Unit 4.1 - Energy Budgets
Jim Washburne, The University of Arizona
The purpose of this unit is to explore, compare, contrast, and calculate energy fluxes from different CZO field sites to better appreciate the critical differences in the driving radiative forces affecting each ...

Unit 2.1 - Basic Tools & Analysis
Ashlee Dere, University of Nebraska at Omaha; Susan Gill, Stroud Water Research Center
This unit will introduce methods and data from Critical Zone observatories as well as methods that scientists use in their research. These activities will provide an introduction to methods used in later units and ...

Understanding Uncertainty in Ecological Forecasts
Tadhg Moore, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State Univ; Mary Lofton, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State Univ; Quinn Thomas, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State Univ; Cayelan Carey, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State Univ
Ecological forecasting is a tool that can be used for understanding and predicting changes in populations, communities, and ecosystems. Ecological forecasting is an emerging approach which provides an estimate of ...

Introduction to Ecological Forecasting
Tadhg Moore, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State Univ; Mary Lofton, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State Univ; Quinn Thomas, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State Univ; Cayelan Carey, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State Univ
Ecological forecasting is a tool that can be used for understanding and predicting changes in populations, communities, and ecosystems. Ecological forecasting is an emerging approach which provides an estimate of ...

Tracking hot spots and hot moments in an urban freshwater estuary
Gaston Small, University of St. Thomas (MN)
This module explores the hydrology and biogeochemistry of the St. Louis River Estuary (Duluth, Minnesota). The overarching question of the module is: when, and where, is the estuary acting as a source vs. a sink ...

Phenology Trends and Climate Change in Minnesota
Pamela Freeman, The College of Saint Scholastica
Seasonal events, for example flowering, fruiting, and the return of migrating birds, happen at particular times of the year. Some of these events happen in relation to climate, while others are dependent on other ...

Soil Respiration Module
This module was initially developed by Nave, L.E., N. Bader, and J.L. Klug. 25 June 2015. Project EDDIE: Soil Respiration. Project EDDIE Module 9, Version 1. cemast.illinoisstate.edu/data-for-students/modules/soil-respiration.shtml. Module development was supported by NSF DEB 1245707.
Soils hold more carbon (C) than any other component of the terrestrial biosphere! In this module, students will explore high-frequency, sensor-based datasets documenting climate variables and the emissions of C (as ...

Using Data to Improve Ecological Forecasts
Mary Lofton, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State Univ; Tadhg Moore, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State Univ; Quinn Thomas, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State Univ; Cayelan Carey, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State Univ
How can we use data to improve ecological forecasts? To be useful for management, ecological forecasts need to be both accurate enough for managers to be able to rely on them for decision-making and include a ...

How Do We Measure Biodiversity: Exploring Biodiversity Metrics Using Avian Communities
Jeffrey Brown, Arizona State University at the Tempe Campus
This activity is designed to illustrate various ways that biodiversity can be measured and to highlight what we can learn about an ecological community from different metrics. Students will explore biodiversity metrics (i.e., species richness and Shannon diversity) using point count data on birds collected from the Central Arizona-Phoenix Long Term Ecological Research program. Specifically, students will investigate how bird richness and abundance have changed over time and create figures to compare abundance across landscapes and time.

Exploring the relationship between periphyton and water quality in karstic wetlands
Gabriel Kamener, Florida International University; Katherine Johnson, Florida International University
Physicochemical properties and nutrients drive aquatic processes that sustain biota. Therefore, aquatic assessments usually investigate these variables as well as biological indicators to gain a better ...