The structure of zooplankton communities has a significant impact on vertical flux of organic material and cycling of elements in the sea, thus climate-induced changes in zooplankton abundance and species composition have the potential to dramatically affect biogeochemical cycles. The West Antarctic Peninsula (WAP) is one of the most rapidly warming regions on Earth, with documented changes in temporal and spatial distribution of the zooplankton community, and in annual peak organic particle export as measured by sediment traps.

Long-term data from the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest show that air temperature has increased by 1-1.5 °C over the last half century. While more variable, annual precipitation has also increased by 19-26% during the same period. These changes in climate influence streamflow, which provides an integrated climate signal that incorporates physical (snowpack, evaporation) and biological (evapotranspiration) responses. Unlike the western United States, water is generally abundant in the Northeast.

This poster outlines molecular analyses of soil fungi within the Bonanza Creek LTER over the last six years. We examined community structure in three studies in mixed upland, black spruce, and white spruce forests. While fungal diversity is extremely high, and we were unable to saturate diversity in one quarter gram of soil with 5000 clone sequences, we were nevertheless able to saturate diversity across the 12 black spruce sites after combing over 2000 soil cores and 30,000 clone sequences.

Nitrate (NO₃^-) and dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentration in stream water after clear-cutting of trees and subsequent strip-cutting of understory vegetation, dwarf bamboo (Sasa spp.) were investigated to understand the effect of these disturbances on biogeochemical processes in forested watershed in Teshio Experimental Forest, one of the JaLTER site, in northern Japan. Trees of 8 ha watershed except riparian zone were clear-cut in January?March of 2003.

 Dr Colin Polsky, Dr. Robert Gilmore Pontius Jr, Albert Decatur, Dan Runfola, Nick Giner, Rahul Rakshit, Matt Salem, Nick Perdue, Tom Hamill

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Looking for Lawns: How We Know What’s In Your Yard

Dispersal ability can affect the dynamics and composition of intertidal communities. Sandy beach ecosystems, where several key taxa have limited dispersal, are increasingly impacted by growing coastal development, and human use, while facing additional habitat loss and fragmentation from sea level rise. Implications of low dispersal rates for populations of key beach taxa, such as talitrid amphipods, include susceptibility to local extinctions and potentially lengthy recolonization times relative to lifespans/generation times.

Climate warming in western North America is expected to result in reduced snowpack, earlier melt, and increased evapotranspiration.  Consequently a shift toward a greater proportion of streamflow earlier in the water year with diminished spring and summer streamflows is anticipated.  However, few datasets exist of streamflow with associated climate and vegetation records adequate to interpret changes in climate, forest processes, and their consequences for streamflows.  This study examines trends in long-term streamflow records from three headwater catchments in old growth f

This study was conducted as part of a larger effort to look at potential indirect effects of cleaner fish on coral reefs. Cleaners are likely to have indirect effects on the reefs they occupy because they attract and concentrate a wide variety of different client fish to their territories. While client fish visit cleaner stations in order to have ectoparasites removed by the cleaner, they are also involved in other activities (such as feeding) during their visits, and these activities can affect the fish, algae, corals, and other invertebrates that inhabit cleaner stations.