The Landscape Data Commons: A system for standardizing, accessing, and applying large environmental datasets for agroecosystem research and management

Authors: McCord, Sarah; WEBB, NICHOLAS - New Mexico State University; Bestelmeyer, Brandon; Bonefont, Kristopher; BREHM, JOSEPH - New Mexico State University; BROWN, JOEL - Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS, USDA); Courtright, Ericha; DIETRICH, CHRIS - Bureau Of Land Management; DUNIWAY, MICHAEL - Us Geological Survey; EDWARDS, BRANDON - New Mexico State University; Fraser, Christopher; Herrick, Jeffrey - Jeff; KNIGHT, ANNA - Us Geological Survey; METZ, LORETTA - Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS, USDA); Van Zee, Justin; TWEEDIE, CRAIG - University Of Texas - El Paso

Submitted to: Agricultural and Environmental Letters
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 11/6/2023
Publication Date: 12/10/2023
Citation: McCord, S.E., Webb, N.P., Bestelmeyer, B.T., Bonefont Flores, K., Brehm, J.R., Brown, J., Courtright, E.M., Dietrich, C., Duniway, M., Edwards, B., Fraser, C.M., Herrick, J.E., Knight, A.C., Metz, L., Van Zee, J.W., Tweedie, C. 2023. The Landscape Data Commons: A system for standardizing, accessing, and applying large environmental datasets for agroecosystem research and management. Agricultural and Environmental Letters. 8(2). Article e20120. https://doi.org/10.1002/ael2.20120.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/ael2.20120

Interpretive Summary: Understanding where, when, and why ecosystems are changing requires quality information about ecosystems that spans jurisdictions, ecological processes, and spatial scales. Over the past two decades, land management agencies and research groups have adopted a suite of standardized methods for monitoring rangelands, which have been implemented at over 85,000 monitoring locations globally. However, the ability to use these data to understand ecosystem dynamics and change across scales and across land ownership has been limited to date because, until now, these data have not been available in a harmonized, accessible format that enables incorporation into analyses, modelling, and decision support tools. We present the Landscape Data Commons, a cyberinfrastructure platform that harmonizes and aggregates standardized ecosystem data, enables linkages to models, and facilitates analysis and interpretation of data within decision-support tools. The Landscape Data Commons provides a community platform for researchers and land managers to contribute data to facilitate improving models that will further our understanding of ecological processes, responses to local-to-global change drivers, and inform meaningful adaptive management strategies.

Technical Abstract: Understanding where, when, and why agroecosystems are changing requires quality information about ecosystems that span land tenure, ecological processes, and spatial scales. Over the past two decades, land management agencies and research groups have adopted a suite of standardized methods for monitoring rangelands, which have been implemented at over 85,000 monitoring locations globally. However, the ability to use these data to understand agroecosystem dynamics and change across scales and across land ownership has been limited because, until now, these data have not been available in a harmonized, accessible format for analyses, modeling, and decision-support tools. We present the Landscape Data Commons, a cyberinfrastructure platform that harmonizes and aggregates standardized agroecosystem data, enables linkages to models, and facilitates analysis and interpretation of data within decision-support tools. The Landscape Data Commons provides a community platform for users to contribute data and develop next-generation tools to support agroecosystem management through the 21st century.