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The Sevilleta Long-term Ecological Research (LTER) Program, established in 1988, conducts research on ecological processes and responses to climate dynamics in a biome transition zone in central New Mexico. The major research site is the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge, operated by the US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS). The multi-disciplinary research group comprises 34 scientists… Read more »

The Sevilleta LTER (SEV) research site is located on the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge in central New Mexico, where a junction of four biomes (Great Plains Grassland, Great Basin Shrub-steppe, Chihuahuan Desert and Montane Coniferous Forest) provides a rich assortment of Biome Transition Zones (BTZs). Interacting with a highly variable climate, elevational range, complex topography,… Read more »

Sevilleta LTER (SEV) proposes to continue and expand long-term research in arid land ecology in and around the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge. Although it is axiomatic that water is the key limiting resource in aridland ecosystems, most arid land soils are also chronically low in nutrients and organic matter. Nutrient availability is a function of… Read more »

This award continues funding the long-term research program in aridland ecology. The research is to understand how the physical environment and climate variability together affect common species, community dynamics and ecosystem processes in the northern Chihuahuan Desert. The Sevilleta LTER Program addresses ecological concepts and theory emphasizing pulse driven processes in space and time through… Read more »

Arid-land ecosystems cover more than 40% of continental land area of the Earth. They support local economies comprised of ranchers, farmers, and pastoralists around the world. Transitions from grass- to shrub-dominated communities are increasing in frequency, threatening human well-being and these economies in both developed and developing countries. This long-term project explores the diverse mechanisms… Read more »

Arid areas, which already comprise more than 40% of land on earth, are expanding in many places. Yearly differences in climate greatly affect the ecology and evolution of plants and animals in these drylands. The Sevilleta Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) site in New Mexico includes five major dryland habitats or ecosystems. This research will expand… Read more »

The Sevilleta Long Term Ecological Research program (SEV LTER) studies the ecology of environmental variability, from individual organisms to ecosystems. Predicting the consequences of environmental change is one of the greatest challenges at the interface of science and society. Climate change and resource use alter long-term trends in the environment, with results such as hotter… Read more »

The semiarid Great Plains of North America is an extensive area, and has particular importance for natural resource production. The Central Plains Experimental Range (CPER) has an excellent location in the central Great Plains to represent the important long-term ecological issues of consequence for much of the region. The organizing concept for this long-term study… Read more »

9632852 Burke The shortgrass steppe (SGS) occupies the middle of the productivity gradient along which the LTER grassland sites lie. It is unique among North American grasslands for its long evolutionary history of intense selection by both drought and herbivory, leading to an ecosystem that is very well adapted to withstand grazing by domestic livestock…. Read more »

Abstract (SGS LTER Renewal Proposal) The shortgrass steppe (SGS) LTER has been in operation since 1982. Three questions guide its work: (1) What factors regulate ecological structure and function over space and time? (2) How do factors that regulate structure and function and coupling of biotic and abiotic components vary spatially and temporally? (3) What… Read more »