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.
Nature-based dune restoration makes winners of us all
A six-year pilot study on Santa Monica Beach shows how seeding of native flora can restore habitats for threatened species and protect against climate change-driven sea level rise.
Each spring, the Niwot Ridge snow survey ushers in a new season of fieldwork
Snow is the defining control on Niwot’s ecology. Through the winter, the white stuff builds with each passing storm; sometime in the spring, melting begins, flushing water and nutrients through the system. The annual snow survey tracks snowfall through time.
The memory of an oyster shell
A recent paper from researchers at the University of Georgia, in collaboration with the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, uses oxygen isotope analysis of mollusk shells found at archaeological sites to show how ancestral Muskogean villages collectively, and sustainably, managed shellfish harvest.
Land and water cover decreases likelihood of perceiving environmental problems, regardless of income
A new synthesis from the Baltimore Ecosystem Study shows that residents with greater land and water cover in the Metropolitan Baltimore, Maryland area were less likely to perceive environmental problems.
Grass cover in the Southwest was determined by a Pacific Ocean cycle—until humans disrupted the link.
A 104 year old dataset reveals that a Pacific Ocean cycle determines grass cover at New Mexico’s Jornada Basin LTER—and then shows that link is now broken.
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.
Litterfall in the Limelight: How a “COVID Paper” from Harvard Forest Sheds Light on Spatial and Temporal Litterfall Patterns
Long-term litterfall mass data from Harvard Forest was used in conjunction with data from the National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) and a global litterfall dataset to draw conclusions on patterns of litter inputs in temperate deciduous forests, which have implications for carbon and nutrient cycling.
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.
Similar invasive insects coexist through slight differences in environmental responses
Novel analyses of a 31-year dataset on invading ladybeetles shows that small differences in habitat preference across years allow for two similar invading species to coexist while native species decline.