

“…Although mechanistic studies will remain the hallmark for hypothesis testing, network science approaches are increasingly important for deepening our understanding of variability, stochasticity, and uncertainty in large-scale ecosystem processes. The utility of data networks has been recognized through infrastructure funding by the U.S. government for NEON (McDowell 2015) and FLUX-NET networks. Even with these and other large investments in infrastructure, there remains a significant lag in usage of this infrastructure (for example, DataONE) by most ecosystem scientists to access and curate big data.…”

“…This is evidenced by publications from data-driven networks like GLEON (Global Lake Observatory Network, http://gleon. org), FLUXNET (http://fluxnet.ornl.gov), and by ventures like the U.S. National Science Foundation's $400 million support for a National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) (Wilson and others 2002;Baldocchi 2003;Michener and others 2012;Weathers and others 2013;McDowell 2015;Hanson and others 2016). Likewise, eco-informatics platforms like DataONE (Data Observation Network for Earth, www.dataone.org) have substantially advanced 'discoverability' of these bigdata products (Michener and others 2012).…”

Expanding the scale of aquatic sciences: the role of the National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON)

“…Microbial life is a key component of the organicmatter and nutrient-cycling processes, food webs, and biodiversity of aquatic ecosystems, and microbial diversity data collected as part of the NEON aquatics program are an example of the potential to inform mechanistic hypotheses of aquatic ecosystem function at multiple spatial and temporal scales (McDowell 2015).…”

“…McDowell (2015) discusses the challenges and opportunities of such a research platform. We focus on 2 Grand Challenges: biodiversity (aquatic microbial ecology) and ecohydrology (large river ecology) to illustrate the breadth of potential uses and how researchers can build on the NEON platform at multiple scales.…”