Announcing 2017 Synthesis Working Groups

With more than 36 years of continuous data collection across many biomes, the Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) Network is a rich source of information for testing big-picture concepts about how ecosystems work. Luckily, the Network also brings together a group of scientists with creative ideas about how to wring new insights from diverse data… Read more »

Are We Making Selfish Microbes?

Some bacteria become less cooperative with their plant hosts under long-term nutrient additions, finds new research by Jen Lau, an ecologist at the Kellogg Biological Station (KBS) LTER, and her collaborator Katy Heath at the University of Illinois. “A decade ago, no one was thinking about the idea of rapid evolution—the kind you could see… Read more »

LTER-NEON Synergies Workshop

The LTER and NEON Networks are seeking participants, especially early career scientists, for a workshop to explore synergies between the National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) and the Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) Network. The workshop will take place at the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis/LTER National Communications Office located in Santa Barbara, CA… Read more »

November Science Update Newsletter

In November, the Science Update Newsletter covers: a survey of arts and humanities programs at 21 LTER sites, published in the Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences; a paper in Fungal Ecology looking at the ways Harvard Forest LTER’s chronic nitrogen addition plots have restructured soil fungal communities; a multi-site experiment exploring the mechanisms relating nutrient enrichment… Read more »

The Small Island of Braila

By Jen Holzer, Technion Socio-Ecological Research Group After three days in and around Tulcea, we journeyed by car to the City of Braila, a city of about 200,000, famous as a node for the textile, shipbuilding, and shipping trades, and a surprisingly underdeveloped tourism industry. When our hosts told us this was not a travel… Read more »