1 CHARGE The goal of the breakout groups is to –define and prioritize research questions to help guide the US Global Change Research Program, –determine the relative priorities of the research questions, and –designate whether research priorities are sufficiently mature for short-term research or are more long-term in scope.

2 Breakout #2 Questions What ecosystem observations are needed to improve our understanding of carbon on land? What land-use observations are needed to improve our understanding of how carbon can be managed?

3 Breakout Notes Session 2 Group 2 - What land-use observations are needed to improve our understanding of how carbon can be managed? How do we know what land management practices are being used in crop lands, forested lands, grazing lands? (High/Short) Responsible for management of land - extending outside the U.S. (e.g., Ethiopian govt owns all land) and transfer – land use change. Current vegetative coverage (including historical and future) Observations that allow deforestation rates and ability attribute cover change (look for different types, such as roads/industrial settlement) – a system that uses a in situ information of causes / drivers of land use change - social and economic (High/Short) How do we know if the land is being managed sustainably? Is there a different land use being used, and what is it?

4 Breakout Notes Ecological site descriptions with state and transitional framework Soil Survey – dynamic soil property inventories, range land health inventories Potential for Carbon Sequestration Missing land use management database – National land ownership database not available, farm service agency does have a land database, but restricted, NRI database also restricted, FIA – doesn’t have accurate deforestation data (Med-High/Short) Gaps in data and gaps in coverage Carbon Mass Observations

5 Breakout Notes Deal with economic data Columbia university has been working with these type of datasets (pop. data, economic data, etc.). Tracking commercial real estate, land use transitions, speed limit increases is causing more sprawl, Sonorian datasets available Put data in formats that are usable – e.g., world population data is spotty How can proprietary data be incorporated without compromising personal data? (High/Short) aggregate to larger scale (CEAP program at NRI is doing that)

6 Breakout Notes Mining activities – database on, mining claims; surface impact is not available in a dataset; potential use of the land is available Fertilizer use, irrigation, animal densities, no till operation Water quality data – sediment data, watershed level data Do we need land value, assessed land values; value can be calculated (Med/Short) National wealth, prices of commodities, economical indicators International road database; US does not have multi temporal dataset (Med/Short) Nightlight dataset and the change Temporal datasets needed

7 Breakout Notes Fuel wood (cooking in the developing world) dataset Datasets needed on natural disasters, conflicts, refugees Campaign for monitoring disturbances etc.(Med/Short) Ask the questions before collecting the data

8 Breakout Notes What are the resolutions and extents required to characterize carbon relevant land use and transitions due to natural and anthropogenic disturbances? (Med-High/short What are the resolutions and extents of the variables required to inform carbon management? (Med/short We need to know the energy budget of land use practices? (High/short What is the baseline carbon balance for major land uses within particular ecoregions? (High/short What is the Pattern and changes anticipated under land use and climate change scenarios

9 Breakout Notes How do you scale flux tower observations and remote sensing observations (and fill in the gaps)? (High/short and long) How do you constrain flux tower observation by remote sensing observations? We must refrain from “paint by numbers” way from the past. How can we tie essential variables and work them into the models? Biomass – above and below ground Soil moisture & temperature Leaf area index (LAI) Land Cover

10 Breakout Notes What is the map of the potential of soil carbon sequestration? (High/Long) We know what the soil carbon content was before / after cultivation Can the soil carbon be recharged after cultivation? Soil carbon chronological sequences We need an assessment of above ground carbon stocks? (High/short and long) Phenology and Seasonality (med/short) Geospatial More than vegetation (albedo, snow)

11 Research Questions – Session 2 Research question/topic Priority H/M/L Short: ≤10y Long: >10y What are the land management practices are being used in croplands, forested lands, grazing lands? HShort & continuing What are approaches to enable change attribution to distinguish land use change from land cover change? HShort/Long How can proprietary/withheld data be incorporated & analyzed without compromising personal data? HShort Who owns this parcel? Who is responsible for its management? (Lack of a national cadastre.) M/HShort  Long What is the value of this parcel? (Lack of integrated land value databases.) MShort & continuing What is the pattern of the transportation networks (roads & rails) past, present, future US & aboard. MShort & continuing When & where are natural disasters, conflicts & refugees? (Campaign for monitoring disturbances that can result in land use change.) MShort & continuing Session 2 Group 2 - #2 What land-use observations are needed to improve our understanding of how carbon can be managed?

12 Research Questions – Session 2 Research question/topic Priority H/M/L Short: ≤10y Long: >10y What is the geographic distribution of current C stocks, above & belowground? HShort & continuing What is the geographic distribution of soil C sequestration potential? HLong What is the baseline C balance for major land uses within ecoregions? HShort What is the energy budget for major land use practices within ecoregions? HShort How do you reconcile scales of flux tower and remote sensing observations to map fluxes synoptically? HShort  Long What are the resolutions & extents of ECVs+ required to characterize carbon dynamics arising from natural & anthropogenic disturbances? M/HShort What are the resolutions and extents of ECVs+ required to inform carbon management? MShort What is the phenology/seasonality of ECVs+ including variability and trends? MShort Session 2 Group 2 - #1 What ecosystem observations are needed to improve our understanding of carbon on land? ECVs+  Essential Climate Variables plus descriptors of soil state (moisture, temperature, carbon, nutrients, etc.)