The United Nations estimates that 33% of global soils are moderately to severely degraded, and that given average rates of erosion, topsoil could be gone in 60 years. In response, the UN General Assembly declared 2015 the International Year of Soils. Their goal: to take a decidedly prosaic topic — soil health — and make… Read more »
Global population continues to grow: the United Nations expects an additional 2.5 billion people by 2050, all of whom will be absorbed into urban areas. When demographers add rural to urban migrants to that number, they project an additional 3.1 billion city dwellers by mid-century. As the concentration of humans in cities surges, a better… Read more »
The IPCC projects that, even if humans succeed in keeping temperatures below the 2°C target set in Paris, sea level will rise 0.28 to 0.61 m this century. With this amount of sea level rise, salt water pulses from high tide floods and storm surges will become ever-more common in coastal ecosystems. Multiple LTER sites are running experiments… Read more »
From August 7 to August 12, the Ecological Society of America will hold its annual meeting in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. This year’s theme, “Novel Ecosystems in the Anthropocene,” will build on discussions initiated during last year’s centennial meeting, “Ecological Science at the Frontier.” Human influence now represents the dominant influence on ecosystems worldwide– and a… Read more »
The LTER Science Council met May 16-19, 2016 in Santa Barbara, CA at NCEAS, the location ofthe LTER Network Communications Office. Sadly, the “field trip” to the Moorea Coral Reef Site had to be virtual, but attendees had the opportunity to get a taste of the site and research underway there through slide shows, imagery… Read more »
Breakout sessions from the Science Council meetings often evolve into synthesis working groups. The 2016 meeting was no exception, with a lively and challenging series of discussions resulting in six potential synthesis groups. If any of the descriptions below pique your interest, please follow up with the designated lead scientist or correspondent. How Do Abiotic Factors… Read more »
In January, as part of its mission to enhance collaboration across the LTER network, the NCO called for Synthesis Working Group proposals. The request elicited 24 highly competitive proposals that together harnessed data from all 24 LTER sites. Selection was based on scientific merit, contribution to LTER Network science, and use of novel approaches. We… Read more »
One strength of the Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) Network is that it reveals patterns and connections that are only apparent over years and decades. As a national network, it also offers extraordinary opportunities to make comparisons among ecosystems. The Network Communications Office announces the funding of three LTER synthesis proposals, which combine existing data to yield… Read more »
Manuscripts due November 7, 2016 Limnology & Oceanography will be publishing a special issue in 2017, entitled “Headwaters to oceans: ecological and biogeochemical contrasts across the aquatic continuum.” With a special emphasis on connectivity across the landscape, this special issue is an especially good fit for LTER science. The editors note that they are particularly… Read more »
For artists participating in the multimedia exhibit “Rot: The Afterlife of Trees” at the Corvallis Arts Center, rotting trees are inspiration.
