Using LTER Data

The LTER Network makes data available online with as few restrictions as possible. LTER data is reviewed for errors and inconsistencies and thoroughly documented so that it can be incorporated into broader comparative and synthetic studies. LTER Information Managers, stationed at each LTER site, work to ensure that LTER data is reviewed for errors and inconsistencies and thoroughly documented so that it can be incorporated into broader comparative and synthetic studies.

LTER data form the backbone of long-term ecological inquiry. Freely available data are used and reused many times over, often to answer unexpected questions years after their collection. And, data form the backbone of cross-site synthesis, both within the LTER network and beyond.

How to access LTER data

Using LTER Data: Best Practices

We love it when LTER data can contribute to scientific discovery and environmental management in unexpected ways and we encourage researchers to cite LTER data using the Digital Object Identifier (DOI) associated with each data package.

When using data collected by another investigator, it is both courteous and wise to make direct contact with the investigator before incorporating the data into your analyses. Contact information and funding sources are available in the metadata associated with each data package.

The LTER Data Access Policy was last updated at the 2017 LTER Science Council Meeting. Guidelines for LTER information management systems were updated in Fall, 2017.

LTER Data Community

LTER Information Managers have a strong cross-site community, with weekly watercooler meetings to share all sorts of data management ideas plus formal meetings across the network. They also publish the DataBits Newsletter approximately twice a year, with updates on information activities at sites and deep dives into topics of interest to LTER and other Environmental Information Managers. All current and past issues are available in the LTER DataBits archive.

Recent DataBits Stories

LTER Site Information Managers

Site Name	Data Manager
Andrews Forest LTER	Suzanne Remillard
Arctic LTER	James Laundre
Baltimore Ecosystem Study	Mary Martin
Beaufort Lagoon Ecosystems LTER	Tim Whiteaker
Bonanza Creek LTER	Jason Downing
California Current Ecosystem LTER	Marina Frants
Cedar Creek LTER	Dan Bahauddin
Central Arizona - Phoenix LTER	Stevan Earl
Coweeta LTER
Florida Coastal Everglades LTER	Gabriel Kamener
Georgia Coastal Ecosystems LTER	Adam Sapp
Harvard Forest LTER	Emery Boose
Hubbard Brook LTER	Mary Martin
Jornada Basin LTER	Greg Maurer
Kellogg Biological Station LTER	Sven Bohm
Konza Prairie LTER	Yang Xia
LTER Network Office (UCSB)	Nick Lyon
Luquillo LTER	Miguel Leon
McMurdo Dry Valleys LTER	Renée F. Brown
Minneapolis-St. Paul LTER	Mary Marek-Spartz
Moorea Coral Reef LTER	Hillary Krumbholz
Niwot Ridge LTER	Sarah Elmendorf
North Temperate Lakes LTER	Mark Gahler
Northeast U.S. Shelf LTER	Kate Morkeski
Northern Gulf of Alaska LTER	Chris Turner
Palmer Antarctica LTER	Sage Lichtenwalner
Plum Island Ecosystems LTER	Risa McNellis
Santa Barbara Coastal LTER	Li Kui
Sevilleta LTER	Ara Winter
Shortgrass Steppe LTER
Virginia Coast Reserve LTER	John Porter

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