NEON Ecological Forecasting Challenge Documentation

Author

Ecological Forecasting Initative Research Coordination Network

Published

February 28, 2024

Introduction

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The National Science Foundation funded Ecological Forecasting Initiative Research Coordination Network (EFI-RCN) is hosting a NEON Ecological Forecast Challenge with the goal to create a community of practice that builds capacity for ecological forecasting by leveraging NEON data products. The Challenge revolves around the five theme areas listed below that span aquatic and terrestrial systems, and population, community, and ecosystem processes across a broad range of ecoregions that uses data collected by NEON.

As a community, we are excited to learn more about the predictability of ecological processes by forecasting NEON data prior to its release. What modeling frameworks, mechanistic processes, and statistical approaches best capture community, population, and ecosystem dynamics? These questions are answerable by a community generating a diverse array of forecasts. The Challenge is open to any individual or team that wants to submit forecasts and includes categories for different career stages.

The design of the Challenge is the result of contributions of over 200 participants in the May 2020 virtual EFI-RCN meeting, including partner organizations, and the hard work from the Design Teams that have developed the protocols for each of the themes.