Steppe Kathy, von der Crone Jonas S, De Pauw Dirk J W
Laboratory of Plant Ecology, Department of Applied Ecology and Environmental Biology, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University Ghent, Belgium.
Laboratory of Plant Ecology, Department of Applied Ecology and Environmental Biology, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent UniversityGhent, Belgium; Phyto-ITGhent, Belgium.
Front Plant Sci. 2016 Jul 5;7:993. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2016.00993. eCollection 2016.
TreeWatch.net is an initiative that has been developed to watch trees grow and function in real-time. It is a water- and carbon-monitoring and modeling network, in which high-quality measurements of sap flow and stem diameter variation are collected on individual trees. Automated data processing using a cloud service enables instant visualization of water movement and radial stem growth. This can be used to demonstrate the sensitivity of trees to changing weather conditions, such as drought, heat waves, or heavy rain showers. But TreeWatch.net's true innovation lies in its use of these high-precision harmonized data to also parameterize process-based tree models in real-time, which makes displaying the much-needed mechanisms underlying tree responses to climate change possible. Continuous simulation of turgor to describe growth processes and long-term time series of hydraulic resistance to assess drought-vulnerability in real-time are only a few of the opportunities our approach offers. TreeWatch.net has been developed with the view to be complementary to existing forest monitoring networks and with the aim to contribute to existing dynamic global vegetation models. It provides high-quality data and real-time simulations in order to advance research on the impact of climate change on the biological response of trees and forests. Besides its application in natural forests to answer climate-change related scientific and political questions, we also envision a broader societal application of TreeWatch.net by selecting trees in nature reserves, public areas, cities, university areas, schoolyards, and parks to teach youngsters and create public awareness on the effects of changing weather conditions on trees and forests in this era of climate change.
TreeWatch.net是一项旨在实时观测树木生长和功能的倡议。它是一个水和碳监测与建模网络，在该网络中，会收集单棵树木的液流和茎直径变化的高质量测量数据。利用云服务进行的自动化数据处理能够即时呈现水分运动和茎的径向生长情况。这可用于展示树木对天气变化（如干旱、热浪或暴雨）的敏感性。但TreeWatch.net的真正创新之处在于，它利用这些高精度的协调数据实时为基于过程的树木模型设置参数，从而能够展示树木对气候变化做出反应所需的重要机制。通过持续模拟膨压来描述生长过程，以及利用长期水力阻力时间序列实时评估干旱脆弱性，这些只是我们方法所提供的部分机会。开发TreeWatch.net的目的是与现有的森林监测网络形成互补，并为现有的动态全球植被模型做出贡献。它提供高质量数据和实时模拟，以推动关于气候变化对树木和森林生物反应影响的研究。除了应用于天然林以回答与气候变化相关的科学和政治问题外，我们还设想通过在自然保护区、公共场所、城市、大学校区、校园和公园中挑选树木，让TreeWatch.net在更广泛的社会层面得到应用，从而教育年轻人，并提高公众对气候变化时代天气条件变化对树木和森林影响的认识。
