NEON’s Impact on Wildfire Research: Assessing Dead Trees in Yellowstone National Park, Forest Loss in California and Nitrogen Deposition Levels in Colorado

Since 2016, Battelle has had the privilege of managing and operating the National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) in partnership with the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF).

Originally conceived at the turn of the millennium and designed to collect measurements for three decades, NEON is a U.S.-wide network of 81 field sites that offers the global scientific community access to rich, continent-scale datasets that are driving ecological research.

With the devastating wildfires in Los Angeles earlier this year, we find it important to not only raise awareness but call attention to the importance of scientific research when it comes to wildfires and their impact on ecosystems. NEON free data are essential for ecologists to better understand the behavior of wildfires and project how we can mitigate them in the future.

This month, we are highlighting three examples of research either impacted by or leveraging NEON data to research wildfires. You can read more on NEON’s contribution assessing dead trees in Yellowstone National Park, loss of forest in California and nitrogen deposition below. 

The latest news from NEON includes: 

1. NEON Used to Assess Dead Trees in Yellowstone National Park
   In Yellowstone National Park, dead trees are abundant, and many are located near infrastructure. Researchers used NEON to model the distribution of dead trees in the park to better understand when and where the risk for wildfire is highest. Researchers found that 40% of the landmass of Yellowstone – in the central-western portion of the park – contained the highest concentration of dead trees and thus carried the highest risk of wildfire. Forest management is critical under these conditions, as droughts cause more damaging wildfires, making their “behavior” harder to predict.

2. Assessing Forests Post Wildfire Using NEON 
   In California, wildfires, insect infestation and human activity are causing large-scale disturbances of the forests. In order to manage forest health and mitigate wildfire risks, researchers measured forest canopy heights and used NEON field sites in the Sierra Nevada region to validate spatial variations of vegetation structure. They also used GEDI and LiDAR to create a map of the vegetation structure in California. Researchers found that due to wildfires in 2020 and 2021, forest height decreased by more than 30%, and that the trees that remain will be carbon stocks. Overall, scientists found that more than 60% of forest loss in California was due to fires between 2019-2020 and 2021-2022. This study shows the benefit of using remote-sensing data and field sites for forest monitoring at large scales.

3. Nitrogen Deposition Levels Impacted by Wildfires
   Nitrogen deposition from the atmosphere can have a significant impact on water quality. The amount of deposition varies when it comes to elevation, proximity to urban and agricultural areas, as well as wildfires and wind patterns. How nitrogen is transformed and transported is influenced by the microbial community, soil composition and precipitation patterns. Researchers measured the relationship between the microbial community and nitrogen deposition in Colorado and analyzed stream discharge and water quality from Como Creek, a NEON field site. They found that there were higher rates of nitrogen deposition at lower elevation sites closer to urban and agricultural sources, and that water quality was not driven primarily by

Sponsored by the U.S. National Science Foundation and operated by Battelle, NEON is a continental-scale ecological observatory network dedicated to providing high-quality, consistently generated, standardized data that are free and available to all users. By enabling scientists, researchers, and students to address critical questions and understand ecosystem changes over time, the NEON program allows the ecological community to tackle questions and problems at a scale that was not possible before.