Ecosystems are resistant or resilient to hurricanes, but not both
Ecosystems resist devastation from hurricanes by choosing either of two strategies: high resistance or high resilience.
Historical irrigation leaves long lasting legacies on the prairie
New research from a long-term experiment at the Konza Prairie LTER shows that past climate conditions influence how ecosystems respond to current water availability.
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.
From the Antarctic to the equator: Palmer LTER researchers track complete humpback migrations
Palmer Antarctic LTER researchers track the full migration of Southeast Pacific humpback whales, the first time this has been done.
It’s not the plants: nitrogen directly affects alpine soil microbes
Can plants dictate how soil microbes respond to nitrogen deposition? New research says no, and sheds light on plant-microbe dynamics.
LTER at AGU Fall Meeting, 2021
LTER has a strong presence at the American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting in 2021. See which talks are happening here:
Climate change makes kelp less nutritious
For Southern California reefs and beaches, giant kelp fuels the food web and creates an environment in which biodiversity booms. But the nutritional quality of kelp is lower than it once was, a new study from the Santa Barbara Coastal LTER shows. The culprit? Climate change and warming ocean water, coauthors Dr. Heili Lowman and Kyle Emery find.
Coordination is everything: Species richness synchrony predicts ecosystem stability across ecosystems
The LTER Synchrony Synthesis group links richness synchrony to ecosystem stability in a new study, showing synchrony is a key control on ecosystem functions.
Space & Time: Data that cover both push the boundaries of ecology
A new paper by Dr. Andrew Rypel uses long-term datasets to reveal spatial and temporal variation for fish in Wisconsin lakes.
In “The Conversation”: Climate change is already disrupting US forests and coasts
Scientists have been consistently documenting environmental changes at research sites like this one in the Cascade Mountains for decades. US Forest Service Michael Paul Nelson, Oregon State University and Peter Mark Groffman, CUNY Graduate Center Record-breaking heat waves and drought have left West Coast rivers lethally hot for salmon, literally cooked millions of mussels and… Read more »