Carbon Sequestration Program flux towers in irrigated corn field near Mead, NE

Primary production, ecosystem carbon balance, and nutrient cycling are central themes in ecosystem science, and there is considerable overlap with biogeochemistry, earth system science, global change biology, and complex environmental systems.  Remote sensing platforms, distributed sensor arrays, cyberinfrastructure, and interdisciplinary conceptual advances have led to a bigger, yet more complex, picture of ecosystem dynamics at landscape, regional and global scales.  Several SNR faculty participate in large, federally funded interdisciplinary efforts and research networks such as LTER, NEON and Ameriflux. In particular, SNR has strengths in measuring ecosystem fluxes of carbon, water and energy.   Current ecosystem science research efforts in SNR include carbon balance and greenhouse gas emissions of soybean and maize ecosystems; nutrient dynamics and primary production of aquatic ecosystems; and the interactions of ecology, hydrogeology, and geomorphology in the Sand Hills.  The forestry faculty have published recent papers on the ecophysiology of invasive woody species, hydrologic effects of conifer encroachment, and the impacts of agricultural shelterbelts on microclimate and aerodynamic.