Started from the Benthos, Now We’re Here—a Holistic Approach to Lake Ecology

Freshwater fish in a lake

In 2018, M. Jake Vander Zanden and Yvonne Vadeboncoeur were invited to give a plenary lecture at the International Society for Limnology (SIL) meeting in Nanjing, China. They spoke about their efforts to synthesize a more holistic understanding of the role of benthic productivity and food web pathways in lakes.  The two began their journey… Read more »

Small Water Bodies with Big CO2 Effects

water-pocked landscape of coastal tundra

Credit: Via @ArcticLagoons on Twitter Arctic coastal watershed systems are some of the most threatened regions on Earth and have undergone substantial climatic, physical, and biological change with the warming of our Earth. Now, researchers at the Beaufort Lagoon Ecosystems LTER site have discovered that small coastal water bodies, especially ponds, are releasing carbon to… Read more »

LTER Road Trip: Tundra roots may hold the secret to predicting a future Arctic

By Haley Dunleavy It’s a beautiful August day in the Arctic. The sun, now finally rising and setting after months of circling the sky, warms my face; neon yellows, pinks, reds, and greens of fall foliage speckle across the tundra, and most importantly, the previously incessant mosquitos have died off. I’m standing on a single-planked… Read more »

2020 Science Council Meeting Videos

Lightning talks from the 2020 Science Council Meeting are now available from links below and on the LTER YouTube channel. Follow us to catch the latest new material from across the Network. Arctic LTER (Ed Rastetter) – Arctic Presentation (slides only) Andrews Forest LTER (Catalina Segura) – Andrews Forest Video (6:35) Baltimore Ecosystem Study (Emma… Read more »

To go or not to go (in the field)?

SCUBA diver examines kelp

Many ecologists are now faced with a choice: continue field measurements and manipulations or halt them voluntarily and accept the cost to their science and sometimes their budgets. the LTER Network Office offers some considerations for those faced with this difficult decision.

Can seagrass meadows mitigate climate change?

As anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions continue to increase, scientists have now recognized seagrass meadows—which typically have high rates of carbon storage—as important ‘blue carbon’ sinks. However, rising ocean temperatures threaten seagrass meadows, along with their ability to retain carbon. This underlines the need for precise ecosystem data on the vulnerability and resilience of these meadows… Read more »

What makes a network work? Collaboration in the LTER Network

network analysis, based on site age, ecosystem type, number of shared publications and network centrality

A recent analysis of collaboration in the LTER Network reveals that LTER-related publications involve more collaborators, more institutions, persist for longer, and cover greater distances than other publications in the field of ecology. 

Thinking about long-term futures to make better decisions today

Credit: CAP-LTER. CC BY-SA 4.0 Anticipating the needs of cities in the future is a key aspect of urban sustainability. One approach to planning for sustainable cities is for researchers and practitioners to work together to develop scenarios that benefit communities as well as ecosystems. Central Arizona Phoenix LTER (CAP LTER) is taking an innovative approach… Read more »

LTER at Ocean Sciences Meeting 2020

In 2017, the LTER Network saw the addition of three new marine and coastal sites. The new sites—Northeast U.S. Shelf (NES), Northern Gulf of Alaska (NGA) and Beaufort Lagoon Ecosystems (BLE)—are all well-represented among the 41 talks and posters presented by LTER researchers at the 2020 AGU Ocean Sciences Meeting. Presentations from these and other… Read more »

2020 Synthesis Working Groups Announcement

The LTER Network Office announces new synthesis project awards: A global synthesis of multi-year drought effects on terrestrial ecosystems; A multi-biome synthesis investigating the controls on river Si exports; and Ecological Metagenome-derived Reference Genomes and Traits (EMERGENT).