2009 LTER All Scientists Meeting - Disturbance Ecology

Long-Term Trends in Spatial Partitioning of Biodiversity: Considerations of Disturbance and Recovery

Christopher Bloch — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 21:57:35 +0000

Poster Number:

379

Presenter/Primary Author:

Christopher Bloch

Co-Authors:

Christopher Higgins

Co-Authors:

Michael Willig

Patterns of biodiversity at large spatial scales (i.e., γ diversity) can be driven by either within-community (α) or among-community (β) components. The degree to which α or β components contribute to γ diversity may depend on the amount of environmental variation that exists in the spatial extents studied. However, few studies have assessed both spatial configuration and temporal changes in biodiversity, especially in systems that frequently experience large-scale disturbance.

A New Network for Hurricane Researchers

Robert Waide — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 13:25:49 +0000

Poster Number:

373

Presenter/Primary Author:

Robert Waide

Co-Authors:

Nick Brokaw

Co-Authors:

Evelyn Gaiser

The U.S. and Mexican LTER Networks are cooperating in the development of a new network of hurricane researchers.

Thermal manipulation to trigger stresses on cold water invasive species

Jordan Read — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 20:42:58 +0000

Poster Number:

349

Presenter/Primary Author:

Jordan Read

Co-Authors:

Carpenter, SR

Co-Authors:

Wu, CH

Co-Authors:

Kratz, TK

Co-Authors:

Gaeta, J

Co-Authors:

Shade, A

Co-Authors:

McMahon, KD

Co-Authors:

Vander Zanden, MJ

We are investigating the feasibility of employing thermal manipulation, achieved via whole-lake destratification, to extirpate the cold water exotic rainbow smelt (Osmerus mordax) from Crystal Lake, WI. We focus here on the engineering implications of raising the hypolimnion water temperture to exceed the thermal range of the rainbow smelt. An energy balance approach was used to determine the timing and duration of mixing efforts to maximize heat gain and minimize loss to the atmosphere.

Student Poster:

Yes

Arctic LTER: Goals and Results

John Hobbie — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 20:38:57 +0000

Poster Number:

347

Presenter/Primary Author:

John Hobbie

Co-Authors:

George Kling

Co-Authors:

Chris Luecke

Co-Authors:

Gus Shaver

Co-Authors:

Anne Giblin

Co-Authors:

Donie Bret-Harte

The goal of the Arctic LTER is to predict the future ecological characteristics of Arctic Alaska based upon our knowledge of the controls of ecosystem structure and function as exerted by physical setting and geologic factors, climatic factors, biotic factors, and the changes in fluxes of water and materials from land to water.

The Virginia Coast Reserve Long-Term Ecological Research Project

John Porter — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 17:27:27 +0000

Poster Number:

330

Presenter/Primary Author:

Karen McGlathery

Co-Authors:

Patricia Wiberg

Co-Authors:

John Porter

The Virginia Coast Reserve (VCR) is an extremely dynamic, heterogeneous coastal barrier landscape comprising mainland watersheds, tidal marshes, lagoons, and barrier islands. Our goal for the VCR LTER program is to develop a predictive understanding of the response of coastal barrier systems to long-term environmental changes in climate, sea level and land use, and to relate these to the ecological services the coastal barrier systems provide.

Ecosystem change in the Arctic: a 30-year record of geochemical transformations in Toolik Lake

George Kling — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 16:06:26 +0000

Poster Number:

324

Presenter/Primary Author:

George Kling

Co-Authors:

Keller, Katy

Co-Authors:

Kipphut, George

Co-Authors:

Bettez, Neil

Co-Authors:

Giblin, Anne

Co-Authors:

Hobbie, John

Despite substantial changes in climate, sea-ice and glacier extent, and vegetation in much of the Arctic, the area near Toolik Lake, Alaska has experienced no significant trends of increasing temperature, altered precipitation, or increasing active-layer thaw depth. There has been, however, a near doubling of alkalinity in Toolik Lake since 1975 and increases in alkalinity in many lakes of all depths and sizes in the surrounding area. Lake monitoring indicates that in-lake processes such as sulfate or nitrate reduction cannot account for these alkalinity increases.

Interactions between hurricanes and the legacy of human disturbance, determine the future composition of the Luquillo Forest.

Jill Thompson — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 13:23:14 +0000

Poster Number:

316

Presenter/Primary Author:

Jill Thompson

Co-Authors:

María Uriarte

Co-Authors:

Liza Comita

Co-Authors:

Jess K. Zimmerman

Co-Authors:

Charles Canham

Co-Authors:

Nicholas Brokaw

Co-Authors:

Inge Jonkcheere

Co-Authors:

Ned Fetcher

Co-Authors:

Lora Murphy

Co-Authors:

Alberto Sabat

Co-Authors:

Bruce Haines

The Luquillo Forest Dynamics Plot (LFDP) is a 16-ha long-term study plot in subtropical wet forest in the Luquillo Mountains of Puerto Rico. It is part of the Luquillo LTER and the Center for Tropical Science (CTFS) network of large tropical forest plots. Forests are often subject to multiple, compounded disturbances, representing both natural and human-induced processes. Our goal is to understand forest structure, diversity and dynamics, and to predict long-term changes resulting from interactions of past human land use and intermittent hurricane damage.

Impacts of increasing woody vegetation in herbaceous dominated systems: Understanding the role of fire.

John Briggs — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 13:31:04 +0000

Poster Number:

293

Presenter/Primary Author:

John Briggs

Co-Authors:

John M. Blair

Co-Authors:

Alan K. Knapp

Co-Authors:

Gene Towne

Increased woody plant cover in grasslands is a global phenomenon and a critical threat to conservation of grasslands and their biodiversity. Changes in land management, such as reduced fire frequency, can increase woody plant abundance, while other factors such as increased CO₂ concentration, N deposition, and habitat fragmentation might be contributing factors.

The Harvard Forest LTER

Audrey Barker Plotkin — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 16:45:57 +0000

Poster Number:

257

Presenter/Primary Author:

Audrey Barker Plotkin

Co-Authors:

David Foster

The temperate forests of eastern North America support high biodiversity and critical ecosystem functions while providing natural resources and cultural benefits to an expanding human population. The region is shaped by a legacy of landscape change: major shifts in climate, vegetation and disturbance at millennial time scales; extensive deforestation for agriculture in the 17th – 19th centuries; and abandonment of farmlands, natural reforestation and increasing urbanization through the mid-21st century.

An ongoing field experiment to test if zonation of tidal marsh vegetation is in synchrony with hydrologic conditions developed during rising sea level

John Haywood — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 21:54:36 +0000

Poster Number:

251

Presenter/Primary Author:

John Haywood

Co-Authors:

Linda Blum

Co-Authors:

Mark Brinson

Co-Authors:

Robert Christian

A field experiment has been initiated in August 2008 to determine if the vegetation of a coastal marsh is in synchrony with hydrologic conditions that have developed with rising sea-level. The hypothesis being tested is that plant community structure will persist in existing zones of vegetation in the face of sea-level rise unless disturbance provides opportunities for species change under more frequent tidal inundation.

Student Poster:

Yes