We are beginning new studies of phenology at the Andrews Forest to better understand influences of existing complex climatic gradients on timing of springtime life history events for multiple trophic levels. Phenological events are highly sensitive to temperature and climatic variations and are some of the most responsive indicators to climate change. By studying timing of events at multiple sites in a very heterogeneous climatic landscape, we expect to learn much about plant, insect and bird responses to current abiotic variability (i.e.

Tropical environments are changing fast due to deforestation and regrowth, urbanization, climate change, and other forces. The consequences are immense for the whole array of ecosystem services people require. The Luquillo Long-Term Ecological Research Program (LUQ) is tackling these issues in Puerto Rico. LUQ began in 1988 and focused on natural disturbances (hurricanes, landslides, droughts, floods) and ecosystem response. That work revealed patterns of resistance and resilience to cycles of natural disturbance.

Oviposition site preference and larval performance
of the aspen leaf miner (Phyllocnistis populiella)

Russell Dennis, Patricia Doak, and Diane Wagner

University of Alaska, Department of Biology and Wildlife, Fairbanks AK 99775 (email: ftred@uaf.edu)

Landscapes provide ecosystem services to agricultural systems by supporting pollinators and predators of crop pests, services valued at $US 3 and $US 4.5 billion/yr respectively. Habitat management is the practice of providing nectar, pollen and shelter to beneficial insects in cropping systems, often in the form of flowering strips. However, the potential for flowering strips to increase biocontrol and pollination depends on the existing abundances of beneficial insects in the landscape, and highly simplified landscapes may support fewer beneficial insects than more diverse landscapes.

This session is intended both for social and biophysical scientists who want to help develop a proposal for the kind of “multi-site, highly collaborative and integrated research initiative” envisioned by the LTER planning group. The focus will be on what the LTER planning process calls the “centerpiece” of the group's conceptual framework, as well as one of “Grand Challenges” to be addressed at the network level – “the dynamics of coupled human-natural ecosystems.”

Patterns of phenology for plants and animals control ecosystem processes, determine land surface properties, control biosphere-atmosphere interactions, and affect food production, health, conservation, and recreation. Although phenological data and models have applications related to scientific research, education and outreach, agriculture, tourism and recreation, human health, and natural resource conservation and management, until recently there was no coordinated effort to understand phenology at the national scale.