Population Studies Archives

Why Salamanders? A SSALTER Blog Post

Posted December 17, 2024

So why salamanders? It’s almost always the first question I get when I tell people about my research, says Eric Lyons in this SSALTER Blog post.

Grassland birds show resilience in the face of drought

Posted June 21, 2024

Grassland birds, by changing their nest characteristics and breeding patterns, are more resilient to drought than previously thought.

Adelie penguins go hungry as climate change limits their prey

Posted May 24, 2024

researchers at the Palmer Antarctic LTER show that the Adelie penguin population has suffered as a result of climate change induced krill shortages.

Selection across Scales Synthesis Group Seeks Data

Posted June 26, 2023

The Selections Across Scales synthesis group seeks trait and fitness data collected on individuals within experimental manipulations or across environmental gradients.

In Search of Commonality: Plant communities exhibit a wide variety of responses to global change

Posted December 20, 2021

All plants are somehow affected by global change, but their responses are inconsistent between ecosystems, a LTER Synthesis group finds.

It’s not the plants: nitrogen directly affects alpine soil microbes

Posted December 20, 2021

Can plants dictate how soil microbes respond to nitrogen deposition? New research says no, and sheds light on plant-microbe dynamics.

Pika enthusiasts unite under a common theme

Posted October 27, 2021

At the Niwot Ridge LTER, community scientists expand the reach of pika research initiatives to understand how pikas might respond to climate change.

Space & Time: Data that cover both push the boundaries of ecology

Posted October 1, 2021

A new paper by Dr. Andrew Rypel uses long-term datasets to reveal spatial and temporal variation for fish in Wisconsin lakes.

2021 LTER Synthesis Awards: Reproduction and Resilience

Posted February 3, 2021

arrows pointing to the center of a circle

Two new synthesis working groups, awarded in 2021, capitalize on the intensive and extended record of observation at LTER sites to shed light on thorny ecological questions.

From Breeding to Feeding – blue whales are spending more time in Southern California

Posted July 30, 2020

Every year, the Eastern North Pacific population of blue whales migrates between their winter calving grounds off the coast of Mexico and their summer feeding grounds in the California coastal region. Scientists know that they time their migration to coincide with peak prey abundances, but the cues they use for this have been unknown—until now…. Read more »

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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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Erin Wiersma imprinting charred biomass.

Crystal Bog by Jessica Jabs, Drawing Water resident 2017

Rena Detrixhe working on her indoor installation, 2017

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Beach wrack (kelp and other ocean debris washed ashore) is prime habitat for beach hoppers and many other tiny nearshore animals. E Zambello/LTER-NCO CC BY 4.0

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Closeup of a beach hopper (aka sand flea)

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Beach hoppers (also called sand fleas) are tiny crustaceans that make up an important part of the shoreline food web. E Zambello/LTER-NCO CC BY 4.0

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A hungry shorebird searches for tiny crustaceans - including beach hoppers - to pluck from the shoreline. E Zambello/LTER-NCO CC BY 4.0

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Stream running through a field with young trees planted alongside

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low fire in presecribed burn area under trees

Three individuals collecting samples in desert brush.

three young men seining in a shallow area of lake

The invasive crayfish, Orconectes rusticus

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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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