ECOSENSE: Assessment of spatiotemporal dynamics in ecosystem processes and fluxes by smart autonomous sensor networks

Compound events, such as the co-occurrence of heat and drought, have increasingly impacted European forests in recent years, though with a large spatial variability. To date, we still lack a mechanistic understanding of the complex interactions in the soil-plant-atmosphere system at different spatiotemporal scales, which drive the response of ecosystems and the tree individuals therein to stressors, such as heat or drought. Currently, there is a lack of appropriate measurement, data and modelling tools to fully capture relevant processes and their dynamics at different spatiotemporal scales in real time, especially at remote sites with limited access or power availability. Thus, there is an urgent need for novel sensor networks, which are mobile, easy deployable, cost-efficient and energy autonomous. At the interface of environmental and engineering science, the interdisciplinary project ECOSENSE (Werner et al. 2024) tackles these challenges to develop a new versatile, distributed and intelligent sensor network to measure carbon and water fluxes and stress responses (such as volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and chlorophyll fluorescence) at high temporal dynamics in forests. With this new ECOSENSE Toolkit, we will open new opportunities for a rapid assessment of spatiotemporal ecosystem processes in the face of climate change.

The ECOSENSE Toolkit is currently being developed and tested in a mixed European Beech and Douglas Fir forest in SW-Germany with three canopy access towers and an eddy covariance system at 46 m height. Continuous measurements of CO₂, H₂O and VOC fluxes from soils, stems, leaves and atmosphere are conducted at different spatiotemporal scales since March 2024. Additionally, stress responses are captured by leaf and remotely sensed chlorophyll fluorescence. Novel sensors and sensor networks are continuously developed, tested, and finally integrated into the existing measurement infrastructure, such as a novel, light-weight cuvette for continuous leaf-level gas exchange and volatile organic compound emission measurements.

Reference:

Werner C, Wallrabe U, Christen A, Comella L, Dormann C, Göritz A, Grote R, Haberstroh S, Jouda M, Kiese R, Koch B, Korvink J, Kreuzwieser J, Lang F, Müller J, Prucker O, Reiterer A, Rühe J, Rupitsch S, Schack-Kirchner H, Schmitt K, Stobbe N, Weiler M, Woias P, Wöllenstein J (2024). ECOSENSE - Multi-scale quantification and modelling of spatio-temporal dynamics of ecosystem processes by smart autonomous sensor networks. Research Ideas and Outcomes 10: e129357. https://doi.org/10.3897/rio.10.e129357