Biogeography of Soil Microorganisms in the Southern Sierra Critical Zone Observatory: A Use Case Scenario for Big CZ Portal.

Everything is not everywhere, but the environment does select. In order to understand how soil microbial communities are assembled and change over time, soil was collected from three locations along an elevation transect in the Southern Sierra Critical Zone Observatory. Soil was analyzed for 16S meta-genetic biodiversity. Ancillary measurements showed decreasing temperatures and increasing moisture content at greater elevation. The soil microbial community also differed along the elevational gradient. This study was used as a use-case scenario for a new biological and geoscience data portal under development.

Integration of bio- and geoscience (BiG) data collection is critical for understanding physical, biological and chemical interactions in the Earth's permeable near-surface layer from bedrock to canopy, referred to as the Critical Zone (CZ). Genomic and meta-genomic scientists study organisms both in laboratory settings and in the environment, to understand their interactions with the environment, while geoscientists are using environmental data to describe and model dynamics of physical and chemical properties. Yet, there is no agreed upon method for integrating genomic and environmental data to address interactions of living and non-living components of the CZ.

The "BiG CZ" data project (http://criticalzonedata.org/) is an effort to bridge the gap between geoscientists and genomic scientists by developing cyber-infrastructure to bridge this gap. The project is being developed within the general framework of EarthCube, a new NSF-supported initiative to develop cyber-infrastructure for the geosciences. The BiG CZ Portal is a web portal being created for seamless 4D visual exploration of data and model outputs from all bio- and geoscience disciplines. The SSCZO soil microbial biogeography data was used as a use-case scenario for the BiG CZ Portal. We use this scenario to present the BiG CZ Portal initial design and functionality.