The arboreal ecosystem is vitally important to global and local biogeochemical processes, the maintenance of biodiversity in natural systems, and human health in urban environments. The ability to collect samples, observations, and data to conduct meaningful scientific research is similarly vital. The primary methods and modes of access remain limited and difficult. In an online survey, canopy researchers (n=219) reported a range of challenges in obtaining adequate samples, including ~10% who found it impossible to procure what they needed. Currently, these samples are collected using a combination of four primary methods: 1) sampling from the ground; 2) tree climbing; 3) constructing fixed infrastructure; and 4) using mobile aerial platforms, primarily rotorcraft drones. An important distinction between instantaneous and continuous sampling was identified, allowing more targeted engineering and development strategies. The combination of methods for sampling the arboreal ecosystem provides a range of possibilities and opportunities, particularly in the context of the rapid development of robotics and other engineering advances. In this study, we aim to identify the strategies that would provide the benefits to a broad range of scientists, arborists, and professional climbers and facilitate basic discovery and applied management. Priorities for advancing these efforts are 1) to expand participation, both geographically and professionally; 2) to define 2-3 common needs across the community; 3) to form and motivate focal teams of biologists, tree professionals, and engineers in the development of solutions to these needs; and 4) to establish multidisciplinary communication platforms to share information about innovations and opportunities for studying arboreal ecosystems.

Extending Our Scientific Reach in Arboreal Ecosystems for Research and Management

Interactive effects of anthropogenic environmental drivers on endocrine responses in wildlife

https://academic.oup.com/icb/advance-article-pdf/doi/10.1093/icb/icab194/41143118/icab194.pdf

Integrating the Life Sciences to Jumpstart the Next Decade of Discovery.

The city and its urban biome provides an extreme laboratory for studying fundamental biological questions and developing best practices for sustaining biodiverse and well-functioning ecological communities within anthropogenic built environments. We propose by studying urban organisms, urban biotic communities, the urban biome, and the interactions between the urban biome and peri-urban built and natural environments, we can (1) discover new "rules of life" for the structure, function, interaction, and evolution of organisms; (2) use these discoveries to understand how novel emerging biotic communities affect and are affected by anthropogenic environmental changes in climate and other environmental factors; and (3) apply what we have learned to engage residents of the urban biome, and design cities that are more biologically diverse, are provided with more and better ecosystem services, and are more equitable and healthier places to live. The built environment of the urban biome is a place that reflects history, economics, technology, governance, culture, and values of the human residents; research on and applications of the rules of life in the urban biome can be used by all residents in making choices about the design of the cities where they live. Because inhabitants are directly invested in the environmental quality of their neighborhoods, research conducted in and about the urban environment provides a great opportunity to engage wide and diverse communities of people. Given the opportunity to engage a broad constituency-from basic researchers to teachers, civil engineers, landscape planners, and concerned citizens-studying the translation of the rules of life onto the urban environment will result in an integrative and cross-cutting set of questions and hypotheses, and will foster a dialog among citizens about the focus of urban biome research and its application toward making more equitable, healthy, livable, sustainable, and biodiverse cities.

Eric L Morgan

Papers

Discovering and Applying the Urban Rules of Life to Design Sustainable and Healthy Cities