Two of the most pervasive human impacts on ecosystems are alteration of global nutrient budgets and changes in the abundance and identity of consumers. Fossil fuel combustion has doubled and agricultural fertilization has quintupled global pools of nitrogen and phosphorus relative to pre-industrial levels. Concurrently, habitat loss and degradation and selective hunting and fishing have disproportionately removed consumers from food webs.

One of the five core areas of LTER research is “Movement of Organic Matter” with an explanation that says “The entire ecosystem relies on the recycling of organic matter (and the nutrients it contains), including dead plants, animals, and other organisms. Decomposition of organic matter and its movement through the ecosystem is an important component of the food web.” The bacterial community’s composition is finally being well-studied but only a little attention is being paid to the fungal community. J.M.

Within the last few years the topic of microbial diversity and its relationship to system function has exploded on the scene of ecology, and many new ideas and advances have come about. We held a session at the last (2007) LTER All-Scientists’ Meeting to address and compare bacteria diversity and dynamics in a range of aquatic and terrestrial soil systems exemplified by LTER Sites. We also formed a Microbial Ecology Working Group A follow-up workshop on cross-site comparisons and integrating LTER studies performed in this area was funded by the LNO and held at MSU on this topic.

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.

For the last three years, scientists and educators from five LTER sites (AND, CAP, JRN, LUQ, and SGS) have collaborated on the NSF-funded Teaching Ecological Complexity Through Field Science Inquiry (Ecoplexity) Project. The purpose of the project is to provide resources and training for high school teachers that will allow them to engage in authentic field research studies with their students. Our goal for this working group is to help establish new partnerships with other LTERs seeking to use this model of teacher professional development and these existing web-based resources.

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.

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.

Vulnerability and Resilience of American Landscapes to Global Change

Schoolyard LTER (SLTER) allows for the engagement of K-12 teachers and students in science and scientific research through LTER research experiences. How these research experiences are used in SLTER efforts vary from site to site, yet all provide a rich experiences and learning opportunities for educators and their students.

In this workshop there will be presentations on using tools such as Google Earth, Internet mapping, video cameras, and other visualization tools currently available to LTER sites. LTERmaps (an interactive web mapping application) will be introduced to the LTER community.  There will also be time to discuss how to implement these technologies at LTER sites.