PARENT SESSION
Special Session 10: Building an ecological observatory network for regional- to continental-scale research—NEON, the National Ecological Observatory Network
Organized by: J Goldman and B Hayden
Wednesday, August 10, 8:00 AM - 11:30 AM, Exhibit Hall 210a-e, Level 2, Palais des congrès de Montréal

The role of biodiversity science and bio-collections in ecological observatories.

Soberon, Jorge^{1, 2}, ¹ National Commission on Biodiversity (CONABIO) Mexico, Mexico, D.F., Mexico² Natural History Museum and Biodiversity Research Center, Lawrence, Kansas, U.S.A.

ABSTRACT- Ecological observatories by definition will attempt to provide infrastructure for comprehensive, integrated measurements and analysis of ecological systems. Ecological systems cannot be understood fully unless their multiscale structure and connections are described and analyzed. The description requires documentation of the species that conform them, which in turn requires specimen vouchering and databasing. Biological collections provide the ultimate physical evidence about the presences of species, and although molecular techniques are already increasing the speed of discovery, properly documented vouchers will still be required for the foreseeable future. The analysis requires the identification of patterns of change in the species identities and abundances at different scales and the untangling of the sets of factors that determine such numbers at spatiotemporal scales adequate to understand the behavior of individuals to those appropriate to study the evolution of sets of populations. To fulfill its promise NEON will have to pose the right questions for such breadth of scales and also develop the bioinformatical and analytical tools required to organize, display and analyze the huge amounts of data that will be generated by its partners.

Key words: NEON, Biodiversity, Collections, Vouchers