State Changes and Threshold Dynamics

A four-day workshop will use LTER data, including data from the EcoTrends project, to bridge the gap between the relatively mature theoretical understanding of thresholds and state changes in ecological systems and the emerging empirical databases that allow us to actually test models of state changes. Many of these changes represent “tipping points” or dramatic… Read more »

Development of a hydrochemical database – StreamchemDB

We are requesting Synthesis Working Group funds to support LTER participation in StreamchemDB. StreamchemDB is focused on aquatic chemistry data, and builds on former data synthesis projects ClimDB and HydroDB, all of which have been collaborative LTER-Forest Service cross-site synthesis and cyber-infrastructure projects.

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 »