Ten years later: an LTER synthesis working group leads to discovery and accelerates four careers
The CoRRE Working Group continues to develop new ways to study plant community change across the globe.
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.
Spare a thought for the roots
Nutrient addition increases aboveground plant growth more than it increases belowground plant growth, suggesting that the two are not linked.
We are all interconnected
When the sun bakes me in the heat, when I find a tick crawling on my skin, when water has soaked the socks through my boots, when the tree branches whip my face, when equipment breaks, when I am staying up late labeling plastic bags, when I am waking up pre-dawn to take measurements, when I am feeling completely overwhelmed – I remind myself of my favorite things.
Repeat photography engages the public at LTER sites
With just a phone camera, anyone can add to a growing dataset tracking environmental change at the Virginia Coast Reserve LTER.
Choose Your Poison: Plant Disease Outbreaks May Be Curbed by Periodic Wildfire
Wildfires have made headlines worldwide in recent years — and for good reason. Evidence points to increasing wildfire frequency and intensity across many vulnerable ecosystems as climate change impacts grow ever more evident. However, periodic wildfires in ecosystems adapted to them can actually help inhibit plant disease outbreaks, according to new research from Cedar Creek… Read more »
Plant communities likely to be “vastly different” in the future
Farmers have known for centuries that fertilizer and irrigation help boost crop growth. But how does long-term application of fertilizer and water affect the composition of surrounding plant communities? In a study based at the Cedar Creek LTER, early signs suggest that added water and nutrients support the survival of new species and encourage more… Read more »
LTER Road Trip: Answering Biodiversity Questions with Big Bio
In my basic college ecology class, we spent an entire chapter discussing biodiversity. In the environmental field, there are a few bedrock principles we often take for granted: one, more diversity is good; two, biodiversity leads to more resilient ecosystems; and three, biodiversity should be a goal for land managers. But how do we actually… Read more »
LTER Road Trip: Restoring the Minnesota Bison
Dr. Chad Zirbel, a postdoc at Cedar Creek Ecosystem Science Reserve (CDR), and his intern stood in the hot Minnesota summer sun, intent on gathering data from the vegetative plot in front of them. Grasses swished across their feet in a field broken only by a few oak trees in this – now rare –… Read more »
LTER Road Trip: Daily Discoveries at Cedar Creek
Dr. Caitlin Potter bent down on the sandy road, squatting on her heels to point out teeny-tiny footprints. “These are beetle tracks,” she explained, halting a few yards later to observe another set, “They’re everywhere!” We walked on the road-trail through a small grassland, en route to Cedar Bog Lake at the Cedar Creek Ecosystem… Read more »
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