Learning to be a Network: What do we need for the future of Venezuelan LTER Network?
As an attempt to assess and monitor long term ecological processes among several biological areas of the country The Venezuelan Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) Network (EcoRed Venezuela) was established in September 1997 with government support, through the National Council for Scientific and Technological Research (CONICIT), the encouragement of the US LTER Network, and the cooperation of scientific institutions throughout the country. Six scientific stations are included in the current network representing an interesting variety of natural ecosystems to provide ecological information relevant to sustainable development. After more than 10 years of activities, the institutional image, concepts, structure and functions of the network were developed and could be considered one of the most important accomplished goals. Additionally, the integration to ILTER, communication and information management has been key elements for the Venezuelan LTER network. EcoRed Venezuela worked as a very useful framework to promote individual site-based research and science projects. However, the transition to a broader and more integrative research framework has not been sufficient to address large-scale, interdisciplinary environmental issues and to raise public awareness. At each of the Network’s sites we know a considerably high amount of information about the organisms and species that are relevant at the site but there is little knowledge about the way the site’s ecosystems respond to disturbance and how they will respond to long-term environmental changes. Following the US-LTER network experience with the Integrative Science for Society and the Environment Plan we strongly believe that a concerted effort must be made to develop a new and unifying research program to strengthen interactions among stations. Based on ecosystem services on a social-based approach, Venezuelan LTER network could be an interesting way to support local and national program of education and research. To assess social relevance of ecosystem services and how they are perceived across a highly diversity of cultures and traditions can contribute to develop a common vision that progress for solving environmental problems that today seem intractable depends upon fundamental, long-term, integrated research that will generate a synthetic understanding of highly dynamic social-ecological systems providing solutions and at the same time, a strengthening of EcoRed-Venezuela.
