Environmental Data Initiative logo
EDI Staging Environment

This data package was submitted to a staging environment for testing purposes only. Use of these data for anything other than testing is strongly discouraged.

This data package is not the most recent revision of a series.  (View Newest Revision)

Data Package Summary    View Full Metadata

  • Macrosystems EDDIE Module 5: Introduction to Ecological Forecasting (Instructor Materials)
  • Moore, Tadhg J.; Virginia Tech
    Carey, Cayelan C.; Virginia Tech
    Thomas, R. Quinn; Virginia Tech
  • 2022-03-16
  • Moore, T.J., C.C. Carey, and R.Q. Thomas. 2022. Macrosystems EDDIE Module 5: Introduction to Ecological Forecasting (Instructor Materials) ver 1. Environmental Data Initiative. https://doi.org/DOI_PLACE_HOLDER (Accessed 2024-12-28).

  • Ecological forecasting is a tool that can be used for understanding and predicting changes in populations, communities, and ecosystems. Ecological forecasting is an emerging approach which provides an estimate of the future state of an ecological system with uncertainty, allowing society to prepare for changes in important ecosystem services. Ecological forecasters develop and update forecasts using the iterative forecasting cycle, in which they make a hypothesis of how an ecological system works; embed their hypothesis in a model; and use the model to make a forecast of future conditions. When observations become available, they can assess the accuracy of their forecast, which indicates if their hypothesis is supported or needs to be updated before the next forecast is generated.

    In this module, students will apply the iterative forecasting cycle to develop an ecological forecast for a National Ecological Observation Network (NEON) site. Students will use NEON data to build an ecological model that predicts primary productivity. Using their calibrated model, they will learn about the different components of a forecast with uncertainty and compare productivity forecasts among NEON sites.

    The overarching goal of this module is for students to learn fundamental concepts about ecological forecasting and build a forecast for a NEON site. Students will work with an R Shiny interface to visualize data, build a model, generate a forecast with uncertainty, and then compare the forecast with observations. The A-B-C structure of this module makes it flexible and adaptable to a range of student levels and course structures.

    This EDI data package contains instructional materials and the files necessary to teach the module. Readers are referred to the Zenodo data package (Moore et al. 2022; DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.6363500) for the R Shiny application code needed to run the module locally.

  • This information is released under the Creative Commons license - Attribution - CC BY (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The consumer of these data ("Data User" herein) is required to cite it appropriately in any publication that results from its use. The Data User should realize that these data may be actively used by others for ongoing research and that coordination may be necessary to prevent duplicate publication. The Data User is urged to contact the authors of these data if any questions about methodology or results occur. Where appropriate, the Data User is encouraged to consider collaboration or co-authorship with the authors. The Data User should realize that misinterpretation of data may occur if used out of context of the original study. While substantial efforts are made to ensure the accuracy of data and associated documentation, complete accuracy of data sets cannot be guaranteed. All data are made available "as is." The Data User should be aware, however, that data are updated periodically and it is the responsibility of the Data User to check for new versions of the data. The data authors and the repository where these data were obtained shall not be liable for damages resulting from any use or misinterpretation of the data. Thank you.
  • DOI PLACE HOLDER

Copyright 2024 Environmental Data Initiative. This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under grants #2223103 and #2223104. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in the material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation. Please contact us with questions, comments, or for technical assistance regarding this web site or the Environmental Data Initiative. Please read our privacy policy to know what information we collect about you and to understand your privacy rights.

EDI is a collaboration between the University of New Mexico and the University of Wisconsin – Madison, Center for Limnology:

UNM logo UW-M logo