The ECO-SCALE project: Integrated High Resolution Monitoring for Mediterranean maquis ecosystems

In the Mediterranean environment, reduced water availability, high temperatures, and scarcity of nutrients represent the major limitations to plant growth. In addition to the natural structural and functional complexity of the Mediterranean vegetation, changes induced by climate change (increased temperature, reduced water availability) and due to environmental conditions (increased nitrogen deposition) represent additional constrains. However, many physiological and phenological adaptations and specific structural features of the Mediterranean vegetation ensure its survival. The study of the characteristics of vegetation in a complex and highly vulnerable environment requires the use of continuous monitoring systems at high spatial and temporal resolution, which leads to a better interpretation of the mechanisms of regulation of ecosystem processes. Moreover, to overcome the limitation of field observations by individuals, which imply lack of consistency, continuity and objectivity, and to scale between ground-based sampling and regional-scale satellite sampling, different approaches for vegetation monitoring based on “near-surface” remote sensing have been proposed in recent researches. In the last decades , the design and implementation of global monitoring networks involved the use of non-destructive and/or economically less expensive approaches for the implementation of continuous monitoring systems such as (i) continuous surface fluxes measurement stations, (ii) phenological observation networks, and (iii) measurement of temporal and spatial variations of the vegetation spectral properties. The ECO-SCALE (Integrated High Resolution Monitoring of Mediterranean vegetation) project is aimed to the development and validation of new technologies and methodologies for the identification of structural and functional responses of natural vegetation in a Mediterranean area to environmental and climatic changes. In particular, the project aims to: (i) develop an integrated system for environmental monitoring based on digital photography, hyperspectral radiometry , and micrometeorological techniques , (ii) implement a methodology based on digital images for the automated phenological vegetation monitoring, (iii) develop a phenological model based on hyperspectral reflectance data, (iv) monitor surface fluxes, and (v) the analyse in an integrated fashion data obtained from different methods and techniques to improve our knowledge of the mechanisms underlying the development processes of Mediterranean species. In conclusion , the operational objectives and expected results of ECO- SCALE will provide continuous and high-resolution information on Mediterranean maquis ecosystem which will be a valuable support for both ecological and environmental studies and for management applications. Specific fields of application will concern the interpretation of phenological plants responses to environmental and climate changes , the validation of data derived from satellite images, the interpretation of data of gross primary productivity obtained from Eddy Covariance, the validation of ecophysiological models and, finally, the planning of adaptation strategies to climate change. ECO-SCALE - Integrated High Resolution Monitoring of the Mediterranean vegetation is supported by the Regional Administration of Sardinia, RAS, L.R. 7/2007 “Scientific Research and Technological Innovation in Sardinia ”.