2004 - 2005 Research Program
I. REGIONAL DESCRIPTION The Southcentral region consists of the states of Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas. In addition, the Southcentral Regional Center (SCRC) shares funding responsibilities for the state of Colorado with the Great Plains Regional Center. The majority of the region’s population is in the state of Texas and there are significant regional resources and agricultural crops spread throughout the region. The region is also characterized by significant gradients in temperature, moisture and precipitation. It ranges from wet and humid climates in the southeast (greater than 120 mm of annual precipitation) to arid regions in New Mexico (less than 40 mm of annual precipitation). While the precipitation gradient is primarily east-west, the temperature gradient is predominantly north-south. The economy of the region is similarly diverse with states in the region accounting for a significant portion of the nation’s important resources and agricultural products: 80% of natural gas production; 45% of crude petroleum production; 26% of cattle; 18% of gross farm income; and 15% of national fishery production. As a result of the temperature and moisture gradients, there is an impressive diversity in ecosystems and agricultural crops within the region. Consequently, the region grows a significant fraction of many of the nation’s important crops: 81% of rice (all varieties); 63% of cotton; 46% of sorghum; 37% of winter wheat; 11% of soybeans; and 6% of corn (data from USDA NASS, 1999). Arkansas leads the region in total acreage for rice and soybeans. Texas is the region’s dominant producer of corn, sorghum, and cotton. Oklahoma and Texas have most of the region’s acreage of winter wheat. All of these crops are sensitive to climate in complex ways and could be affected by increases in CO2 concentration and temperature, as well as by changes in the spatial distribution, frequency, and magnitude of precipitation events. Grasslands are also an important land cover of great significance to the region (as well as the Great Plains Region to our north), and would also be impacted by climatic changes. Climate change resulting from fossil fuel consumption will likely lead to increased temperatures and changes in precipitation within our region. The current models exhibit a degree of uncertainty on the seasonal distribution of climate change for the region, especially with respect to precipitation. For instance, recent transient runs of the Canadian Climate Center GCM and the Hadley Center model agree that annual precipitation across most of our region will increase, with as much as a 30% increase in northern Texas and Oklahoma. In contrast, these same models disagree with respect to the sign of annual precipitation changes throughout the western portion of our region and much of the southeast: CCC predicts a 10-20% decrease and Hadley a 10-20% increase for New Mexico. Discrepancies in seasonal predictions are more pronounced: In some cases one model predicts a 100% increase in precipitation, while the other model predicts a slight reduction. In addition to these uncertainties in future climate conditions there are significant uncertainties in models that assess how ecosystems will respond to environmental change. Key issues include model validation and applicability across ecosystems and space/time scales, as well as challenges associated with coupling of the components of models. As a result we are not yet in a good position to make detailed assessments of climate change impacts on the region. Rather, our focus is on developing the scientific framework for such assessments with an emphasis on improving ecosystem models and reducing the uncertainty of the measured data. II. CENTER’S STRATEGIC VISION The Southcentral Regional Center (SCRC) will provide sound scientific findings to enhance understanding of the response of key forested, agricultural, and grassland ecosystems and important regional economic sectors to environmental changes associated with energy production. III. EXISTING RESEARCH PROGRAM AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS A. Short-term Progress/Accomplishments In the past year the SCRC program has made excellent progress toward understanding the ecological effects of climate change. Here are summaries of the accomplishments of the researchers supported by the Regional Center: Dr. Briske and Dr. Tjoelker of the Texas A&M University have started their first year of funding to conduct a project on the combined effect of the temperature and humidity variables in the growth of plants in an oak savanna. They have completed the construction of the experimental facility and are in the process of conducting their experiments and getting the first results. Dr. Jackson of Duke University is also in his first year of funding. He has started work on exploration of the effects of the precipitation gradient on the growth of plants. His research involves field sampling from sites in Texas New Mexico and Colorado. Soil cores (3 m deep 6 cm diameter) are taken and analyzed in order to determine the amount of fine roots, concentration of particulate organic matter and C isotope ratios in the soils. Dr. Justic of the Louisiana State University completed his project, which was associated with a larger project on the hypoxia in the Gulf of Mexico. His research findings resulted in a time-dependent physical/biological model with climate forcing, which will be used to in assess the impacts of climate change on coastal and estuarine ecosystems. He also developed model supported climate change scenarios for the northern Gulf of Mexico. This includes projections for salinity and stability regime, global oxygen fluxes, net productivity, and severity of hypoxia. Dr. Kucharick of the University of Wisconsin-Madison completed his second year of funding and has been working on the validation of the IBIS model. He used data for the energy balance and the soil temperature and moisture obtained from field measurements in the Walker Branch and Bondville AmeriFlux sites. Initial indications show that the IBIS simulated quantities agree to within 10-20% of observations. All the results show that the IBIS is a valuable predictive tool, that components of the C cycle were more accurately simulated by the model than N cycling components and that non-linear relationships existed between changes in fertilizer use and NO3-N leaching losses over time. The results of this study also indicate that some key model changes may be necessary in the future. Dr. Luo of the University of Oklahoma developed a process-based model (TECOS) to simulate C fluxes at the Niwot Ridge, a global database to link NEE with nitrogen deposition and soil N fertility, and a statistical approach to identify the causes of inter-annual variability (IAV) in NEE. The TECOS model exhibits a high correlation coefficient (r=0.88) when its predictions are compared to actual data. He also developed a method to partition IAV of NEE into various sources. Thus, they simplified the HOS model to a separate-slopes model to partition IAV to direct effects of climatic variability, indirect effects by functional changes, and seasonal climatic variation. The results indicate that 16.4% of variation was explained by the functional change, 1.3 % by the inter-annual climatic variability, and 69.9% by the seasonal climatic variation. Dr. Monson of the University of Colorado measured components of the surface energy budget at the Niwot site above the forest. Energy budget closure was better than 84% on a half-hourly basis in both winter and summer, with slightly greater closure during the winter. The closure showed a dependence on friction velocity (u*), approaching complete closure at u*>1 m/s. The effect of u* explained why the energy budget closure is slightly better in winter than the summer, since winter is characterized by higher turbulence. The project also has touched on the potential for mesoscale flow complexities, such as terrain inhomogeneities and drainage flows. By using SF6 tracer released from point and line sources upslope from the two Ameriflux towers the studies confirmed that the height of maximum drainage flow as being very close to the ground, even at a distance of 200 m downslope from the tracer release. They determined typical CO2 concentration differences of 5-15 ppm at the same height during conditions that promote drainage flows. Dr. Sievering of the University of Colorado was given in the past support for one year. He conducted an estimate of the dry flux or HNO3 in the Niwot AmeriFlux conifer forest and found that HNO3 contributes 70% of the total dry N deposition at the Niwot site. HNO3 approximately equals the magnitude of NO3- in wet deposition. He successfully determined the N species' wet and dry deposition data so that total N dry flux estimation was possible for the 2001-growing season. He found out that lichen uptake was negligible (less than 0.01 kgN-1gs-1). The canopy N uptake (CNU) was 2.5-3.0 kgN ha-1gs-1 a number that represents approximately half as much as that taken up by the roots from the soil. A correlation of the daytime NEE vs. CNU over various time increments revealed that the TET time frame (antecedent dry plus wet deposition period) provided a strong statistical relationship between NEE and CNU. About one-quarter of daytime NEE variability during the 2001-growing season is statistically explained by CNU. Dr. Whitbeck of the University of New Orleans is close to the completion of a three-year project investigating the role of soil moisture and seasonal flooding on fine root and microbial processes in a bottomland forest. She has successfully installed 3 measurement stations on a transect along a hydrologic gradient in a partially-flooded forest in the Barrataria Preserve (LA). Their measurements show a threshold effect with respect to the role of soil moisture on carbon fluxes. Dr. Whitbeck also evaluated methods for the continuous non-destructive measurement of soil water content and determined that Decagon’s ECH2O time domain reflectometry sensors are best because they provided a more accurate signal in the very high clay content soils than conventional stainless steel rods and because they can be used with a data-logger. Dr. Zhang of the University of Colorado continued his study on the seasonal freezing and thawing of soils. He developed a combined frozen soil algorithm and calibrated its results to detect the near-surface soil freeze-thaw cycle over snow-free and snow-covered land areas in the contiguous United States. He found out that the maximum area extent of the seasonally frozen ground during the winter of 1997/98 was 63% of the total land area of the contiguous United States, while during the winter of 1998/99, the maximum area extent was 74% of the total. The maximum area extent over the two winters occurred in the late December and early January. During the early winter, frozen soil area over the snow-free land area dominated the total frozen soil area. As winters progress and snow cover area expanded, frozen area under snow cover dominated the total frozen soil area. Due to the insulating effect of snow, frozen soil under snow cover may be thawed by the end of winter. B. Long-term Accomplishments (up to 5-10 years) Historically this center has had a diverse program with a large number of projects addressing a variety of significant regional resources and climate change concerns. This diversity has been encouraged and at times applauded, but has led in the past to lack of a specific focus. One result of this program’s history is a difficulty in specifying long-term accomplishments in a comprehensive yet concise manner. Nevertheless, some of the major long-term accomplishments are as follows: • Establishment of the Niwot Ridge Ameriflux site, which has been continuously taking data since Nov. 1, 1998. This site now has a comprehensive multidisciplinary team of researchers addressing different but complementary questions regarding ecosystem carbon exchange. Our program currently supports four projects associated with research in this site. • Development of a thoroughly parameterized physically based cotton model suitable for climate change studies (GOSSUM). • The projects in Texas grasslands site indicated that increased CO2 levels would result in a dramatic increase in deep percolation, with profound consequences for aquifer recharge and regional hydrology. • We have generated and published downscaling tools capable of improving the temporal and spatial accuracy and consistency of GCM-based climate change scenarios. These techniques may eventually lead to a reconciliation of scenarios from different GCMs that are diametrically opposed with respect to the sign of precipitation changes on regional scales. • We have successfully tested an analytical approach to correct Ameriflux tower data for the influence of local and regional combustion sources. The method is intended to produce regionally-representative estimates of monthly mean CO2 concentration in the well-mixed PBL from time series measured at Ameriflux towers. We have also made major progress toward developing the necessary tools to estimate regional CO2 exchange from a combination of Ameriflux tower data and satellite imagery. • The continued development and validation of the IBIS model, which promises to become a valuable predictive tool for the dynamics of the carbon and nitrogen cycles. IV. PROPOSED RESEARCH PROGRAM FOR NEXT FISCAL YEAR A. Next year’s Specific Goals In the upcoming fiscal year the SCRC is interested in refining its focus and, simultaneously, in developing value-added interactions among the suite of funded projects. Given NIGEC’s budgetary constraints we see value in having a program focused around a few thrust areas with significant interaction and synergy among the projects. The two main goals for the next fiscal year are: (1) To increase our understanding and reduce uncertainty with terrestrial ecosystem carbon exchange processes; and (2) To improve our knowledge on the effects of multiple environmental changes associated with energy production on important terrestrial ecosystems in the region. Goal 1: To increase our understanding and reduce measurement uncertainty
with terrestrial ecosystem carbon exchange processes. Goal 2: To improve our knowledge on the effects of multiple environmental
changes associated with energy production on important terrestrial ecosystems
in the region. B. RFP and Proposal Review Process The SCRC maintains a file of potential reviewers, currently more than 230 names, categorized in terms of areas of expertise and affiliation. In addition to this list the incoming letters of intent generally list three potential reviewers each. A substantial subset of reviewers from this list is pre-screened for availability and interest in participating in the current review process. Each potential reviewer is asked to review one or more proposals in his/her area of expertise. Modest honoraria, currently $100 per proposal, are offered. For the first year proposals we generally line up 5 or more reviewers
per proposal with the goal of receiving at least 3 reviews for each. Second
year renewal proposals undergo internal budgetary review. They are exempt,
from peer review since the funded projects have not started before the
proposal deadline. Occasionally the Director of the Center considers advance-funding
of 1st year projects for their first two years. Third year proposals are
sent out for review to two of the set of reviewers that originally reviewed
their first year project. The reviewers of 3rd year continuation projects
receive the 3rd year proposal/progress report as well as a copy of the
proposal that was submitted initially. These reviewers are asked to focus
their reviews on whether the PIs are making good progress toward their
stated goals. • At least three reviews are received from individuals not on the PI’s own list of potential reviewers. • The reviewer is completely free from conflict of interest. • The reviewer is an expert in a significant aspect of the proposed project. Every reviewer is sent a copy of the proposal a letter of instructions from the Center Director and a detailed evaluation form. All proposals are ranked according to the average numerical scale of Excellent (1), Very Good (2), Good (3), Fair (4), and Poor (5). We have revised the evaluation form and added language to the reviewers’ instructions in order to discourage the casual issuance of high ratings and to ensure that the proposal review is accompanied by adequate justification for the given ranking. The Center Director also reads the proposals independently, paying particular attention at the overall NIGEC program relevance, the priorities of the SCRC, the adequacy of the budget, the potential and synergism and leverage of funds with other projects and, if applicable, past performance of the research team. We independently rank proposals with respect to the potential benefit of our program through interactions with current projects. Ultimately, projects are recommended for funding only if: • They meet high technical standards. • They fit within the strategic vision of the center. • They satisfy the DoE program relevancy review. In exceptional cases, pilot-scale funding is provided to projects that address issues of great importance to the Center’s program, but fall slightly below the usual review-rating criteria. This is only done rarely, and only where there is clear evidence that all major technical issues raised in the review process can be adequately addressed. For the fiscal year 2004-05 we do not recommend any pilot-scale funding. C. Research Plan The following research plan is based on an anticipated FY2004 research allocation of $1,128,277 to each regional center of NIGEC. The projects recommended for funding are divided into the two main thrusts of the program as follows: 1. Carbon Exchange Processes and Net Ecosystem Exchange As part of the center’s strategic plan a decision was made in the 1990’s to focus most of our Ameriflux funding on research efforts at the Niwot Ridge tower site in Colorado. This 34-m tall tower is in a second growth (95 yrs) subalpine forest at an elevation of 3,030 m. The canopy is primarily Engelmann spruce, lodgepole pine, and subalpine fir with an average canopy height of about 12 m. There is a second tower operated by the University of Colorado, located 150 m downslope of the NIGEC tower. The collocation of the two towers is useful for investigations of drainage flows. The site is also part of a Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) site that has been collecting climate, biological, and hydrological data since 1953. A unique aspect of this site is that it receives intermittent pollution from the Denver corridor. At times the measured ozone concentrations at the tower exceed the peak values recorded in Denver. Likewise, depending upon the prevailing winds the site is exposed to air masses from a nearby county that has significant emissions from animal agriculture. It is likely that this site will play a key role in future efforts to evaluate the role of pollution in affecting the carbon and nitrogen balances in forested ecosystems. We propose to fund one projects directly associated with work at the Ameriflux site at the Niwot Ridge and four others related to NEE measurements as follows: 1. The project by Dr. Monson of the University of Colorado investigates fluxes at Niwot Ridge. This is a second-year project. In the past Dr. Monson has worked on CO2 exchange and its dependence on seasonal and inter-annual changes in climate and phenology. He is now focusing his efforts more on understanding how and when the forest “turns on” in the spring and “off” in the fall. Dr. Monson is also studying the influence of tropospheric ozone from nearby Denver corridor and the emission of organic compounds. His effort provides the fundamental flux measurements necessary for this site to participate in the Ameriflux network. 2. The previous project is linked with the project by Dr. Zhang, of the University of Colorado, which aims to provide better knowledge and understanding of the near-surface soil thermal regime and seasonal freeze/thaw cycle of soils. This information is obtained in two steps: First they will calibrate and validate remote sensing algorithms and numerical models using available in situ measurements. The validated frozen soil algorithm will then be used to detect surface soil freeze/thaw status over snow-free land area using passive microwave remote sensing data. The second step will apply these algorithms to investigate the climatology and variability of the soil temperature and seasonal freezing/thawing of soils and their relationships to changes in climatic and environmental conditions. The final product of this project will be a soil temperature and frozen soil data product for use within the NIGEC community and the greater climate change research community. This project links up nicely with our NEE work at Niwot because it will provide a useful data product regarding variations in seasonally frozen ground and snow cover. It must be pointed out that snow cover has been identified as the key factor that controls spring-time “turn-on” of the forest and the resulting data are highly relevant to other forest studies and Ameriflux sites. 3. The new project by Dr. Michaelides (PI) of Tulane University and Dr. Leclerc (co-PI) of the University of Georgia is related to the reduction of the uncertainty in measurements of NEE. Specifically, Drs. Michaelides and Leclerc will utilize field measurements and the newly developed subject of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) to simulate air motion in the environment and will obtain detailed velocity information inside and above vegetation canopies, as well as CO2 fluxes under actual climatic and weather conditions. The project will concentrate on the effect of drainage flows and the measurement errors associated with terrain inhomogeneities. Field measurements, using established methods as well as measurements close to the ground, will also be made in order to measure the characteristics of drainage flows and to validate the numerical codes. From the understanding of the air motion characteristics around the measurement point given by the simulations, Drs. Michaelides and Leclerc will develop a methodology to account for the contribution of night-time “drainage” flows to the measured total CO2 flux. Hence, they will develop algorithms to better interpret field data monitoring. 4. Related to the above is a new project by Dr. Leclerc, that will be co-funded with the SERC on the impact of complex environmental flows in carbon sequestration measurements. This project will enable Dr. Leclerc to do supplementary studies and conduct field measurements that will enable us to determine the effect of terrain inhomogeneities on the carbon sequestration measurements by using the eddy covariance method. The sites that will be used in this project are the Ameriflux site in Florida and the Wind River site in Washington, which is supported by the WESTGEC. 5. Dr. Heilman of the Texas A&M University has just started a three-year project, which is related to both thrusts of carbon exchange and ecological effects of environmental change. Dr. Heilman will be looking at an oak-juniper savanna and grassland in the Edwards Plateau (TX) and will quantify NEE and its components using a combination of tower-based eddy covariance measurements, leaf-level measurements, and soil measurements. The goal of this project is to develop functional relationships to determine how environmental factors affect NEE and to determine how contributions of dominant plant species to NEE change with climate and phenology. 2. Ecological effects of environmental change Our program on ecological effects of environmental change is currently focused on grassland/shrubland ecosystems with a particular emphasis on woody encroachment. Each of the projects in this area is relatively new to our program. Two of the investigators (Drs. Jackson and Briske) were funded in 2002 as part of our out-of-cycle RFP process in April-June 2002. We propose to fund the following five projects associated with this thrust of the Center: 1. Dr. Briske of the Texas A&M University explores the effects of altered precipitation distribution and climate warming in an oak savanna. He has constructed the facility that will allow him to test two specific climate scenarios (a) dry summer/wet spring and (b) dry summer/wet spring accompanied by warming of 2-3 oC. Variables of interest in his study include fine root growth, leaf production, photosynthesis, leaf conductance, transpiration, respiration, water potential, water use efficiency, and leaf C isotopes. 2. Dr. Jackson of Duke University has just started a project that relies on a natural precipitation gradient to explore questions similar to those of the above project. Specifically, he is conducting field sampling and analysis at sites in Texas, New Mexico, and Colorado. At each of six locations soil cores (3m deep, 6 cm diameter) and supporting measurements are taken in adjacent communities. The samples will be analyzed in the lab for fine roots, particulate organic matter, and C isotope ratios, which is performed in collaboration with Margaret Torn at LBNL. 3. The project by Dr. Reddy of Mississippi State University is a two year project that proposes to examine the response of two grass species native to the Southcentral region by changing climatic conditions, such as temperature, precipitation CO2 concentration and UV-B radiation. He will look at two C3 and C4 grass species that are native to the region and in a series of controlled experiments will determine the effects of the above variables on the growth of the species. His plan is to develop response functions for the two species and to incorporate these functions in ecological models that will better predict species distribution patterns. The study of these native species will also serve as a model-species for other grasses that are abundant in the Southcentral region. 4. The project by Dr. Dyer of Tulane University will examine the effects of climate change on tri-trophic interactions in agriculture and grasslands. He will examine the effects of climate change on plant chemistry, insect pests and their associated food webs in alphalpha fields and grasslands in three locations of the Southcentral region. He will use both laboratory and field data in order to examine the effect of increased CO2 and climate warming on pest outbreaks. His research adds a new variable to the effects of environmental change, that of agricultural pests, their growth under a changing environment and their effects on the grasslands and agriculture. 5. Dr. Pockman of the University of New Mexico is just starting his three-year project. Dr. Pockman’s project focuses on the woody encroachment in semiarid grasslands of New Mexico. He is constructing water-addition plots in existing rainout shelters installed at the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge and LTER site. His project will explore how rainfall manipulation treatments (drought, and above-average rainfall) impact ecosystem productivity and encroachment of woody shrubs. His team will also investigate whether the response is determined by immediate differences in grass and shrub structural/functional characteristics, or whether the response develops over time as ecosystem modifications accumulate. D. Next Year’s Performance Measures for the Center The performance measures for the SCRC are all developed to assess its
progress toward the successful implementation of its strategic plan and
simultaneous support of the overall NIGEC mission. There are several general
metrics for assessing program success and a number of metrics specific
to each of our research thrusts: E. Workshops, and/or seminars, symposia and/or other supporting activities Each year, the SCRC conducts its annual workshop to inform PIs of the region’s activities and to encourage collaboration and coordination among the PIs. This workshop often involves outside speakers on relevant topics and participation by the national NIGEC director and/or the DoE program manager. This year the workshop took place on April 4, at approximately the same time the RFP was distributed. In addition to the PI’s, invitations were sent to all major Universities in the region in order to inform scientists and to attract prospective PI’s. In the recent years the SCRC has also conducted various planning workshops for prospective PIs. These are typically presentation and discussion events designed to inform the research community of opportunities to contribute to the NIGEC program. They also serve as opportunities for prospective PIs to fine-tune their ideas, and perhaps to find collaborators for proposals. These workshops have always been held in New Orleans. In the upcoming year we propose to enhance our outreach and the visibility of the center by contacting investigators and department chairs at some of the region’s major universities that have been underrepresented in the SCRC program, and offer to meet personally with relevant investigators to provide them with the necessary insight to develop proposals that are in-line with the strategic vision of the center. Such trips can often piggy-back on other NIGEC-related travel, and may be accomplished with only a minimal impact on the center’s budget. In addition to the annual program of research, the SCRC sponsors or cosponsors several seminars each year. Typically we provide partial funding for 2 to 3 seminars in which climate change experts visit Tulane University’s campus for a seminar and related interactions with the faculty and students. V. LINKAGE/LEVERAGE Niwot Ridge – The team of researchers at NIWOT ridge have benefited from the synergy of having multiple related projects converge on one study site. At the same time they have also benefited from and contributed to other programs. For instance during the summer of 2001 this team worked with Brian Lamb’s group from U. Washington State University to conduct SF6 releases over several nights upslope from the towers. This work, funded by the DoE Terrestrial Carbon Processes program is vital to our understanding of nighttime fluxes and drainage flow issues at the Niwot Ridge site. Grasslands - Dr. Pockman’s rainfall variability study in New Mexico takes advantage of existing infrastructure and ongoing projects. Specifically, he will add a water-addition capability to recently constructed rainout shelters in the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge. This site is ideal for this study of woody encroachment in semiarid grassland and is also an LTER site funded by the NSF. The Jackson project complements several other grassland projects and makes use of established research sites and infrastructure across the three states of his study domain. The project by Drs. Michaelides and Leclerc will use numerical techniques
and computer codes that have been developed in the past six years through
grants from ONR, NSF and USGS. The project will couple very well with
the one of Dr. Monson and will utilize some of the field measurements
and the modeling of the processes. In addition, the measurements part
of the project will be conducted with equipment purchased from previous
and current DOE support to Dr. Leclerc. VI. RESPONSES TO LAST YEAR’S NTAC COMMENTS The National Technical Advisory Committee (NTAC) was generally complementary in their review last year. A specific suggestion was made that “…the new regional manipulation project participants consider connecting with the PrecipNet scientists.” In order to facilitate this connection, we invited Dr. Michael Loik of the University of California in Santa Cruz, who is the organizer of the PrecipNet to attend our annual workshop and to give a presentation. Dr. Loik gracefully accepted our invitation and gave a keynote presentation. This presentation resulted in several links between our PI’s and the PrecipNet. Regarding the comments on our support for projects related to Niwor Ridge, we have re-examined this issue. In general, we intend to support projects on this location only if they have a direct relevance on the mission of the center or significantly impact the work that is of importance to the center. In contrast to the recent past, when approximately 50% of our budget was used for support of work at Niwot Ridge, at present we support only one project (in its second year) directly related to this facility. In addition, the current director continues to address the previous comment of the NTAC (in 2001), which specifically suggested that the SCRC “begin placing more emphasis on ecosystems that are more representative of the region.” Two years after this comment was made, our portfolio contains a majority of projects in ecosystems that are typical of the Southcentral region. It must be emphasized that, the portfolio of the 2004-05 projects includes either support of an institution or fieldwork that will be done in each one of the states of the region. |