Decomposition in Streams: A Global Synthesis

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leaf in streamwater

A major multi-site analysis of leaf litter decomposition in streams and rivers found that rising temperatures are unlikely to speed decomposition as much as predicted under metabolic theory. Although fresh water bodies cover only three percent of the Earth’s land surface, they are a key component of the global carbon and nutrient cycles and the rate of decomposition in streams affects both carbon dioxide emissions and supply of organic matter to downstream food webs.

Three new LTER sites announced

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The National Science Foundation has announced two new oceanic LTER sites, both based in regions with highly productive fisheries. In addition, the newly-announced Beaufort Lagoon Ecosystems (BLE) LTER will focus on changes occurring both on land and in the ocean that affect Arctic ecosystems over time. The Northern Gulf of Alaska (NGA) LTER site, led… Read more »

Plausible freshwater futures: Yahara watershed, Wisconsin, USA

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aerial of Yahara watershed in Wisconsin

Talk Description: Scenarios can help communities think about alternative futures, but using them to drive decisions requires data. In Wisconsin’s Yahara Watershed, researchers are combining data and modelling from the Northern Temperate lakes LTER with qualitative scenarios based on trends and events from the global scenarios literature and stakeholder perspectives. The resulting assessments can help… Read more »

Legacy of acid rain: A tale of two species

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Talk Description: Air pollution control efforts have succeeded in reducing sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions, but decades of acid rain have leached calcium and magnesium from Northeastern forest soils. These changes have increased the mobility of dissolved organic matter, and possibly altered soil organic matter dynamics, altering the long-term trajectory for forest ecosystems. What… Read more »

Fire and ice: Carbon cycling feedbacks to climate in a warming Arctic

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Arctic wildfire

Talk Description: About 30% of global carbon stocks reside in the vegetation and deep, carbon-rich soils of Arctic tundra and boreal forest biomes. Wildfires—which are becoming more frequent with warmer and drier weather in the Arctic—have the potential to either stabilize or accelerate regional and global warming through carbon feedbacks. By comparing the impact of… Read more »

Beyond desertification: New models for state change in drylands

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Landscape in the Chihuahuan desert

Talk Description: One of the classic state-change stories is that over-grazing and drought turn grasslands into shrubby, degraded landscapes. Land managers strive to avoid such irreversible changes, using strategies based on models of how ecosystems change. But misapplication of models can lead to poor management outcomes. Researchers at the Jornada Basin LTER site and its… Read more »

Contrast & Cadence

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Natural cycles have patterns, rhythms, similar to music. Take a dive into these rhythms with Kelly Bisson for this SSALTER Blog eduition!

2017 ASLO ABSTRACTS

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logo from ASLO ocean science meeting 2017

From February 26-March 3, The Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography (ASLO) will hold its annual meeting in Honolulu, Hawai`i. The LTER Network sites will deliver oral and poster presentations on a wide range of topics, from blue carbon in salt marshes to impacts of the Eastern Pacific “warm blob” and El Niño. In… Read more »

News from the NCO: 2017 Winter

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January 18, 2017 Synthesis The review committee recommended two Synthesis Working Group proposals for funding in the current round. Congratulations to Forest Isbell, Jane M. Cowles, and Laura Dee who will lead Scaling-up productivity responses to changes in biodiversity and Lauren Hallett, Daniel Reuman, Katharine Suding for Synthesizing Population and community synchrony to understand drivers of… Read more »