Monitors will check for air pollution, measure soil temperature and even study DNA to see if there are changes in bacteria. NEON will be able to make forecasts about ecological changes, which decision-makers can rely upon.

The country has been divided into 20 domains where climate, rainfall, soil moisture and other conditions are consistent, MacMahon said.

"There will be a suite of towers in each of these areas that will be measuring things both above and below ground." For example, the towers will receive transmissions from monitors small enough to attach to a deer mouse. Meanwhile, instruments in the tower will check conditions at the top of a forest canopy.

Tracks of wires throughout the forest will lower small instruments to make measurements from the top to the ground. They will record information like the dryness of the air, pollution concentrations and many other items. "And we would be monitoring organisms," he said.

Birds and ground-dwelling beetles will be checked, according to MacMahon. "There are so many species and they're so sensitive to change in the environment," he said.

DNA in the soil will help tell about changes in the microbial communities. Tiny monitors on locusts could provide valuable information about their movements.

Meanwhile, scientists can drive vehicles equipped with instruments to other sites and make measurements. For example, a fleet of trucks may check on changes because of a forest fire or an invasion a plant species.

NEON is nearing the end of the design stage. After one more review, plans will be drawn up for the project's execution. That involves figuring such variables as how much wire is needed for the towers, how large the towers' pads should be and a plethora of other details.

"Perhaps as early as next March we'll have the specifications" about these items, MacMahon said.

"This is the biggest undertaking of its like, in the biological sciences," he said, "that NFS has ever attempted."

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E-mail: bau@desnews.com