The aim of this working group will be to discuss the upcoming Antarctic Field Season. By holding this meeting at the ASM we will take advantage of the fact that a large group of PAL and MCM investigators, staff, and students will be present and available to attend, although the meeting will be open to all.

The LTER Network Decadal Planning process has identified Cryosphere loss as one focus area for development and potential research support over the next few years. With LNO support, we held a Cross-Site Workshop in Woods Hole in April to explore the geophysical, ecological, biogeochemical and socioecological dimensions of declining glacier, permafrost, snow, sea, lake and river ice.

Freshwater delivery is an important factor determining salinity in the LTER Georgia Coastal Ecosystem (GCE) site. Variability in freshwater delivery was examined in relation to various climate indices: the Southern Oscillation Index (SOI), the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) and the Bermuda High Index (BHI). Monthly standardized anomalies of river discharge and climate indices were compared with multi-decadal time series of Altamaha watershed precipitation at 7-13 stations using empirical orthogonal function (EOF) analysis to describe the precipitation patterns.

Global climate change is emerging as the single most important environmental issue of the 21st century. The direct and indirect effects of climate change on terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems are highly complex and poorly understood. High elevation watersheds can be a useful unit for studying climate-induced effects because they are sensitive to global change processes and may serve as a bellwether for more resistant ecosystems of higher order watersheds.

The LTER Climate Committee membership was refreshed in May of 2009.  Bruce Hayden now serves as committee chair and each site has submitted a site rep.  An 6 member executive committee has been established that represents polar, urban, coastal marine, hydrology, forests, grasslands and arid environments.  The purpose of the workshop is to explore committee products for the coming years and to identify leadership for the product development.   

Phenology is a critical aspect of nearly all ecological phenomena and processes. We propose a brain storming workgroup to take the next step in coordinating phenology monitoring and research across the LTER Network. The inspiration for this working group proposal has its roots in the 2006 ASM working group, the 2007 Sevilleta Workshop and the 2007 AGU Fall Meeting (see working group material). The paper by Henebry et al. 2007, "A White Paper on Phenology across LTER",  provides overview, background, and potential starting points for this session.