Long Term Monitoring and Experiments in Freshwater Aquatic Ecosystems
Many LTER sites focus, at least in part, on freshwater aquatic ecosystems. The purpose of this workshop is to document why long term records, in some cases coupled with experiments, provide information about these systems that cannot be teased out under normal funding cycles of a few years, and how future aquatic monitoring networks might be designed. We will include presentations on lake and stream habitats that document the unique benefits of long-term monitoring and experimentation. We will also provide presentations on ongoing efforts to create a network of monitoring sites that will be operational in freshwater systems for the next 30 years. We will consider lessons learned from such an approach and how future efforts can benefit from our experiences.