GCOS Table 13: National climate monitoring systems for ecological observations

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Systems useful for national climate monitoring	Total # stations		Time Series #stations/platforms (#Data Digitised) >30y >50y >100y >300y			Are QC Procedures Adequate? Fully Partly No		Metadata available? Total # Stations (%Digitised)	Continuity? # expected operational in 2009
Phenological	see note “Phenological”
Biomass Change	see note “Vegetation”
Vegetation Type	1200 see note “Vegetation”	X		1200 (1200)			X	200 (100)	1200
Land Cover	1200 see note “Vegetation”	X		1200 (1200)			X	1200 (100)	1200
Fire Distribution
Land Use Change	see note “Forest”
PaleoClimate	60	X			60	X		60 (50)	60 records
Forest Catchment	see note “Forest”	X	1 (1)			X		1 (100)	1

Note Phenological: Range of phenological series: native plant flowerings; shellfish numbers and depths; penguin numbers. Not yet in systematic data base.

Forest: Purukohukohu Catchment experiment in Puruki catchment from 1968 with soil type and chemistry, biomass productivity, hydrology and rainfall for 3 land use types: (1) native forest, (2) managed pasture, (3) managed pine forest. Measurements through full forest rotation and now in second cycle. Reference: Beets, P.N. and Brownlie, R.K., "Puruki experimental catchment; site, climate, forest management and research", NZ Journal of Forest Science, 17, 137-160, 1987.

Vegetation: The National Vegetation Survey Databank (NVS - 'Nivs') is a physical archive and computer databank containing records from approximately 45,000 vegetation survey plots--including data from over 12,000 permanent plots. NVS provides a unique record, spanning more than 50 years, of indigenous and exotic plants in New Zealand's terrestrial ecosystems, from Northland to Stewart Island and the Kermadec and Chatham islands. A broad range of habitats are covered, with special emphasis on indigenous forests and grasslands ThePermanent Plot Data in the archive are from where fixed area plots or transects have been established, and the vegetation has been measured precisely (e.g. tagged trees, sapling and seedling counts, species lists). Assessments of these 12,000 permanent plots in NVS provide the ideal base for monitoring vegetation changes as well as the effects of management. Nearly all follow standard methods, e.g. in forests all trees within a fixed area (usually 400 m2) are permanently tagged to allow repeat measurements.

Most forest plots contain permanently marked seedling subplots to determine changes in seedling and herbaceous composition with time.

Most are along objectively located transects.

More than 80% have NZMS grid references (for forest plots, >95%).

Reference: www.landcare.cri.nz/science/nvs/

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