Over the next three years, a team of root biologists and information managers will work together to develop and use software tools for synthesis of root biomass data from a number of LTER and nonLTER sites. The project, “Distributed Research Environment for Analysis, Modeling, and Simulation, Using Integrated Technologies for Ecologists” (DREAM SUITE), funded by NSF’s Division of Environmental Biology, will be directed by Caroline Bledsoe (LTER Research Coordinator) and Jordan Hastings (Data Manager, McMurdo Dry Valleys LTER). Collaborators include root biologists (Bill Lauenroth, Central Plains; Alvin Smucker, Kellogg) and Network Office staff Rudolf Nottrott and Harvey Chinn.
DREAM SUITE focuses on synthesis of belowground productivity by plant roots at a number of sites in North America. Belowground productivity is a key part of net primary productivity, yet few synthetic hypotheses have been developed which might explain factors controlling root growth, death and carbon allocation to roots. Progress has been limited not only by difficulties measuring root biomass and activity, but also by a lack of appropriate, convenient computer systems for analysis and modeling. The project will develop the necessary systems and teach root biologists how to use them effectively, so that LTER can begin to answer key questions about below- ground productivity in a wide range of ecosystems. A tenet of the project is that information technology for intersite/synthetic work has not been integrated appropriately for ecologists. Yet there are many excellent commercial and public computer programs which can be customized for specific disciplines. DREAM SUITE will explore how ecologists and information engineers can collaborate both to develop new computer systems and to conduct innovative research applying these tools to root systems.
Research will be carried out at a series of workshops preceded by computer software evaluation and development, collection of root datasets, and entry of root data into appropriate software (such as databases, spreadsheets, graphics and statistical analysis routines). These efforts will be further tested and refined at the workshops, which will address progressively more complex below- ground environments — cultivated agroecosystems, short-stature ecosystems (grasslands, deserts, tundra, Wetlands), and tall-stature ecosystems (forests), at which participants will receive training and support. The final step is to publish workshop results and databases.