The Collaborative Environmental
Monitoring and Research
Initiative (CEMRI)
A Pilot in the Delaware River
Basin
Peter S. Murdoch, USGS
Richard Birdsey, USFS
Ken Stolte, USFS
Multi-tier Monitoring Design
• Tier One – Remote Sensing and
Mapping
 Wall-to-wall coverage; stratification
• Tier Two – Extensive Inventories
and Surveys
Increasing
spatial
resolution
 Representative regional statistical
sample
• Tier Three – Condition Sample
 Gradient studies: representative of
specified condition classes
• Tier Four –Intensive Areas
 Relatively small number of specific sites
representing important processes
Increasing
temporal
resolution
Overview of Delaware River Basin
Pilot Monitoring Program
• Multi-agency effort to develop an environmental
monitoring framework
– USGS, FS, NPS, NASA, State and local partners
• Integrated application of monitoring technology
at multiple scales
• Designed to address specific issues:
–
–
–
–
forest fragmentation
non-native invasive pests
calcium depletion and nitrogen deposition
Modeling the effects of N- deposition on water quality
• Capable of addressing multiple issues
The DRB-CEMRI project specifically
tested:
• How this integration between processlevel studies and FIA-level monitoring
might work, and
• What types of data are required for
'scaling-up' of process-level information,
and how that data might be collected.
Delaware Basin ISEM Watersheds
Sample Intensification
(Tier 4) at 3
Watersheds in the
Delaware River Basin
Stolte et al, this session
French Creek
Intensive Plots
Tier 2 Surveys–
USFS Forest Inventory
and Analysis (FIA)
Plots measured with a 5year panel system to
characterize forests of
the Delaware River
Basin.
Added 3 soil samples at
3 depths to each forested
plot, + stream survey.
Focus on Appalachian
Plateau (Northern Basin)
<0.1
Tier 2: Soil Ca Map
•Soil calcium is
lowest in areas with
highest nitrogen
deposition
•Patterns emerging:
reflect bedrock,
glacial history, and
deposition patterns
Data integration through modeling
Pan and others, this session
Tiered structure
used with each
issue:
Forest Fragmentation of
the Delaware River
Basin
Forest Fragmentation Tier 4:
The “Three Watershed Study” in the Delaware Water Gap
Neversink
Delaware
Water Gap
Tier 3: Fragmentation
Study Watersheds in the
Delaware River Basin –
Base Map is NLCD’92
from TM Data
• Fragmentation
estimates from
low-altitude CIR aerial
photography
French
Creek
• Water quality data from USGS
NAWQA synoptic sample
• 32 watersheds comprise a
factorial experiment: urbanization
(5 levels) x EPT richness (3 levels)
Riemann and Murray, this session
Tier 2 – Random sampling of condition within the
Delaware Gap Intensive Area
Delaware River Basin
Delaware Water Gap
Intensive Site
Random forest
plots (FHM) and
stream survey
points (EMAP
design)
Tier 1 Forest
Fragmentation:
•Land cover of
Dingman’s Falls
watershed derived
from various remote
sensors
•Del Gap aerial photo
•Regional coverage
using NLCD
Riemann and
Murray, this session
What did we do together?
•Linked FIA to regional stream, soil, and deposition data, and
facilitated the first multi-scale assessment of forest condition
through use of FIA and ancillary data.
•Conducted first regional forest soil-chemistry survey: FIA
collected soils and provided field methods testing. USGS
provided laboratory analysis of soils, methods design, and field
support.
•Associated research: USGS supplied long-term research and
monitoring in streams, and a new regional stream survey linked
to FIA. FIA provided plot data. FIA/FHM/NE Global Change
provided forest research at ISEM, regional, and remote sensing
scales.
•A comparatively simple and inexpensive collaboration between
the USFS and the USGS resulted in greatly enhanced
interpretive power of monitoring data from both agencies.
First Integrated Regional Assessment of Effects of
Disturbance on Vegetation, Soil, and Water in Forested
Landscapes
Forest
Soil
FIA, FHM,
NPS, Research
Deposition
NADP/NTN/NWS
Research sites
Water
NAWQA, USGS
Surveys and
Research
FIA/FHM- USGS
Soil surveys,
Research
Conclusions:
• Scaling up from watershed to region requires
forest information which the FIA plot layout is
uniquely qualified to provide.
• A link between current forest research and FIA
increases the value of both research and FIA
data (ie. we can now say more about the
regional landscape than we could separately)
• A little additional data collected on FIA plots -e.g. soils chemistry and forest condition
indicators-- made that link possible.
Talks this session
• Linking forest data across scales
• Linking fragmentation to water quality
• Linking remote sensing and FIA plot data
to detect pest infestation
• Linking soil calcium depletion to tree
health
• Modeling the effects of N-deposition on Nexport from watersheds
• Discussion of the CEMRI pilot- where do
we go from here?
NY Watersheds
NH Watersheds
90
R2 = 0.42
80
Stream Ca (umol/L)
Tier 3 Regional
correlations: Is regional
foliar or soil chemistry
N
correlated with stream
chemistry?
Regional gradient study of stream and
foliar Calcium concentration
70
60
50
40
5000
Net Primary
Productivity
Biogeochemical
Status
Foliar
Chemistry
6000
7000
8000
9000
10000
11000
12000
10000
11000
12000
Average Foliar Ca (ppm)
Yellow Birch
Visible/IR
Reflectance
90
R2 = 0.33
Soil
Chemistry
Site
Regional subsample
Stream Chemistry
Continuous
Scale
Stream Ca (umol/L)
80
70
60
50
Hallet, USFS
40
5000
Murdoch et al, poster session
6000
7000
8000
9000
Average Foliar Ca (ppm)
Sugar Maple