Discovering the Nature of Ecosystem Change. Even as sea-level rise, drought, and fire increase pressures on some ecological systems, others are benefitting from protection and restoration efforts. But some changes are not reversible. Long-term research employs observations of past changes, together with long-running experiments and modeling to understand the processes responsible for sustaining ecological functions. Drawing on concrete examples and new ecological theory, five researchers from across the Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) Network describe science that can help discern which changes may allow for recovery and which are more likely to irreversibly transform ecological systems. Speakers: Groffman, Bestelmeyer, Mack, McGlathery, Driscoll, Kucharik, Davis
Document Post Date
Poster: How does shrinking sea-ice affect ecosystems along the Western Antarctic Peninsula?

How does shrinking sea-ice affect ecosystems along the Western Antarctic Peninsula?

Scott Doney (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution), Hugh Ducklow Columbia University

& Palmer Station Antarctica LTER Team (http://pal.lter.edu)

Presnted at the 2017 NSF-LTER symposium, March 21, 2107

March 30, 2017
Poster: Coastal Wetlands, Responses to Salinity

Coastal wetlands respond differently to increasing salinity. Why?

March 30, 2017
Poster: Kelp Forests as Sentinels of Ecosystem Change

Kelp forests as sentinels of ecosystem change? 2014-2015 heatwaves offer a test.

Dan Reed, Libe Washburn, Andrew Rassweiler, Robert Miller, Tom Bell and Shannon Harrer

Santa Barbara Coastal LTER, Marine Science Institute, University of California Santa Barbara

Poster presented at NSF-LTER Symposium, March 21, 2017

March 30, 2017
Poster: Streams on Speed

Occurrence and Potential Biological Effects of Amphetamine on Stream Communities

Sylvia Lee, Alexis Borbon, Daniel Snow, Emma Rosi , John Kelly, and Erinn Richmond

Poster presented at NSF-LTER Symposium, March 21, 2017

March 30, 2017
Poster: Environmental Changes Influencing Human Travel and Access in Boreal Alaska

Documenting, Describing, and Mapping Environmental Changes Influencing Human Travel and Access in Boreal Alaska

Todd J. Brinkman, Helen Cold, Teresa Hollingsworth, Caroline Brown, Dana Brown, Dave Verbyla, Terry Chapin

Poster presented at the NSF-LTER symposium, March 21, 2017

March 30, 2017
Poster: LTER Network Poster

LTER Network poster presented at the NSF symposium, March 21, 2017

March 30, 2017
Presentation: Plausible Freshwater Futures (Kucharik)

Scenarios can help communities think about alternative futures, but using them to drive decisions requires dat

March 29, 2017
Presentation: Legacy of Acid Rain-A Tale of Two Species (Driscoll)

Air pollution control efforts have succeeded in reducing sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions, but decades of acid rain have leached calcium and magnesium from Northeastern forest soils. These changes have increased the mobility of dissolved organic matter, and possibly altered soil organic matter dynamics, altering the long-term trajectory for forest ecosystems. What does the acid rain story say about when, where, and how recovery is possible?

March 29, 2017
Presentation: Fire and ice: Carbon cycling feedbacks to climate (Mack)

About 30% of global carbon stocks reside in the vegetation and deep, carbon-rich soils of Arctic tundra and boreal forest biomes. Wildfires—which are becoming more frequent with warmer and drier weather in the Arctic—have the potential to either stabilize or accelerate regional and global warming through carbon feedbacks.

March 29, 2017
Presentation: Beyond Desertification (Bestelmeyer)

One of the classic state-change stories is that over-grazing and drought turn grasslands into shrubby, degraded landscapes. Land managers strive to avoid such irreversible changes, using strategies based on models of how ecosystems change. But misapplication of models can lead to poor management outcomes. Researchers at the Jornada Basin LTER site and its host the USDA Jornada Experimental Range have developed a new model of desert grassland ecosystem dynamics that is grounded in long-term data and experiments indicating possible trajectories.

March 29, 2017
Presentation: The Nature of Ecological Change (Groffman)

Introduction to the 2017 LTER Symposium at NSF, but Executive Board Chair Peter Groffman.

March 29, 2017
Presentation: Climate Resilient Coasts (McGlathery)

Coastal habitats are the first line of defense against sea-level rise and storms. At the same time, they are vulnerable to change, and can be pushed past tipping points and lost. A long-term, landscape-scale experiment with seagrass at Virginia Coast Reserve LTER is the first of its kind to show the role of restoration in reinstating ecosystem services, particularly ‘blue carbon’ sequestration.

March 29, 2017