Disturbance Patterns Archives - Page 9 of 9 - LTER

Long-term research reveals causes and consequences of environmental change

Posted May 9, 2012

WASHINGTON, D.C., APRIL 6, 2012—As global temperatures rise, the most threatened ecosystems are those that depend on a season of snow and ice, scientists from the nation’s Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) Network say.”The vulnerability of cool, wet areas to climate change is striking,” says Julia Jones, a lead author in a special issue of the journal BioScience released today featuring results from more than 30 years of LTER, a program of the National Science Foundation (NSF).

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A controlled burn in Cedar Creek oakland

shallow gravelly streambed with helicopter and tussocky hills in the background

Smoke from a forest fire in an Alaskan boreal forest near Bonanza Creek LTER

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Plastic covering excludes rain from plots of desert shrubs.

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Researchers use rainout shelters at the Matta International LTER site in Israel to simulate extended droughts and observe changes in ecosystem productivity and species composition. The Matta site is part of a distributed network of over 100 sites across the globe inspired by long term experiments of the U.S. LTER Network. Similar structures without plastic panels serve as controls. Image courtesy of International Drought Experiment

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E Zambello/LTER Network Office CC BY 4.0" data-envira-item-id="82145" data-envira-retina="https://lternet.edu/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Everglades-National-Park-scaled-e1574660761311.jpg" data-thumb="https://lternet.edu/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Everglades-National-Park-scaled-e1574660761311-75x50_c.jpg" data-title="Everglades National Park" data-envirabox='site_images_45184' itemprop="contentUrl">

Florida Coastal Everglades LTER site, part of Everglades National park

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Fast Forward Future, by David Buckley Borden. 2017.

Lake Bonney Camp, Antarctica. Steve Chignell, 2016.

Erin Wiersma imprinting charred biomass.

Members of the Art & Ecology program at VCR LTER.

Jellyfish and Krill in Antarctica by Cynthia Ruben and Susanne Menden-Deuer, 2017

different types of plant community change

Grassland plot experiments at Cedar Creek LTER in Minnesota.

E Zambello/LTER-NCO CC BY 4.0" data-envira-item-id="80811" data-envira-retina="https://lternet.edu/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Barrier-island-shrubs.jpg" data-thumb="https://lternet.edu/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Barrier-island-shrubs-75x50_c.jpg" data-title="Barrier island shrubs" data-envirabox='site_images_45184' itemprop="contentUrl">

E Zambello/LTER-NCO CC BY 4.0" data-envira-gallery-id="site_images_45184" data-envira-index="16" data-envira-item-id="80811" data-envira-src="https://lternet.edu/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Barrier-island-shrubs-600x400.jpg" data-envira-srcset="https://lternet.edu/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Barrier-island-shrubs-600x400.jpg 400w, https://lternet.edu/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Barrier-island-shrubs-600x400.jpg 2x" data-title="Barrier island shrubs" itemprop="thumbnailUrl" data-no-lazy="1" data-envirabox="site_images_45184" data-automatic-caption="Barrier island shrubs -

Sand dunes giving way to taller shrubs that have rapidly expanded on these barrier islands thanks to a warming climate. The shrubs are increasing erosion and changing food-web dynamics across the Virginia coastline. E Zambello/LTER-NCO CC BY 4.0

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A northern temperate forest on a summer afternoon.

E Zambello/LTER-NCO CC BY 4.0" data-envira-gallery-id="site_images_45184" data-envira-index="17" data-envira-item-id="80711" data-envira-src="https://lternet.edu/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/HB-droughtnet1-600x400.png" data-envira-srcset="https://lternet.edu/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/HB-droughtnet1-600x400.png 400w, https://lternet.edu/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/HB-droughtnet1-600x400.png 2x" data-title="HB droughtnet1" itemprop="thumbnailUrl" data-no-lazy="1" data-envirabox="site_images_45184" data-automatic-caption="HB droughtnet1 - A northern temperate forest on a summer afternoon. E Zambello/LTER-NCO CC BY 4.0" data-envira-height="200" data-envira-width="300" />

Pocillopora grandis in Mo'orea, French Polynesia.

JLS Photography Alaska via Flickr CC BY-NC-ND 2.0" data-envira-item-id="80191" data-envira-retina="https://lternet.edu/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/9094565976_da2f481fc3_k.jpg" data-thumb="https://lternet.edu/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/9094565976_da2f481fc3_k-75x50_c.jpg" data-title="JLS Photography_Alaska moose" data-envirabox='site_images_45184' itemprop="contentUrl">

Two young moose forage in an Alaskan forest

JLS Photography Alaska via Flickr CC BY-NC-ND 2.0" data-envira-gallery-id="site_images_45184" data-envira-index="19" data-envira-item-id="80191" data-envira-src="https://lternet.edu/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/9094565976_da2f481fc3_k-600x400.jpg" data-envira-srcset="https://lternet.edu/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/9094565976_da2f481fc3_k-600x400.jpg 400w, https://lternet.edu/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/9094565976_da2f481fc3_k-600x400.jpg 2x" data-title="JLS Photography_Alaska moose" itemprop="thumbnailUrl" data-no-lazy="1" data-envirabox="site_images_45184" data-automatic-caption="JLS Photography_Alaska moose -

One management goal in the Boreal forests of Alaska is to maintain habitat diversity to support wildlife, such as the mother and baby moose pictured here. JLS Photography Alaska via Flickr CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

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Overhead view of Harvard Forest LTER site.

Understory resprouting after an experimental burn.

vegetated landscape with exposed soil in a slump

CC BY-SA 4.0" data-envira-item-id="46180" data-envira-retina="https://lternet.edu/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/P7193263-copy.jpg" data-thumb="https://lternet.edu/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/P7193263-copy-75x50_c.jpg" data-title="Crown-of-thorns Sea Star" data-envirabox='site_images_45184' itemprop="contentUrl">

CC BY-SA 4.0" data-envira-gallery-id="site_images_45184" data-envira-index="30" data-envira-item-id="46180" data-envira-src="https://lternet.edu/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/P7193263-copy-600x400.jpg" data-envira-srcset="https://lternet.edu/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/P7193263-copy-600x400.jpg 400w, https://lternet.edu/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/P7193263-copy-600x400.jpg 2x" data-title="Crown-of-thorns Sea Star" itemprop="thumbnailUrl" data-no-lazy="1" data-envirabox="site_images_45184" data-automatic-caption="Crown-of-thorns Sea Star -

A Crown_of-thorns seastar or COTS (Acanthaster planci) feeding on a coral colony. MCR LTER. CC BY-SA 4.0

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Erika Zambello/LTER NCO. CC BY-SA 4.0." data-envira-item-id="46166" data-envira-retina="https://lternet.edu/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/vcr-2.jpg" data-thumb="https://lternet.edu/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/vcr-2-75x50_c.jpg" data-title="vcr-cement-blocks" data-envirabox='site_images_45184' itemprop="contentUrl">

Erika Zambello/LTER NCO. CC BY-SA 4.0." data-envira-gallery-id="site_images_45184" data-envira-index="31" data-envira-item-id="46166" data-envira-src="https://lternet.edu/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/vcr-2-600x400.jpg" data-envira-srcset="https://lternet.edu/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/vcr-2-600x400.jpg 400w, https://lternet.edu/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/vcr-2-600x400.jpg 2x" data-title="vcr-cement-blocks" itemprop="thumbnailUrl" data-no-lazy="1" data-envirabox="site_images_45184" data-automatic-caption="vcr-cement-blocks - Submerged cement blocks rest below the sea level. Erika Zambello/LTER NCO. CC BY-SA 4.0." data-envira-height="200" data-envira-width="300" />

Research Theme: Disturbance Patterns

Long-term research reveals causes and consequences of environmental change

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