Eddy-covariance flux towers measure carbon dioxide, water vapor, and energy exchanges between ecosystems and the atmosphere, allowing us to observe the breathing of soils and plants interacting with climate, a constant giving and receiving that sustains life on Earth. Maoya Bassiouni transformed data from >500 global FLUXNET ecosystems into visualizations that represents the unique pattern of productivity, water, and meteorological seasonal cycles at eddy-covariance research tower sites, from dryland tropical forests in Australia, alpine grasslands in Switzerland, croplands in the Midwest USA, wetlands in Greenland and many more.
Data visualizations represent daily time series of along co-centric circles. Ecosystem and meteorological variables from the outer to inner circle are net ecosystem exchange, gross primary productivity, ecosystem respiration, evapotranspiration, sensible heat flux, shortwave radiation, air temperature, relative humidity, wind speed, and atmospheric CO2 concentration. Peaks indicate the growing season and dips the dormant season, repeating for each year of record and showing year-to-year variability in ecosystem functioning and climate.
The ecosystem mandala symbolize the unity in the Earth system as a gateway to awaken our true nature. It invites us to look at the full spectrum of experience and welcome it with the curiosity of a scientist and the open heart of compassion. These data visualizations illustrate how complex interactions create emergent patterns that have unity. Try connecting with the wholeness of the ecosystem encoded in these mandalas. Can you feel all the tiny interactions that lead to its emergence and how much precision and exchange goes into that creative process? Rosa Lewis guides us to use the ecosystem mandala as a meditative tool.