ECOPOTENTIAL: Improving Future Ecosystem Benefits …ecopotential-newsletter.igg.cnr.it/wp-content/...Apr 08, 2018 · ECOPOTENTIAL: Improving Future Ecosystem Benefits through Earth

ECOPOTENTIAL:ImprovingFutureEcosystemBenefitsthroughEarthObservations

Newslettern.8–ECOPOTENTIALProject–April2018

Dear Readers,

the third year of activity of ECOPOTENTIAL continues with many initiatives. We started 2018 with the ECOPOTENTIAL exhibition and workshop in Bruxelles (SPACED) and with eight new open access publications. We also continued building the Ecosystem Community of Practice, thanks to the “ECOPOTENTIAL training course on remote sensing and modelling applied to natural ecosystems” that took place in CNR, Pisa, Italy at the end of February. We are very pleased to share with you the success of this initiative. This issue of the Newsletter describes some of the most recent project’s activities as well as two protected areas of the project, namely, the Mediterranean Large Marine Ecosystem and the Murgia Alta National Park (Italy). Among the many presentations at conferences, we mention the ECOPOTENTIAL presentation at the 2017 AGU Fall meeting (New Orleans, USA, December) thanks to dr Emiliana Valentini (ISPRA, Italy) who discussed the “Demonstration of Sea Surface Temperature value as EBVs descriptor in the Mediterranean Sea”. The newest publications are listed in the Newsletter. We also include a short summary of three selected articles:

• Terzago, S., von Hardenberg, J., Palazzi, E., and Provenzale, A. Snow water equivalent in the Alps as seen by gridded data sets, CMIP5 and CORDEX climate models. (2017). The Cryosphere 11, pp. 1625-1645. doi: 10.5194/tc-11-1625-2017.

• Dirnböck, T., Foldal, C., Djukic, I., Kobler, J., Haas, E., Kiese, R., Kitzler, B. (2017). Historic nitrogen deposition determines future climate change effects on nitrogen retention in temperate forests. Climatic Change 144(2), pp. 221-235. doi:10.1007/s10584-017-2024-y.

• Moses A. Cho, Abel Ramoelo and Luthando Dziba. Response of Land Surface Phenology to Variation in Tree Cover during Green-Up and Senescence Periods in the Semi-Arid Savanna of Southern Africa, Remote Sensing 9(7), p. 689. doi:10.3390/rs9070689.

We finally mention that ECOPOTENTIAL is co-organising the “Critical Zone and Ecosystem Dynamics” Summer School at Gran Paradiso National Park, Piedmont, Italy, 10-18 July 2018.

Enjoy reading this 8th issue of the Newsletter and come to us with questions and comments to know more about our project and to be engaged in fruitful and intriguing discussions!

Antonello Provenzale, National Research Council of Italy, Coordinator of ECOPOTENTIAL

ECOPOTENTIAL:ImprovingFutureEcosystemBenefitsthroughEarthObservation

ECOPOTENTIALNewsletter-Issuen.8–April2018 2

"SPACED:UsingEarthObservationstoProtectNaturalLandscapes"exhibitioninBruxellesPhoto exhibition: Brussels, European Parliament, Jan 8-12 2018

ECOPOTENTIAL has landed at the European Parliament in Brussels! From 8 to 12 January 2018, the Place du Luxembourg building hosted the exhibition “SPACED: Using Earth Observations to Protect Natural Landscapes”. Through the 26 exposed panels it has been possible to know more about the protected areas studied in the project, among the most beautiful in Europe and in the world, and the research activities carried out by the project partners. Beautiful pictures and satellite images, accompanied by short texts, illustrated how researchers and managers of protected areas are working together to study mountain, arid, coastal and marine ecosystems.

The panels of the exhibition illustrate in simple language the scientific work, and in particular the use that is made of satellite data, but also the beauty of the places, making immediately grasp the importance of scientific research aimed at improving the conservation of our natural environments.

After the European Parliament, the exhibition has been hosted again in Bruxelles at the Council of the Regions during the month of February.

We are evaluating other opportunities to let the exhibition travel in other locations in Europe and translate it also in other languages. Stay tuned for further developments! Take a look at the photo gallery (https://photos.app.goo.gl/d5wVsliAFFYnNzRa2) and read the article on the EASME Website: https://ec.europa.eu/easme/en/news/new-frontiers-earth-observation.

"SPACED:UsingEarthObservationstoProtectNaturalLandscapes"-AworkshopinBruxellesWorkshop: Brussels, ESPAY Catalunya Jan 10, 2018

On Wednesday January 10, the ECOPOTENTIAL workshop 'Spaced: Using Earth Observations to Protect Natural Landscapes' took place in Bruxelles at Espai Catalunya, the representative seat of the Catalan regional government.

The main objective of the workshop has been to prospect the state-of-the-art of Remote Sensing as a Sentinel tool to monitor, characterize and understand the state, ongoing changes and

effectiveness of conservation and management actions of natural landscapes and to facilitate an open debate among scientists and the involved Institutions. This workshop has been part of the multiple events organized by the ECOPOTENTIAL Project on the week of 9th-12th of January 2018, starting on Jan 9th with the opening of the photo-exhibition with the same title, on display at the European



Parliament. The workshop has seen the presence of about 70 among scientists and representatives of European institutions, and has presented the views of European institutions, of other related research networks and projects and of ECOPOTENTIAL researchers in their approach to the use of remote sensing for the study of natural landscapes, ecosystems and biodiversity.

The agenda and the presentations are available here: Spaced workshop AGENDA Jan 10 2018 (http://www.ecopotential-project.eu/images/ecopotential/img_news/Spaced-workshop-AGENDA-Jan-10-2018.pdf)

Presentations SPACED Bruxelles 10 01 2018 (http://www.ecopotential-project.eu/news-meetings/news-archive/2-uncategorised/206-spaced-bruxelles.html)

EcopotentialRemoteSensingTrainingCoursePisa, Italy, CNR Campus, Feb 19-22, 2018

The first “ECOPOTENTIAL training course on remote sensing and modelling applied to natural ecosystems”) took place at the CNR Campus in Pisa in February 19 - 23. The course was addressed to the partners and technical staff of the Protected Areas working in the ECOPOTENTIAL project. The course was oriented to the use of Remote Sensing data, project data portals and ecological models. Forty attendees from about 15 protected areas attended the workshop. The aim of this hands-on meeting was to provide practical examples of the use of Remote Sensing products and of ecological models for natural ecosystems in all the ecosystem types under study within the project, as well as to provide an introduction to the ECOPOTENTIAL Virtual Laboratory, fully integrated in GEOSS, where all data,

products and software produced within the project will be made available. Plenty of time has been devoted to show the use of the multi-modular system named EO Data for Ecosystem Monitoring (EODESM) that allows to classify land covers according to the Food and Agricultural Organisation’s (FAO’s) Land Cover Classification System (LCCS2) taxonomy map and to assess the current state and past changes in ecosystems. Moreover, attendees had the opportunity to start

sharing ideas about an instructional video focussed on the project’s products.

ProtectedAreafromSpace:awebsite A new ECOPOTENTIAL service has been released! The section "Protected Areas from Space" has been added to the ECOPOTENTIAL website. It consists of a web map server showing and delivering all satellite data and metadata produced within the project. Data can be displayed, analysed and directly downloaded in several GIS formats. Have a look at the maps! This new service is available at the following link: http://maps.ecopotential-project.eu/



ECOPOTENTIAL@AGUFallMeeting2017New Orleans, 15-17 December 2017

The ECOPOTENTIAL partner ISPRA (Italy) presented a framework for the use of Sea Surface Temperature (SST) as Essential Biodiversity Variable for the evaluation of the ecosystem services in the Mediterranean Large Marine Ecosystem at the American Geophysical Union meeting (New Orleans, December 2017).

Within the GEO session, dedicated to the ’Development of Essential Biodiversity Variables: Progress and Challenges’, a major effort of the ISPRA team has been oriented in addressing the value of such biophysical variable as a proxy for the assessment of food provision (in terms of ecopotential fish biomass), of biodiversity

regulation (in terms of big mammals feeding and mobility ecopotential) and of the alien species spread (in terms of areal temperature changes).

The GEO team recognized and appreciated the ability of the SST in capturing the cross-scale interactions in the seascape time and space dimensions as well as the stimulus in the use of EO time series in modelling and understanding nature dynamics.



GranParadisoSummerSchool-FundamentalProcessesinEarthSystemDynamics-Course2018CriticalZoneandEcosystemDynamicsGrand Hotel, Ceresole Reale (Piedmont, Italy), 10-18 July 2018

The Critical Zone (CZ) is the support system for all terrestrial ecosystems, extending from unweathered rock to the top of any vegetation canopy. In the CZ, physical, biological, geological and hydrological processes interact at multiple temporal and spatial scales, creating complex ecosystem dynamics and providing essential services such as soil water retention, weathering and erosion control, carbon sequestration, and regulation of water, energy and biogeochemical cycles, to name a few. In 2007, the U.S. National Science Foundation funded a set of now nine Critical Zone Observatories (CZOs). In Europe, a small ensemble of CZOs has been established, with strong links to the European Long-Term Ecological Research Network.

This 9-day- long summer course intends to provide basic knowledge about the functioning of the Critical Zone and its relationships with ecosystem dynamics, focusing on aspects related to hydrology, soil geochemistry and weathering, vegetation dynamics and distribution, microbiota, biodiversity, ecosystem processes, CZ-relevant geological processes and the role of the CZ for achieving sustainable development goals. The course will consider in-situ data, long-term ecosystem research, chemical and isotopic laboratory analyses, remote sensing observations and numerical modeling, and it will include three days of field lectures, experimentation and excursions to study sites and CZ observatories in the Italian Alps. The course is intended for Doctoral students, post-docs and researchers who are working or intend to work on Critical Zone processes and ecosystem dynamics. Lectures will be held in the Grand Hotel of Ceresole Reale in the Gran Paradiso National Park, Italy.

Practical information: Gran Paradiso Summer school: "Critical Zone and Ecosystem Dynamics" Dates: July 10th – 18 2018 Website: http://www.to.isac.cnr.it/gpss/ Applications: http://www.to.isac.cnr.it/gpss/reg/applic.htm Location: Grand Hotel - Ceresole Reale - Gran Paradiso National Park, Piemonte, Italy Directors: Timothy White, Pennsylvania State University, USA - Antonello Provenzale, Institute of Geosciences and Earth Resources, CNR, Pisa, Italy



Organisation: Institute of Geosciences and Earth Resources - Institute of Atmospheric Sciences and Climate of the Italian National Research Council, in collaboration with the Gran Paradiso National Park.

Participants will be lodged in the Grand Hotel and other close hotels in Ceresole. Transportation will be arranged from Torino to the school and back on July 9th and on July 19th respectively.

The school has no registration fee. The cost of full board lodging (including all meals) for 10 nights, from July 9th evening to July 19th 2018 will be announced here soon.

Deadline for applications (http://www.to.isac.cnr.it/gpss/reg/applic.htm) is May 15th, 2018. If you need more information, please contact the Scientific Secretary at [email protected]

2ECOPOTENTIALProtectedAreas

Murgia Alta (Italy)

The Site of Community Importance Murgia Alta IT9120007 is located in Puglia, Italy, and it has an area of 1258,89 km2. The most important habitat types in this site, according to 42/93/EEC directive are # 6210(*) Semi-natural dry grasslands and scrubland facies on calcareous substrates (Festuco-Brometalia) (*important orchid sites) and # 6220* Pseudo-steppe with grasses and annuals of the Thero-Brachypodietea. The regional Authority, in

charge for compliance to the Habitat directive, is most concerned of the degradation of the habitat (loss, fragmentation, quality depletion) particularly in connection to the conservation of Falco biarmicus feldeggi and Falco naumanii (globally threatened and priority species according to the Bird Directive). These species are present in the reproductive phonological phase. About ten years were elapsed in the boundaries definition of the SCI Murgia Alta IT9120007, located in a hill area of Regione Puglia and to formalize its inclusion in Natura 2000 network. In such a time span the area, which is characterized by the presence of unique highly diverse ecosystems and also of endemic and threatened species, was exposed to a tremendously accelerated process of habitat fragmentation and contamination both within and at its borders by a number of combined pressures. Among these:

• the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) drove transformation of grassland pastures into agricultural (cereal crops) areas by stone (rock) graining (clearance), which also induced soil erosion and sediment deposition in aquifer, contamination;

• the illegal waste and toxic mud dumping on transformed areas causing heavy metal contamination of soils and aquifer system;

• the increasing of traditional legal and illegal mining activities; wind farms infrastructures. • below-average precipitation for many years. ♦ 6210(*) Semi-natural dry grasslands and scrubland facies on calcareous substrates (Festuco-Brometalia) (*important orchid sites) ♦ 6220* Pseudo-steppe with grasses and annuals of the Thero-Brachypodietea



Mediterranean Large Marine Ecosystem The Mediterranean Sea is a Large Marine Ecosystem and the largest enclosed sea in the world. Its 46,000 km coastline spans many countries across three continents (Europe, Africa and Asia). Rich in marine life and other features, it is estimated to host between 4 per cent and 18 per cent of the planet’s macroscopic marine organisms. It provides many valuable goods and ecosystem services to society, including coastal protection, food, tourism, recreational opportunities and many more.

The Mediterranean Sea’s fish and other living resources supply the fishery and aquaculture sectors, which may be threatened by human activities, especially under changing climate conditions.

Monitoring seawater conditions is therefore of paramount importance for scientists and the Marine Protected Area managers, who are involved in the conservation of marine natural resources. For example, changes in seawater temperature affect the delivery of ecosystems services such as food provision, as seawater temperature influences the activity and health of fish, including their feeding, reproduction, movement and distribution. Through the use of Earth Observation (by examining over 12,000 images) and other tools, the ECOPOTENTIAL project team has observed that over the past few decades, the Mediterranean Sea has become progressively warmer, which has favoured the establishment of invasive species, and that in the near future, the Mediterranean Sea will become progressively warmer, affecting the movement and distribution of fish and thereby generating new food-provision scenarios.

SnowwaterequivalentintheAlpsasseenbygriddeddatasets,CMIP5andCORDEXclimatemodels

Terzago, S., von Hardenberg, J., Palazzi, E., and Provenzale, A. The Cryosphere, 11, 1625-1645, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-11-1625-2017, 2017. Modifications in the water cycle, described as the continuous movement and exchange of water in its liquid, solid and vapor forms among all the components of the climate system, are among the effects of increasing temperatures. In mountain regions water coexists in all three phases and the solid one –

Figure 1. The Aletsch Glacier, the largest on the European Alps, seen from Riederalp, Switzerland. Like most glaciers around the world, also the Aletsch is retreating. In 1870 it was 3.2 kilometers longer and 300 meters thicker than it is today. Picture by Silvia Terzago, March 2016.



including ice, snow and permafrost - all forming the mountain cryosphere – is important (being an essential water reserve) and vulnerable to the action of climate and environmental changes at the same time. In mountains, warming is occurring as twice as faster than in other regions and the enhanced temperature increase is leading to amplified effects both in the high-altitude ecosystems and downstream.

The temperature increase in mountain areas is reflected into a decrease in snowfall at low- and mid-altitudes, earlier snow melt and shortening of the snow cover duration with implications on the timing of the seasonal runoff and groundwater recharge. Our paper wants to provide a picture of the current and future conditions of snow depth in the Alpine region, one of the main water sources for European countries. In the absence of a dense network of ground-based stations measuring snow depth all over the Alps, our analysis is carried out considering the best available and accessible snow water equivalent (SNW) data (SNW is a measure of snow depth) from satellite measurements and from reanalyses. Though pointing out the limitations of these datasets and the differences they exhibit with each other, they can be taken as a reference for snow depth in this area against which to compare (and validate) global and regional climate model simulations (GCM, RCM) then used for future climate projections. It is important, in fact, to see how well models reproduce a certain variable over a historical reference period before using them for future projections. We didn’t limit our analysis to SNW but also to its drivers, surface air temperature and precipitation.

We found that only GCMs with resolution equal or finer than 125 Km (these are relatively high resolutions in the GCM world!) are in closer agreement with the ensemble mean of satellite and reanalysis products. Regional climate models, whose resolution is significantly higher (~12 km), are found to overestimate snow water equivalent. It is a common feature of almost all regional and global climate model to exhibit cold bias (they underestimate temperatures, compared to a given reference) and wet biases (they overestimate precipitation, including snowfall). What about future climate projections then? RCMs and higher-resolution GCMs indicate future snow reduction across the whole Alpine chain (less pronounced for RCMs than for GCMs) from about 20% to more than 90% of the current value, the range of variability depending on the considered model and on the season.

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Figure 2. Percent change in the Alpine average snow water equivalent (SNW) expected by the mid-21st century, compared to a reference period (1980–2005), in the RCP8.5 scenario (high-emissions). These estimates are provided by the highest-resolution global climate models (GCMs) participating in the Fifth Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP5, grey boxplot) and by regional climate models (RCMs) of the European Coordinated Regional Climate Downscaling Experiment (EURO-CORDEX, colored symbols).



Our study shows that we currently lack proper fine-scale information on snowpack distribution at mountain range scale, which would be necessary for model calibration/validation, for data assimilation, for assessing seasonal water resources. In our opinion, improving the open availability of in situ snow observations and developing gridded snow data sets, representative of the ground truth in mountain regions, is a priority for advancing cryospheric/hydrologic research in mountain environments.

Climatechangemayimproveforestecosystem’scapacitytoretainexcessiveairborneNitrogenFromthearticle:Historicnitrogendepositiondeterminesfutureclimatechangeeffectsonnitrogenretentionintemperateforests

Dirnböck, T., Foldal, C., Djukic, I., Kobler, J., Haas, E., Kiese, R., Kitzler, B. 2017. Historic nitrogen deposition determines future climate change effects on nitrogen retention in temperate forests. Climatic Change 144(2): 221-235. doi:10.1007/s10584-017-2024-y. Too much Nitrogen emission from industrial activities, traffic, and agriculture is negatively impacting terrestrial ecosystems. Deposition of Nitrogen has caused increased nitrate leaching to the groundwater and gaseous Nitrogen efflux from the soils acting as greenhouse gases. We have a quite well-established knowledge about these effects but we do not know how ecosystems may react to Nitrogen deposition when climate is also changing. Yet, a variety of factors affecting Nitrogen cycling in terrestrial ecosystems are highly sensitive to temperature and soil moisture variations. Here, we evaluated the effect of future changes in climate and N deposition on ecosystem Nitrogen cycling using the model LandscapeDNDC forced with historical data from eight long-term forest ecosystem monitoring stations in Austria and downscaled future Nitrogen deposition and climate scenarios. If emission reductions according to current legislation are implemented, Nitrogen deposition will decrease positively affecting ecosystem retention but warming will add to this positive effects. We found that every 1 °C of warming resulted in up to 2 kg less Nitrogen leaching per hectare and year. This increased Nitrogen

retention mostly came from enhanced tree growth due to warming. Changes in gaseous Nitrogen efflux due to warming were much more variable with no clear effect. Although the forest sites were quite variable with regard to their soils and climate, the magnitude of N deposition in the past was by far the most important determinant of the degree of improvement in Nitrogen retention. We argue that trees

The intensively studied long-term monitoring plot at LTER Zöbelboden was used in this modelling study.

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exposed to higher but not too high N deposition in the past might be less prone to nutrient limitation in the future. Our study shows that climate change will likely retention in many European forest ecosystems, and even more so at forest sites with elevated past N deposition.

UnderstandingseasonalvariationsofvegetationgreeningandsenescenceintheSouthernAfricansavannasFromthearticle:ResponseofLandSurfacePhenologytoVariationinTreeCoverduringGreen-UpandSenescencePeriodsintheSemi-AridSavannaofSouthernAfricaMoses A. Cho, Abel Ramoelo and Luthando Dziba Natural Resources and Environment, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), PO. Box 395, Pretoria, South Africa 0001, Remote Sensing 9(7), p. 689 (2017). doi:10.3390/rs9070689

The African savanna is characterised by a mixture of grasses and trees in varying proportions and serve as a habitat for millions of people and wildlife. The annual cycle of vegetation greening and senescence in the savanna plays an important role in the functioning of the biosphere e.g. carbon and water cycles, migration of wildlife, spread of fire etc. This allows African savannas to provide numerous ecosystem services that are of high social and economic importance such as wildlife tourism, provision of food (e.g mopane worms, marula fruits, honey) and grazing land for livestock production. The periods corresponding to the start and end of the growing season, and indeed the length of the growing season (i.e. the phenological periods) determine the availability of the above ecosystem services both in space and

time. Furthermore, understanding the relative contribution of grasses and trees to the various phenological periods would enhance our ability to manage the savanna for optimal benefits to people and wildlife. This has become even more critical in the advent of climate change and variability characterised by erratic rainfall patterns in Southern Africa. The study on the response of land surface phenology on variation in tree cover during green-up and senescence

periods in the semi-arid savanna of Southern Africa reveals that rainfall is the predominant factor that explains the inter-annual variability of the day corresponding to the start of the growing season in the region for areas dominated by grasses (< 20% tree cover) while tree cover is the predominant factor that explains the variability in the day corresponding to end of the growing season. In fact, the length of the growing season increases with increasing tree cover. Quantifying the day of the year corresponding to end of growing season could be important in assessing the risk of fire spread both in space and time.

Figure: Tree dominated regions show longer growing seasons than grass dominated systems.



ECOPOTENTIALCALENDARS

The ECOPOTENTIAL Communication staff published the 2018 and 2019 ECOPOTENTIAL calendars! The calendars show a different protected area each month, displaying a picture of the landscape or an iconic species, a remote sensing image and a very brief explanation of the research work made in ECOPOTENTIAL.

You can download/print them/donate them/publish them and/or share them.

The calendars are released under the Creative Common Licence BY-NC-ND (Creative_Commons_license#Seven_regularly_used_licenses) that allows free reproduction and use of the calendar for non-commercial use but no partial reproduction or modification - and grants the photo copyrights to authors.

The ECOPOTENTIAL Communication staff thanks all the partners who contributed with pictures, texts and RS images.

The calendars can be downloaded at the following links:

http://www.ecopotential-project.eu/images/ecopotential/img_news/2018.pdfhttp://www.ecopotential-project.eu/images/ecopotential/img_news/2019.pdf

NewpublishedECOPOTENTIALpapers!!

WearehappytoannouncethenewpublicationsbyECOPOTENTIALresearchers,allcompliantwiththeOpenAccess Policy. They can be downloaded from the ECOPOTENTIAL Website at the page:http://www.ecopotential-project.eu/2015-08-19-15-19-29/publications.htmlandfromtheECOPOTENTIALpublicationsrepositoryPUMA:http://pumalab.isti.cnr.it/index.php/en/eu-h2020-project-ecopotential-enCongratulationstotheauthors!



Leruste A., Villéger S., Malet N., De Wit R., Bec B. (2018). Complementarity of the multidimensional functional and the taxonomic approaches to study phytoplankton communities in three Mediterranean coastal lagoons of different trophic status. Hydrobiologia. doi:10.1007/s10750-018-3565-4.

Perennou C., Guelmami A., Paganini M., Philipson P., Poulin B., Strauch A., Tottrup C., Truckenbrodtk J., Geijzendorffer I. R. (2018). Mapping Mediterranean Wetlands With Remote Sensing: A GoodLooking Map Is Not Always a Good Map. Advances in Ecological Research 58, pp. 243-277. doi: 10.1016/bs.aecr.2017.12.002.

Lagabrielle E., Allibert A., Kiszka J.J., Loiseau N., Kilfoil J. P., Lemahieu A. (2018). Environmental and anthropogenic factors affecting the increasing occurrence of shark-human interactions around a fast-developing Indian Ocean island. Scientific Reports 8, 3676. doi:10.1038/s41598-018-21553-0.

Ramoelo A., Cho M. A. (2018). Explaining Leaf Nitrogen Distribution in a Semi-Arid Environment Predicted on Sentinel-2 Imagery Using a Field Spectroscopy Derived Model. Remote Sensing 10(2), 269. doi:10.3390/rs10020269.

Ramırez F., Rodrıguez C., Seoane J., Figuerola J., Bustamante J. (2018). How will climate change affect endangered Mediterranean waterbirds? PLOS ONE, 2018. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0192702.

Nestola E., Scartazza A., Di Baccio D., Castagna A., Ranieri A., Cammarano M., Mazzenga F., Matteucci G., Calfapietra C. (2018). Are optical indices good proxies of seasonal changes in carbon fluxes and stress-related physiological status in a beech forest? Hydrobiologia. doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.08.167.

Choudhury B. U., Ferraris S., Ashton R. W., Powlson D. S., Whalley W. R. (2018). The effect of microbial activity on soil water diffusivity, European Journal of Soil Science. doi:10.1111/ejss.12535.

Rinaldo A., Gatto M., Rodriguez-Iturbe I. (2018). River networks as ecological corridors: A coherent ecohydrological perspective. Advances in Water Resources, 112, pp. 27-58. doi:10.1016/j.advwatres.2017.10.005.

Navarro L. M., Fernándes N., Guerra C., Guralnick R., Kissling W. D., Londoño M. C., Muller-Karger M., Turak E., Balvanera P., Costello M. J., Delavaud A., El Serafy G., Ferrier S., Geijzendorffer I., Geller G. N., Jetz W., Kim E-S., Kim H., Martin C. S., McGeoch M. A., Mwampamba T. H., Nel J. L., Nicholson E., Pettorelli N., Schaepman M. E., Skidmore A., Sousa Pinto I., Vergara S., Vihervaara P., Xu H., Yahara T., Gill M., Pereira H., M. (2017). Monitoring biodiversity change through effective global coordination. Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability, 29, pp. 158-169. doi: 10.1016/j.cosust.2018.02.005. Geijzendorffer I. R., van Teeffelen A. J. , Allison H., Braun D., Horgan K., Iturrate-Garcia M., Santos M. J., Pellissier L., Prieur-Richard A-H., Simone Quatrini S., Sakai S., Zuppinger-Dingley D. (2017). How can global conventions for biodiversity and ecosystem services guide local conservation actions? Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability, 29, pp. 145-150. doi: 10.1016/j.cosust.2017.12.011.

Ramirez F., Tarroux A., Hovinen J., Navarro J., Afàn I., Forero M. G., Descamps S. (2017). Sea ice phenology and primary productivity pulses shape breeding success in Arctic seabirds. doi:10.1038/s41598-017-04775-6.

Nestola E., Sánchez-Zapero J., Latorre C., Mazzenga F., Matteucci G., Calfapietra C., Camacho F. (2017). Validation of PROBA-V GEOV1 and MODIS C5 & C6 fAPAR Products in a Deciduous Beech Forest Site in Italy. doi:10.3390/rs9020126.

Nativi S., Mazzetti P., Craglia M.(2017). A view-based model of data-cube to support big earth data systems interoperability, Big Earth Data Volume 1, 2017, Issue 1-2. doi:10.1080/20964471.2017.1404232.

Jahnke M., Casagrandi R., Melià P., Schiavina M., Schultz S. T., Zane L., Procaccini G. (2017). Potential and realized connectivity of the seagrass Posidonia oceanica and their implication for conservation. Diversity and Distributions, 23(12), pp. 1423-1434., 2017. doi:10.1111/ddi.12633.

Domingo-Marimon C., Pesquer L., Gomez-Cabajo N., Jimenez M., Pons X. (2017). On the interest of the spectral bands in the automatic selection of high quality MODIS data through spatial pattern identification. In: Proceedings SPIE 10427, Image and Signal Processing for Remote Sensing XXIII (Warsaw, Poland, 2017). Proceedings, vol. 10427 pp. 1 - 10. a cura di Bruzzone L (ed.). Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE), 2017.



Othernewsandevents3rdEARSeLSIGLU/LCandNASALCLUCjointWorkshopEarth Observation Supporting Sustainability Research: 09-12 July 2018. And Land-Use/Cover Change Drivers, Impacts and Sustainability within the Water-Energy-Food Nexus: 11-12 July 2018. Chania (Crete) Greece.

Workshop Focus: The 3rd joint EARSeL-NASA LCLUC Workshop will focus on water, food and sustainability research

supported by Earth Observations and derived remote sensing products. The workshop will address innovative research on the relationships amongst natural processes (e.g. biogeochemical and hydrologic cycles) and social/behavioural processes (e.g. decision making and governance) as supported by remote sensing observations. Land-use change with an emphasis on forests and watershed management, urban areas flooding and water consumption, arable lands irrigation and combatting drought will be some of the topics presented at this workshop. Remote sensing provides means to quantify land-use/cover changes and together with socio-economic information helps our understanding of land-use change and their associated drivers, impacts and sustainability.

Background: The UN FAO (United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization) in its State of the World’s Land and Water Resources for Food and Agriculture (2014) confirmed that “land and water resources are central to agriculture and rural development, and are intrinsically linked to global challenges of food insecurity and poverty, climate change adaptation and mitigation, as well as degradation and depletion of natural resources that affect the livelihoods of millions of rural people across the world.” They also projected that food production will need to increase by 70 percent to feed the world’s growing population. Land and water resources are already under heavy stress from economic development, so that future agricultural production will need to be more efficient and sustainable. Land use is undergoing changes in many parts of the World and there is considerable interest in understanding the impacts of those changes and whether they are sustainable.

There have been a number of meetings and published reports on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted by the United Nations and on the Water-Energy-Food (WEF) nexus, which is one of the organizing contructs of the Future Earth global research platform. Land-use change is pervasive in many regions with major implications for the WEF and is integral to the SDG’s. Satellite data can play an important role in providing up-to-date information in support of these initiatives, for example by providing underpinning data sets or monitoring progress towards the SDGs.

Authors have already been notified by March 15, 2018, on the final result of the peer review process. No workshop proceedings has been released, but all the invited authors were welcome to submit full papers, extending the submitted abstract, to be considered for publication. Accepted abstract submissions may submit a full manuscript by July 11, 2018.

For more information, please visit the event’s website: http://lulc.earsel.org/workshop/2018-lulc-ws/



3rd Geo Data Providers Workshop 2-4 May 2018, Frascati, Italy

The Geo Data providers Workshop from 2-4 May 2018 at the European Space Agency will take place in Frascati, Italy, and it will bring together Earth observation data providers and users to share knowledge and best practices in the management and use of Earth observation data, while working together to enhance together the Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS).

Focus areas include: Uncovering user content and data discovery, access and use needs; Highlighting data user and application impact stories; Optimizing data for decision and policy making; Engaging with citizen observatories; Presenting data potential; and Entering in discussions. Presenting user-centric GEOSS Platform enhancements; Building strategies for strengthening user and provider outreach and expanding the user base. Who should attend? Data providers and users contributing to or benefiting from Earth observations are invited to attend the Workshop. Attendees will have the opportunity to network and engage with other providers and users, share their needs and services, and exchange ideas for collaboration. DATA PROVIDERS New and registered GEO Data Providers will have the opportunity to present their data via the GEOSS Platform, to hear from and connect with data users to better understand their needs, and will learn about the latest and upcoming developments in the GEOSS Platform, including statistics monitoring, yellow pages, registration process, views, metadata requirements, sorting, and status checker. DATA USERS Data users will learn about latest and upcoming upgrades and functionalities of the GEOSS Platform, and have the opportunity to communicate their use cases and needs to a wide range of data providers and the GEOSS Platform team. Registration is closed. Info at: https://www.earthobservations.org/me_201805_dpw.php 26th International Symposium Deltas and Wetlands 2018 Tulcea, Romania, 16-20 May 2018.

The “Danube Delta” National Institute for Research and Development will organize the 26th International Symposium “Deltas and Wetlands” 2018 which will be held in Tulcea, Romania between 16-20 May 2018. After the reviewing process, the conference papers will be published in the journal: Scientific Annals of the Danube Delta Institute, indexed in the ICI Journals Master List. Submission is closed. Information at http://ddni.ro/wps/events/deltas-and-wetlands-26th-symposium/



Earth Observation for Impact GEO SYMPOSIUM 2018 11-12 June 2018 / Geneva, Switzerland

GEO calls on the Earth observation community to come together for the 2018 GEO Symposium in Geneva, Switzerland. Why attend? This is a unique opportunity to contribute to the future of the GEO Work Programme, share knowledge and connect with others from the global GEO community.

Who should attend? Anyone working to ensure Earth observations play a central role in decision making across environmental and development domains are welcome to attend. We encourage participation from those already involved in the GEO Work Programme, as well as those interested in getting involved. More information and registration will be available shortly at the site: http://www.earthobservations.org/me_201806_wps.php

THE 2018 GEO CLIMATE WORKSHOP: EARTHOBSERVATIONSFORTHEPARISAGREEMENT13 June 2018 / Geneva, Switzerland

Participants in the 2018 GEO Symposium interested in improving the coordination of Earth observations in support of the Paris Agreement are invited to also register for the 2018 GEO Climate Workshop, which will take place the day after the Symposium. More information and registration will be available here shortly at:

http://www.earthobservations.org/me_201806_wps.php CONTACTS Symposium contact: Craig Larlee, [email protected] Climate Workshop contact: Andre Obregon: [email protected] Media contact: Maddie West, [email protected] Group on Earth Observations 7 bis, avenue de la Paix CH-1211 Geneva, Switzerland Tel. +41 22 730 8505 [email protected]

ESP–EuropeESSconference2018San Sebastián (Spain), 15-19 October 2018

The Ecosystem Services Partnership (ESP) aims to enhance communication, coordination and cooperation, and to build a strong network of individuals and organizations. ESP enhances and encourages a diversity of approaches, while reducing unnecessary duplication of effort in the conceptualization and application of



ecosystem services. By raising the profile of ecosystem services and promoting better practice, the ES-Partnership will also increase opportunities for financial support and help focus the funding of individual organizations for more efficient utilization of existing funds. ESP was launched in 2008 by the Gund Institute for Ecological Economics (University of Vermont, USA) and is now being coordinated by the Foundation for Sustainable Development (Wageningen, The Netherlands). ESP is a membership based organisation, both institutional and individual members can subscribe. The Partnership has a specified governance structure and Executive committee. In 2006 ESP started to organise yearly conferences about ecosystem services. Since 2016 ESP shifted to bi-annual World Conferences with Regional Conferences in the intermediate years. The previous ESP9 World Conference was in Shenzhen, China in 2017.

Call for sessions The call for sessions is closed. The accepted sessions are now available online at the following link: http://www.espconference.org/eu2018/wiki/279404/session-overview#.WsOSkNNubOR

Call for abstracts Session proposals are currently under review. The call for abstracts will open at the beginning of April.

Registration Conference registration opened the first week of April. Information regarding registration fees will follow soon on the conference site. Please, check it regularly. More info at the site: http://www.espconference.org/eu2018#.WsWu3tNubOQ

AGUFallMeeting2018Washington D.C., USA, 10-14 Dec 2018

The AGU 2018 Fall Meeting will mark another dynamic year of discovery in Earth and space science, serve as the advent of AGU’s Centennial year, and provide a special opportunity to share our science with world leaders in Washington, D.C. As the largest

Earth and space science gathering in the world, the Fall Meeting places you in the center of a global community of scientists drawn from myriad fields of study whose work protects the health and welfare of people worldwide, spurs innovation, and informs decisions that are critical to the sustainability of the Earth.

You will connect with leading thinkers, learn about pioneering research and emerging trends, and use your voice to help drive science’s positive impact on the world.

This year the Fall Meeting brings you to Washington, D.C., an international center of science and policy. You can highlight the wonder, value and immediacy of Earth and space science research and show that science is strong, global and essential. Connect with the D.C. area’s many scientific institutions and witness the ways that your colleagues are helping to inform solutions to the challenges faced by this region. Recharge by exploring the city’s bustling restaurant and music scene and enjoy the beauty and richness of its national monuments and museums.

Key Milestones

Session and Tutorial Proposal Deadline: Wednesday, 18 April 2018, 11:59 PM EDT Workshop Proposals Open: 1 April 2018

All proposals must be submitted via the online submission website.



Abstract Submission Period: 13 June 2018 – 1 August 2018 Abstract and Sessions’ Scheduled Days/Times Notifications Sent: 1 October 2018.

For more information, contact the AGU Scientific Program Team and visit the site: https://fallmeeting.agu.org/2018/welcome/

GEO BON 2018 Beijing, China, 9-12 July 2018

GEO BON’s vision is to establish a globally coordinated biodiversity observation network that contributes to effective and timely conservation,

sustainable use, and mitigation and adaptation decisions of the world’s biodiversity and the ecosystem services it supports. This is achieved by improving the acquisition, analysis, and delivery of biodiversity observation and related services, to the scientific community, managers, and decision makers. This summer, members of the GEO BON working groups, BONs and task forces will meet in Beijing, China, from July 9th to 12th, for the 4th edition of the All Hands Meeting. The All Hands Meeting is organized as parallel workshops led by the different Working Groups on topics with specific products (e.g. guide to monitor an EBV, development of global EBV products) aligned with the list of priority deliverables identified by the Implementation Committee of GEO BON. Additionally, Working Groups, Biodiversity Observation Networks (BONs) and Task Forces will meet and discuss cooperative projects and future products.

The organizing committee includes the GEO BON Co-Chairs Henrique Miguel Pereira and Mike Gill, the Deputy Director-General Haigen Xu, the GEO BON Executive Secretary Laetitia Navarro, the ECOPOTENTIAL Scientist Carlos Guerra, the Biodiversity Scientist Nestor Fernandez and HyeJin Kim, the Administrative Assistant Anne-Kathrin Thomas and the IT Officer Christian Langer.

More info at: http://geobon.org/about/all-hands-meeting-2018/ Registration is closed.

ThisprojecthasreceivedfundingfromtheEuropeanUnion’sHorizon2020researchandinnovationprogramundergrantagreementNo641762.-CopyrightbyECOPOTENTIALConsortium

Contacts:Website: http://www.ecopotential-project.eu/ Facebook: Facebook/EcoPotentialProject Twitter: #ECOPOTENTIAL Email contact : http://www.ecopotential-project.eu/contacts - [email protected]

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