Scientists at the Arctic LTER find that different points along a gradient of soil fertility aid ectomycorrhizal and ericaceous tundra shrubs. Their findings hint at the potential for those two types of shrubs to co-expand over the Arctic—a previously unconsidered scenario that could have vast implications for the future of the northern tundra
researchers at the Palmer Antarctic LTER show that the Adelie penguin population has suffered as a result of climate change induced krill shortages.
LTER network scientists work together to reveal key trends in organic matter processing, storage and transport across ecosystems.
For Southern California reefs and beaches, giant kelp fuels the food web and creates an environment in which biodiversity booms. But the nutritional quality of kelp is lower than it once was, a new study from the Santa Barbara Coastal LTER shows. The culprit? Climate change and warming ocean water, coauthors Dr. Heili Lowman and Kyle Emery find.
Long-term research at the Niwot Ridge LTER reveals alpine lakes are seeing longer ice-free periods in the summer, a consequence of a changing climate.
Scientists have been consistently documenting environmental changes at research sites like this one in the Cascade Mountains for decades. US Forest Service Michael Paul Nelson, Oregon State University and Peter Mark Groffman, CUNY Graduate Center Record-breaking heat waves and drought have left West Coast rivers lethally hot for salmon, literally cooked millions of mussels… Read more »
In 2018, M. Jake Vander Zanden and Yvonne Vadeboncoeur were invited to give a plenary lecture at the International Society for Limnology (SIL) meeting in Nanjing, China. They spoke about their efforts to synthesize a more holistic understanding of the role of benthic productivity and food web pathways in lakes. The two began their journey… Read more »
As anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions continue to increase, scientists have now recognized seagrass meadows—which typically have high rates of carbon storage—as important ‘blue carbon’ sinks. However, rising ocean temperatures threaten seagrass meadows, along with their ability to retain carbon. This underlines the need for precise ecosystem data on the vulnerability and resilience of these meadows… Read more »
In 2017, the LTER Network saw the addition of three new marine and coastal sites. The new sites—Northeast U.S. Shelf (NES), Northern Gulf of Alaska (NGA) and Beaufort Lagoon Ecosystems (BLE)—are all well-represented among the 41 talks and posters presented by LTER researchers at the 2020 AGU Ocean Sciences Meeting. Presentations from these and other… Read more »
Researchers at Mo’orea LTER did not observe evidence that corals acclimatize to ocean acidification, but they did observe that some are more sensitive to it than others.
International Drought Experiment" data-envira-gallery-id="site_images_81699" data-envira-index="0" data-envira-item-id="82314" data-envira-src="https://lternet.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Matta_rainout-533x400.jpeg" data-envira-srcset="https://lternet.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Matta_rainout-533x400.jpeg 400w, https://lternet.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Matta_rainout-533x400.jpeg 2x" data-title="Matta_rainout" itemprop="thumbnailUrl" data-no-lazy="1" data-envirabox="site_images_81699" data-automatic-caption="Matta_rainout - 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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