Understanding Environmental Complexity through a Distributed Knowledge Network

Abstract

Understanding environmental complexity and other dimensions of ecological systems necessitates a holistic approach that can be achieved only by identifying, retrieving, and synthesizing diverse data from distributed sources; by collaborating with other scientists from a broad range of disciplines; and by investigating many different systems. Knowledge Network for Biocomplexity (KNB) is developing new software tools to advance ecological understanding through discovery, access, retrieval, and management of distributed and heterogeneous ecological and environmental data. To address the need for cultural change in ecologists and other environmental scientists and to promote collaborative and synthetic approaches, KNB and the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis are training a cadre of young investigators in techniques for the management and analysis of ecological data, with emphasis on multiscale integration and synthesis.