Implementing the ILTER Science Agenda: Defining International and Regional Science Initiatives Since its 2003 annual meeting, the International Long Term Ecological Research network (ILTER) transformed itself from essentially an infrastructure-building project to a more diversified, stable organization with the ability to implement substantive scientific projects in collaboration with the US-LTER International Committee (see web link in working group materials).

ILTER Synthesis Workshop: Interactions among ecosystem services, ecosystem dynamics, and human outcomes and behavior

The prospect for long term, interdisciplinary research continues to grow since the "regionalizing" of the Coweeta and North Temperate Lakes LTER sites and the initiation of the two urban LTER sites: Baltimore and Central-Arizona-Phoenix. Additional sites have recruited social scientists and expanded both the questions asked and the geographic extent of their interests. Thus, there is growing opportunities for collaboration among sites that might not identify themselves as "urban," in conjunction with the existing regional and urban sites. 

This working group is a continuation of the previous day's meeting, here to plan the future course of actions.

Increasing land fragmentation, mostly caused by urban sprawl and “leap-frog’ developments, is a major concern in many rapidly growing metropolitan cities of the US. Land fragmentation affects biodiversity and ecosystem processes, as portions of the landscape become isolated without connecting corridors and this, in turn, can change ecological structure and function. This cross-site comparative study, a joint-collaboration of several LTER sites (i.e.

Land fragmentation caused by urban sprawl and “leap frog” development patterns has important consequences on ecological structure and function. A group of researchers from several LTER sites--Central Arizona-Phoenix, Konza Prairie, Jornada Basin, Sevilleta, and Shortgrass Steppe—is collaborating in a cross-site comparison study to analyze the land fragmentation patterns and processes in some of the fast growing cities in the Southwest and Midwest regions.

Grass to shrubland conversions have been widely reported in drylands world wide, but remain poorly understood. Knowledge of ecosystem spatial properties and the environmental constraints underlying landscape pattern is crucial to determining why shrublands have replaced grasslands in some areas and not others as well as predicting where such transitions may be most likely to occur in the future.

Most aspects of the structure and function of Earth’s ecosystems can no longer be understood without accounting for the strong, and often dominant influence of humanity across space and time. Human land-use practices in particular are fundamental determinants of local, regional, and global ecological processes. The consequences of such practices are evident across diverse scales influencing the sustainability of landscapes and ultimately the quality of human life.

Patch-scale connectivity is frequently cited as a significant factor controlling redistribution of water, organic matter and nutrients in many arid and semi-arid ecosystems. The ‘leakiness’ of these systems has been cited as an indicator of degradation. Methods to limit or modify soil loss and redistribution are included in many restoration strategies.

LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) has become an important tool for investigating the structure of the earth's surface and vegetation. It permits high vertical and special resolution characterization of ground and vegetation surface heights and structure across large areas. LiDAR has been used to characterize vegetation cover, biomass, leaf area, and basal area for live and dead vegetation. Software is now readily available for 3-D visualization of canopy surfaces.