Wireless sensor networks offer many opportunities to improve ecological investigations. In particular, the ability to gather real-time data from ecosystems at a variety of spatial and temporal scales can transform ecological investigations. Ecologists use modeling and simulation extensively in investigations to support resource management. A critical aspect of these investigations is the ability to extrapolate localized data to larger temporal and spatial scales. By spatially distributing a large collection of sensor nodes in the system, it is now possible to gather real-time data to augment and validate the extrapolation. The spatial and temporal heterogeneity offered by individual sensor nodes makes it feasible to investigate multiple processes and phenomena without creating aggregate models that may be cumbersome to verify or analyze. We present an introduction to sensor networks and discuss the communication protocols that are useful to integrate real-time data from ecological systems to improve modeling and simulation studies. Reliable gathering and transport of real-time data to one or more computing nodes is necessary to facilitate the integration of real-time data with ecological investigations.
