When Shade Isn’t Enough: Climate Change in the Forest Understory
Once thought to be natural refuges, old-growth forests are warming faster than we imagined.
Three new SPARC Synthesis Groups demonstrate the value of long-term data collected across ecosystems
The LTER Network Office is excited to announce that three Scientific Peers Advancing Research Collaborations (SPARC) proposals were funded this year. The three groups will meet in person at the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis for one week, starting in the fall.
Burned forest, bleached reef: LTER sites adapt to learn from disturbance
How the Andrews Forest and Moorea Coral Reef LTER sites respond to disturbance highlights the struggle and opportunity that come with an irreparably altered ecosystem.
The Lessons Wildfire Can Teach: Destruction and Resiliency after Disaster
Cole Doolittle studies how fires alter plant communities in the Pacific Northwest, and he talks about the impact of fires in this SSALTER blog.
Trees know their neighbors – and respond differently when they die
A new study leveraging a 40-year data set from old-growth forests demonstrates that trees can experience growth suppression or release depending on the identity and size of their downed neighbor.
Across fourteen LTERs, soil carbon is a “gatekeeper” on the nitrogen cycle
An LTER cross site synthesis effort reveals that soil carbon availability determines nitrogen mineralization and nitrification rates across a wide diversity of terrestrial ecosystems.
Andrews LTER: Forest understory biodiversity and climate change
Pacific Northwest forests contain some of the largest reserves of forests on the planet, but many questions remain unanswered about how drought and heat stress from climate change will change forest dynamics and biodiversity. RETs on this project will track understory plant populations and quantify interactions among the many important and diverse plant species in these understory ecosystems.
Andrews LTER: Biodiversity and riverscapes
Many species that rely upon mountain streams may experience stress from reduced summer habitat, increased water temperature, and increased vulnerability to predators. Which species respond and how they respond to climate change and stream drying is an important question. RETs conducting research on biodiversity and riverscapes will work alongside Dr. Ivan Arismendi from Oregon State… Read more »
NEON and LTER: A Long-Term Partnership for Ecological Observation
The shared spaces between LTER and NEON add value for both networks and for the research community at large.
Ready-to-teach R Environmental Datasets: the lterdatasampler R package
We are excited to share with the broader R community a new collection of 8 data samples geared towards teaching environmental data science!
Top Stories
The functional groups of prairie strip people
Trout Lake Station highlights 100 years of research impact
LTER Photo Contest 2025
A Day in the Life: Behind the Scenes on Sapelo Island
Fall 2025 Young Voices of Science Program
When Shade Isn’t Enough: Climate Change in the Forest Understory
What is seagrass restoration worth on the blue carbon market?
A plant evolutionary ecologist's ode to yellow-bellied marmots
LTER at ESA, 2025
Morning in the Midnight Sun