LTER Keystone Investigations

Keystone Investigations

LTER’s long-term observations are the starting point for a deep and rich set of investigations aimed at understanding the mechanisms of ecological functioning. Observations inspire experiments, which inform models, which often reveal gaps in understanding and the need for new types of observations. Inside LTER, we understand this cycle implicitly, but we have not done as well as we could in communicating it to others. It can be challenging to discern which are the key investigations at each site, how they build over time, and how they relate to each other across sites.

To remedy this issue, the LTER Network Office is assembling a set of keystone investigations that best represent the mechanistic research that is LTER’s greatest strength. Ideally, each site will contribute about 5 examples of your most important work. Newer sites may have fewer; longer-running sites may have more. They do not need to be manipulative experiments, but they should be substantial studies.

Planned presentation: Each Keystone Investigation would be presented on its own “card” with an image, name, and brief description plus indicators for core area, nature of study, and study system. Those cards would link to a post with additional information such as key papers, datasets, and related models. All of the keystone investigations could be searched by core area, study system, and category of investigation.

Submitter Name(Required)

First Last

Submitter Email(Required)

General Information

Study Name(Required)

Unique Identifier

If the study has a unique identifier (either within an in-house system or via a doi), please add it here.

Brief Description(Required)

Less than 150 characters (~25 words) highlighting the study’s main purpose. Appears on descriptive card.

Inside description(Required)

Describe the investigation, what question it was intended to address, and how the questions may have evolved over time.

Link

If the experiment, study, or investigation has a description on the LTER site’s website, please include it here.

Start Year

Year the investigation was started

Please enter a number from 1800 to 2050.

End Year

If investigation is ongoing, leave blank. If it has ended, enter end year.

Please enter a number from 1800 to 2200.

Search Criteria

Below, you will find several defined lists of study search criteria. To be most useful, search criteria should return a limited number of similar studies. The pre-defined categories are intended to achieve that, but it is possible that important criteria were overlooked. Therefore, each category allows the user to specify an “other” category. Please use the option sparingly, but do not hesitate to use it where no relevant option appears.

Site(s)(Required)

Which site or sites conduct the study? Hold down ctrl or cmd key to select more than 1 site.

Other (Site)

If the study involves a non-LTER site, please add it here.

Study System(s)(Required)

What type of ecosystem(s) are included in the study? Hold down ctrl or cmd key to select more than 1 system.

Other (System)

If a key system is not listed here, please let us know what it is.

Core Area(s)(Required)

Which core area(s) are most relevant to this study? A search interface will use the core area field to identify related studies. An “other” option is provided in case the study truly does not fit in any LTER core area.

Primary production

Populations and Communities

Nutrient Cycling

Organic Matter Cycling

Disturbance

Human-Environment Interaction

Other

Other (Core Area)

If the study does not fit under any LTER core area, what category (1-3 words) would describe a scope for it?

Broad Nature of Study(Required)

What is the broad nature of the study?
– Manipulative experiments involve direct human control of a factor believed to be important in ecosystem functioning.
– Natural experiments may take advantage of pre-existing gradients, chronosequences, or pre-post disturbance measures.
-Observational studies assess variation in relation to potential drivers over time or space.
– While many studies are useful for modeling, please choose this category if a study is primarily modeling-driven.

Manipulative Experiment

Natural Experiment

Observational Study

Modeling Study

Other

Other (Nature of Study)

Specific Type of Study

Select type of manipulation (for experiments) or type of study, if applicable. For factorial experiments, include all that apply. Choose “other” to add an additional type of manipulation if needed.