Message from the LTER Executive Board on Recent Events

On June 2, the LTER Executive Board shared the following message with all members of the LTER community: Dear LTER Community, As millions of people raise their voices in response to the killing of George Floyd, we are filled with grief and anger and reminded how far we still are from the fair and just society… Read more »

Started from the Benthos, Now We’re Here—a Holistic Approach to Lake Ecology

Freshwater fish in a lake

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 »

LTER Graduate Student Spotlight: Kelsey Solomon

This spotlight is part of an ongoing series featuring many of our wonderful LTER Network graduate student representatives who contribute valuable research and leadership across the network. To learn more about graduate research in the LTER network, visit this page. Kelsey Solomon is a graduate student at the University of Georgia, where she’s been conducting… Read more »

Small Water Bodies with Big CO2 Effects

water-pocked landscape of coastal tundra

Credit: Via @ArcticLagoons on Twitter Arctic coastal watershed systems are some of the most threatened regions on Earth and have undergone substantial climatic, physical, and biological change with the warming of our Earth. Now, researchers at the Beaufort Lagoon Ecosystems LTER site have discovered that small coastal water bodies, especially ponds, are releasing carbon to… Read more »

LTER Road Trip: Tundra roots may hold the secret to predicting a future Arctic

By Haley Dunleavy It’s a beautiful August day in the Arctic. The sun, now finally rising and setting after months of circling the sky, warms my face; neon yellows, pinks, reds, and greens of fall foliage speckle across the tundra, and most importantly, the previously incessant mosquitos have died off. I’m standing on a single-planked… Read more »

LTER Road Trip: Fishing for Answers in Moorea’s Coral Reefs

Dana performing an algae assay to measure herbivory in the lagoon.

By Erin Winslow Every day, third-year Ph.D. student Dana Cook zips up her Patagonia shorty wetsuit and puts on her bucket hat for a full day out on the lagoon of Moorea’s southern tip. Boat necessities include a GPS, inner tube floaty, underwater slate and pencil, a watch, and a sleeve of Sao crackers. She… Read more »

2020 Science Council Meeting Videos

Lightning talks from the 2020 Science Council Meeting are now available from links below and on the LTER YouTube channel. Follow us to catch the latest new material from across the Network. Arctic LTER (Ed Rastetter) – Arctic Presentation (slides only) Andrews Forest LTER (Catalina Segura) – Andrews Forest Video (6:35) Baltimore Ecosystem Study (Emma… Read more »

LTER Road Trip: Rising lakes in an Antarctic desert

By Natasha Griffin The lake ice crunches beneath my boots with each tentative step I take. Realistically, I know there’s not much danger here—I’m standing atop Lake Bonney, one of the permanently frozen lakes of Antarctica’s McMurdo Dry Valleys. The ice underfoot is at least a few meters thick, creating a sturdy barrier between me… Read more »

Understanding Coral Bleaching: Research and Lessons from Mo’orea

by Jannine Chamorro, Moorea Coral Reef LTER Last September I had the opportunity to participate in a project studying coral bleaching in Mo’orea, French Polynesia. This was the first time I had ever worked in a remote field location. While initially the thought of flying to a place I could not see on a map… Read more »