Transcript No Slide Title

LTER
The
Long Term
Ecological Research Network
LTER Network Vision, Mission and Goals
Network Vision: A society in which exemplary science contributes to the advancement of the
health, productivity, and welfare of the global environment that, in turn, advances the health,
prosperity, welfare, and security of our nation.
Network Mission: To provide the scientific community, policy makers, and society with the
knowledge and predictive understanding necessary to conserve, protect, and manage the
nation's ecosystems, their biodiversity, and the services they provide.
The LTER Executive and Coordinating Committee have developed a set of Network Goals, and is creating
a prioritized set of Objectives, Tasks and Metrics under each of those Goals.
Understanding: To understand a diverse array of ecosystems at multiple spatial and temporal scales.
Synthesis:
To create general knowledge through long-term, interdisciplinary research, synthesis of
Information:
Legacies:
Education:
Outreach:
information, and development of theory.
To inform the LTER and broader scientific community by creating well designed and well
documented databases.
To create a legacy of well-designed and documented long-term observations, experiments,
and archives of samples and specimens for future generations.
To promote training, teaching, and learning about long-term ecological research and the
Earth’s ecosystems, and to educate a new generation of scientists.
To reach out to the broader scientific community, natural resource managers, policymakers,
and the general public by providing decision support, information, recommendations and the
knowledge and capability to address complex environmental challenges.
Initial cohorts were funded primarily
by the Division of Environmental
Biology, but other Directorates added
funding for specific sites.
MCR
CCE
GEO-OCE
SBC
GCE
FCE
PIE
BES
CAP
MCM
SBE, EHR
Polar
PAL
HFR
SEV
LUQ
VCR
DEB
KBS
HBR
BNZ
ARC
JRN
CDR
ILL
OKE
SGS
NIN
NWT
KNZ
CWT
AND
NTL
1980
1985
1990
1995
2000
2005
2010
LTER Funding FY 04-05
• From BIO/DEB:
– 04 Core funding
– 04 Supplements
$15,629,722 (81%)
$1,960,000
– 05 Core request
– 05 Supplement request
$18,000,000 (78%)
$1,960,000
• From the rest of NSF
– 04 Core funding
– 04 Supplements
$3,726,650
$1,321,629
– 05 Core request
– 05 Supplement contributions
$4,871,000
?
EMPHASIS
• Hypothesis-driven research
• Evaluations are based on research
productivity
• Long-term monitoring encouraged, but no
reward
• LTER’s are NOT research platforms
Long-term research is required
to reveal:
•
•
•
•
•
Slow processes or transients
Episodic or infrequent events
Trends
Multi-factor responses
Processes with major time lags
Duration of all observational
and experimental studies
0.40
0.35
N = 623
Frequency
0.30
0.25
0.20
0.15
0.10
0.05
">100"
"50-100"
"20-50"
"10-20"
"5-10"
"4-5"
"3-4"
"2-3"
"1-2"
"0-1"
0.00
Eighty
percent of
studies in
the
ecological
literature
last less
than three
years
Study Duration (years)
From Tilman, D. 1989. Ecological experimentation: strengths and conceptual
problems. pp. 136-157. In Likens, G.E. (ed). Long-Term Studies in Ecology.
Springer-Verlag, New York.
LTER sites share a common commitment to
long-term research on the following core
topics:
• Pattern and control of primary
production
• Spatial and temporal
distribution of populations
selected to represent trophic
structure
• Pattern and control of organic
matter accumulation in surface
layers and sediments
• Patterns and movements of
inorganic inputs through soils
ground- and surface waters
• Patterns and frequency of
disturbance
Comparisons among sites focus on
fundamental ecological principles
Network Management
Data
Management
Graduate
Student
International
Climate
Education
Publications
Network Office Task Integration
The integration of the primary functions of
the LTER Network Office with its core
vision and mission is graphically depicted
here. Supplements to the LNO
Cooperative Agreement that support Core
Task Areas overlap with the outer circle.
Other funded grants stand outside the
outer circle.
Acronyms:
• DARPA – Defense Advanced
Research Projects Agency
• SEEK – Science Environment for
Ecological Knowledge
• KNB – Knowledge Network for
Biocomplexity
• SDW – Spatial Data Workbench
• ASM – All Scientists Meeting
• DBI – Division of Biological
Infrastructure
• SLTER – Schoolyard LTER
• ILTER – International Long Term
Ecological Research Network
• RDIFS – Resource Discovery
Initiative for Field Stations
• NIS – Network Information System
Key goals for the next decade
from LTER 2000-2010
Increase the pace of synthesis through activities
such as site volumes, network-wide synthesis
projects, multi-site synthesis projects, and
database development
Increase experimental and comparative crosssite research
What’s driving planning in the
LTER Network
• LTER 2010 White Paper
• 20-Year Review
• Strategic Planning for Network and
Network Office
• LTER bylaws
• NEON
• Other national networks (e.g. CLEANER,
CUAHSI, Earthscope)
Implementation of a 2004 planning grant
What’s happening now?
• Grand challenge science themes best addressed by
LTER
• Science themes need to be identified and proposals
written
• Governance needs to be reviewed if network-level
funding becomes available
• Integration of education and research must be addressed
• Future planning must be addressed
A major challenge to the U.S. LTER network in the
coming decade is the design and implementation of an
information system that seamlessly facilitates intersite
research.
These binders contain 10 years of data collected in the
Grassland section of the International Biosphere Programme,
ca. 1978
RF Telemetry
Macro-organisms
Smart Sensor Web
Instrumenting the Environment
Micro-weather
Stations
Sap Flow
Sensor Array
Sensor Clustered
MEMS Insects
Minirhizotron
Array
Multiparameter
Soil Probes
Automated E-tongue
‘Smart Dust’ tagged Insects
E-nose