Cross site investigation using LTER Data.

Quantifying Uncertainty in Ecosystem Studies

The goal of this synthesis is to evaluate uncertainty in hydrologic inputs, outputs, and net hydrologic flux of major elements across small watersheds with diverse characteristics. The long-term goal of this project is to contribute to a cultural change in ecology that makes uncertainty analysis an accepted and expected practice in the construction of ecosystem… Read more »

Long-term Experiments in the LTER Network: Synthesis and Hypothesis Testing

We are requesting funds to assemble a working group of LTER scientists with extensive experience in conducting long-term experiments in the LTER Network, the skills and interest in synthetically interpreting the results of those experiments, and in using data from these studies to address new questions relevant to pressing global change issues.

A Data Synthesis Working Group: Disappearing Snow in the Western US: Ecosystem Implications for the Rain-Snow Transition Zone

Introduction and Goals: In the Western US mountain regions, winter temperature increases will lead to the reduction and even loss of winter snowpacks. A shift from snow to rain-dominated systems will alter seasonal patterns of streamflow, soil moisture, soil temperature, etc. affecting a myriad of ecosystem processes. This proposed work will develop a working group… Read more »

Understanding Interactions within the LTER Network for Improved Collaboration

This proposed effort will “stimulate cross-site and Network-level synthesis” by addressing issues of collaboration within the LTER network. Scientific synthesis should be promoted as we better understand the nature of that collaboration. The concept that the LTER program works as a network of interacting sites and scientists is grounded in the earliest documents of the… Read more »

The Influence of Precipitation Variability on Diversity and Composition of North American Grasslands

Overview: We propose to organize a working group that will analyze and synthesize long-term data on the relationship between precipitation variability and the structure of North American (NA) grassland plant communities. This project will build on prior LTER-related synthetic efforts that have evaluated the response of aboveground net primary productivity (ANPP) to precipitation variability [1-2]… Read more »

Cross-Site Synthesis between CCE, MCR and SBC: Working group to develop comparative regional ocean modeling effort

We propose a new synthesis effort between the California Current Ecosystem (CCE) LTER, the Mo’orea Coral Reef (MCR) LTER and the Santa Barbara Channel (SBC) LTER to incorporate regional modeling of physical processes around islands in both the tropical Pacific and California Current regions. While these LTERs are focused on two vastly different oceanic regions,… Read more »

Developing Protocols for Cross-Site Research on Local Ecological Knowledge and Social-Ecological Systems

The Maps and Local (MALS) project is a collaborative effort to develop common methods for research on social-ecological systems at the LTER network scale. (http://www.lter.uaf.edu/bnz_MALS.cfm) Eleven sites have been funded to participate in MALS under the social science supplement for 2009-2010 and 2010-2011; another four sites are participating using other resources. Ten sites have completed… Read more »

Synthesis Papers and Research Proposal from the Maps and Locals (MALS) Project

The MALS project is a collaborative effort to develop common methods for research on social-ecological systems at the LTER network scale. We request funding to help support a cross-site comparative analysis, produce final products of the MALS collaborative effort, and build on the MALS experience to plan for future cross-site research. To meet this objective… Read more »