SRS assists study of climate change

NEW ELLENTON, S.C.---Savannah River Site and other national environmental research parks hope to combine their resources to gain better insight into issues such as climate change.

"The value is the long-term research and data collection," said Savannah River Ecology Lab scientist Stacey Lance, who helped lead a roundtable discussion on climate change research Thursday during a two-day workshop involving all seven environmental research parks in the U.S.

The parks -- located at major U.S. Energy Department nuclear sites -- are outdoor laboratories where environmental studies are conducted within protected borders. SRS was the first such park, designated in 1972.

The network of research parks in locations such as New Mexico, Washington, Tennessee and Nevada offers opportunities for scientists to combine their data to create a more reliable picture of the impacts of climate change across widely varied geographic regions.

At SRS, for example, studies have been under way for decades on the nesting habits of wood ducks, whose nesting cycle now begins a full month earlier than it did in the 1970s.

"If you looked at any five years for this species you wouldn't see this," Dr. Lane said. "But if you look at data from 1973 to 1995, you can see the shift."

One of the challenges, however, will be to create a network of combined data that is consistent throughout all the national research parks.

Many parks already have aggressive climate change research under way. Oak Ridge, for example, has about 30 scientists involved in such work. The Nevada park also has many programs, including studies of insects, plant root growth and insect populations.

"We'd be seeking basic collections across the various parks that could be combined into broader data sets," Dr. Lane said. "So if we know we have it for Oak Ridge and for SRS, do we have it for everywhere else?"

The workshop, which concludes today, was held at the University of Georgia conference center in New Ellenton.

Reach Rob Pavey at (706) 868-1222, ext. 119, or rob.pavey@augustachronicle.com.