Streams and Dreams and Cross-site Studies

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sherri L. Johnson
Keyword(s):  
Stream Temperature ◽  
Principal Investigator ◽  
Ecosystem Dynamics ◽  
University Of Oklahoma ◽  
Resource Managers ◽  
Long Term Ecological Research ◽  
Natural Resource Managers ◽  
Heat Budgets ◽  
Postdoctoral Fellowship

The influence of the Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) program on my science has been to broaden my scope through exposure to long-term research and to encourage me to explore major questions across biomes. Communication and outreach with natural resource managers and policy makers has given me insight into translation of science and shaped my research. Through my experiences in the LTER program, I began collaborations with stream ecologists and biogeochemists across sites, which expanded into a high-profile research project that spanned several decades. I encourage scientists to work at LTER sites because they are supportive science communities with a wealth of information to share. Currently, I am a co–principal investigator at the H. J. Andrews Experimental Forest LTER project (AND) in Oregon and have been involved with LTER sites most of my professional life. In 1990, I began graduate research on freshwater shrimp responses to a hurricane at the Luquillo LTER site (LUQ) with Alan Covich, my PhD advisor at the University of Oklahoma. My involvement with LTER research expanded during my postdoctoral fellowship. Through the LTER All Scientists Meetings, I met Julia Jones and other researchers from AND. With their encouragement, I received a National Science Foundation (NSF) Postdoctoral Fellowship Grant in 1996 to examine stream temperature dynamics at AND. After several years at Oregon State University, I was hired by the US Forest Service (USFS) Pacific Northwest Research Station in 2001 as a USFS scientist for AND and became a co–principal investigator in 2002. I have had the benefit of being mentored for multiple years by Fred Swanson and have gradually assumed lead USFS responsibilities for AND. As a stream ecologist, I have studied basic questions and applied issues involving water quality, water quantity, and stream food webs, primarily in forested streams. My research at the LUQ site has examined responses of fresh water shrimp to disturbances and their role in ecosystem dynamics. At AND, my research exploring patterns and controls of stream temperature began as a theoretical landscape-scale question and expanded to examination of temperature responses to flow paths, calculations of heat budgets, and policy implications of forest management (Johnson and Jones 2000; Johnson 2004).

scholarly journals Taking Students on a Journey to El Yunque

2016 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven McGee ◽  
Jess K. Zimmerman
Keyword(s):  
Temporal Dynamics ◽  
Science Curriculum ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Ecosystem Dynamics ◽  
Long Term Ecological Research ◽  
Hurricane Impact ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Long Term Impact ◽  
The Impact

As the developers of Journey to El Yunque, we have taken a different approach to the process of designing a science curriculum. Rather than start with a specific set of concepts or skills to target as learning outcomes, we started by identifying a specific community of practice to which we sought to connect students. Researchers in the El Yunque rainforest in Puerto Rico have been studying the impact of hurricanes on ecosystem dynamics and have been modeling what the long-term impact would be if changes to the global climate increase the frequency of severe hurricanes. Therefore, hurricane impact became the focal phenomenon for the unit. We modeled the process of investigating hurricane impact after the long-term ecological research practices of researchers in El Yunque. Students begin by investigating the long-term impact of hurricanes on the producers in El Yunque. Next students investigate the long-term impact of hurricanes on various consumers in the rainforest. Finally, students investigate how hurricanes impact the cycling of resources directly as well as indirectly through changes in organisms’ use of those resources in the rainforest. A central tension in the design process is how to coherently represent the spatial relationships between the components of the ecosystem and the temporal dynamics of the individual components. In this paper, we present the evolution of the program as we sought to balance that design tension and build an environment that connects students to the central phenomenon and practices of the community of researchers in El Yunque. 

The Long-Term Ecological Research Construct for Understanding Dynamics of Coral Reef Ecosystems and Its Influence on My Science

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Russell J. Schmitt
Keyword(s):  
Coral Reef ◽  
Principal Investigator ◽  
Ecological Research ◽  
Research Projects ◽  
Ecological Processes ◽  
Long Term Ecological Research ◽  
Coral Reef Ecosystems ◽  
Disciplinary Expertise ◽  
Small Science

The Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) program facilitated my scientific growth in terms of the questions I can address; the tools, approaches, techniques and data to which I have access; and the diversity of intellectual and disciplinary expertise that I can tap. As a consequence, I am asking questions that cut across much larger spatial and especially temporal scales, and my research projects are more interdisciplinary, complex, and integrated. My ability to mentor students at all levels has been transformed by the variety of resources and opportunities afforded by the LTER program. One consequence is that these students are better prepared to become engaged globally. My role in the LTER program has required me to communicate scientific issues and findings to a broad audience. I have become more interested in the translation of science findings to public policy and practices to help conserve key functions of threatened ecosystems. My involvement with the LTER program has enabled me to forge a much larger circle of national and international collaborators to address questions that require a network of similar sites. The LTER construct has enabled me to broaden the scope of my research by expanding the interdisciplinary nature of my collaborations and the diversity of tools at my disposal. My involvement with the LTER program began in 2000 when I joined the Santa Barbara Coastal (SBC) site as an associate investigator, and it expanded in 2004 to include being the principal investigator of the newly established Moorea Coral Reef (MCR) site. I am privileged to continue to serve as principal investigator of MCR and as an associate investigator at SBC. My research interests center on ecological processes and feedbacks that drive the dynamics of populations and communities. Prior to my involvement in the LTER program, I conducted my research projects either alone or with a small group of like-minded collaborators to address such issues as regulation of (marine) animals with open populations or the effect of indirect interactions on coexistence of species (Figure 28.1). These projects taught me some of the limitations of “small science,” particularly when exacerbated by a lack of relevant long-term data.

Tales from a “Lifer” in the Long-Term Ecological Research Program

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Debra P. C. Peters
Keyword(s):  
New Mexico ◽  
Principal Investigator ◽  
Ecological Research ◽  
State University ◽  
Ecological Processes ◽  
Principal Investigators ◽  
Long Term Ecological Research ◽  
Jornada Basin ◽  
Term Data

As a long-time member of the Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) network, first as a graduate student and scientist at the Shortgrass Steppe (SGS) site (1984–1997), then as a scientist at the Sevilleta (SEV) site (1996–present) and now as principal investigator at the Jornada Basin (JRN) site (2003–present), my professional career has been shaped almost entirely by my LTER experiences. My experiences in the LTER program directly contributed to my individual-based approach to ecosystem dynamics combined with the knowledge that the dominant ecological processes can change as the spatial extent increases, and that long-term data are critical to disentangle how these pattern–process relationships change across scales. The LTER program has provided me with international experience and exposure that are valuable to my career. My opportunity to travel overseas has led to bonding experiences and new insights into other ecosystems. My appreciation for the value of K–12 education and the amount of work that is involved in “doing it right” has been shaped by my experiences with the Jornada Schoolyard LTER Program. One of the key challenges that I face in working at an LTER site is the tension between continuing to collect long-term observations with the need and desire to test new ideas that often result from the long-term data but then compete for resources with the collection of those data. Another challenge is in mentoring young scientists to become principal investigators, and in cultivating new relationships with potential co–principal investigators. Currently, I am the principal investigator at the JRN LTER program at New Mexico State University (NMSU) in Las Cruces, New Mexico. I am also a collaborating scientist at the SEV LTER program at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, New Mexico. I received my BS in biology at Iowa State University in 1981 and my MS in biology from San Diego State University (SDSU) in 1983. My LTER experiences began as a PhD student at Colorado State University (CSU) through the SGS LTER program in 1984, and these continued while I was a postdoctoral fellow (1988–1989).

Trade-offs of Participation in the Long-Term Ecological Research Program: Immediate and Long-Term Consequences

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lawrence R. Walker ◽  
Michael R. Willig
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Dynamics ◽  
Data Sets ◽  
Ecological Research ◽  
Temporal Scales ◽  
Spatial And Temporal Scales ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Long Term Ecological Research ◽  
Collaboration And Communication ◽  
Program Change

For those who may have skipped to this chapter and not read the 3 introductory chapters, the 36 essays, or the 4 evaluative chapters of this book, the answer to the burning question “Does participation in the Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) program change scientists?” is an unequivocal “Yes!” As Boyer and Brown (Chapter 41) point out, however, those changes are mostly in the realms of knowledge acquisition and behavior adoptions in the practice of science. Participation in the program did not appear to have a substantial effect on the development of attitudes. Could such changes have occurred outside of the LTER program? Schlesinger (Chapter 40) thinks so. He suggests that the LTER program provides “some structure and modest standardization to a set of common measurements” but that it has not substantially broadened or deepened the ecological sciences. Yet the effect of the LTER program on science, while a fascinating and often-addressed question, is not the focus of this book (see Willig and Walker, Chapter 1). Of course, to address how scientists change also involves understanding how they approach and conduct science. In addition, personal change occurs in a broad societal context. For example, the LTER program has coincided with and helped promote a transition in ecology from research done by one or a few investigators on a particular organism or process in a particular habitat to investigations involving multidisciplinary teams working together to test models about how ecosystem dynamics unfold across large spatial and temporal scales. However, going to “big programs” and “big data sets” does not mean losing a sense of place or being divorced from the natural history of particular organisms. Even as spatial and temporal scales increase, ecological research is ideally still “place aware” (Bestelmeyer, Chapter 19). Using the essays of this book as a rich source of information to address fundamental questions about the nature of scientists, we provide some final thoughts on how the LTER program has affected its participants, particularly on how they view time and space, collaboration, and communication. We end with reflections on the future of ecology and society, based on the views expressed in this book and on our own participation in the LTER program.

A Forest to Prairie Transition as a Long-Term Ecological Research Scientist

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Blair
Keyword(s):  
Graduate Student ◽  
Forest Floor ◽  
Principal Investigator ◽  
Spatial And Temporal Variability ◽  
Ecological Research ◽  
Ecological Processes ◽  
University Of Georgia ◽  
Long Term Ecological Research ◽  
Kansas State University

Being involved in the Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) program for most of my career has greatly influenced my development as an ecologist. It has broadened my understanding and appreciation of ecological processes at scales ranging from microbial processes to ecosystem fluxes. Participating in the LTER program has heightened my awareness of the critical role of spatial and temporal variability in ecological dynamics, as well as the value of long-term data for identifying directional environmental changes or assessing responses to experimental manipulations. Working with other investigators at an LTER site over long periods of time has revealed the importance of a place-based understanding of ecological processes as a source of insight into complex ecological phenomena. Interacting and collaborating with students and scientists having diverse research interests and backgrounds has enhanced my ability to communicate more effectively with other scientists and with the public. There are some trade-offs between directing a large research program and advancing one’s personal research, but the rewards of long-term collaboration are substantial. I have been part of the LTER program for most of my career, from graduate student at one LTER site to principal investigator at another. I began my PhD training at the University of Georgia in 1983 under the direction of D.A. (Dac) Crossley, Jr., the first leader of the Coweeta (CWT) LTER program. My early research focused on forest ecology, including plant litter decomposition and effects of clear-cutting and regrowth on decomposer communities and forest floor processes (Blair and Crossley 1988). My first postdoctoral appointment was on a National Science Foundation (NSF) grant that I wrote to study forest-floor nitrogen dynamics using stable isotope tracers. In 1992, I joined the faculty of the Division of Biology at Kansas State University as an ecosystem ecologist. This position had been held by Tim Seastedt, another Crossley graduate student who served as principal investigator of the Konza Prairie LTER (KNZ) program and later as principal investigator of the Niwot Ridge LTER program. I was hired with the expectation that I would become engaged in the KNZ program, where my research would focus on ecosystem processes in tallgrass prairie.

The Socializing of an Ecosystem Ecologist: Interdisciplinarity from a Career Spent in the Long-Term Ecological Research Network

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel L. Childers
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Dynamics ◽  
Florida Everglades ◽  
Ecological Research ◽  
State University ◽  
New School ◽  
Louisiana State University ◽  
The North ◽  
Broad Array ◽  
Long Term Ecological Research

The broad interdisciplinarity of my science and my worldview are direct products of my career spent in the Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) program. I attribute the holistic systems approaches that I use in my teaching and mentoring to my career spent in the LTER program. I am able to converse with a broad array of collaborators and practitioners because of my career spent in the LTER program. My career is rich with interdisciplinary collaborations and partnerships thanks to the LTER program. My life is rich with friends that I have met throughout my career spent in the LTER program. There are probably few mid-career scientists who have spent virtually all of their careers associated with the LTER network. As one of these few, I view this as a tremendous asset. My experiences in the LTER program began in 1983 with the North Inlet Program (NIN), where my master’s research, advised by the late Hank McKellar, involved modeling salt marsh ecosystem dynamics. After completing my PhD at Louisiana State University (LSU) in 1989, I returned to the NIN for a 3-year postdoctoral fellowship with Fred Sklar at the Baruch Marine Laboratory. I worked with Fred on another of his National Science Foundation (NSF) grants, but there was considerable overlap between that research and the work being done at NIN. When the NSF released a solicitation for new coastal LTER sites in 1998, I was an assistant professor at Florida International University (FIU) in Miami. We gathered a core group of Everglades colleagues and answered this solicitation with a proposal to study coastal ecosystem dynamics in the Florida Everglades. Our proposal was successful, and by early 2000 the new Florida Coastal Everglades LTER program (FCE) was off and running. I directed FCE from its inception until I left FIU in 2008 for Arizona State University (ASU). On arriving at ASU in 2008, I immediately became involved with the Central Arizona–Phoenix (CAP) LTER program. I was excited about my move to ASU and the new School of Sustainability because I felt as if it were a rare mid-career opportunity to change the trajectory of, and perhaps even the impact of, my career.

scholarly journals Immersive landscapes: modelling ecosystem reference conditions in virtual reality

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tom Chandler ◽  
Anna E. Richards ◽  
Bernhard Jenny ◽  
Fiona Dickson ◽  
Jiawei Huang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Reality ◽  
Reference Conditions ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
3D Models ◽  
Ecosystem Dynamics ◽  
Future Climate Change ◽  
Climate Change Scenarios ◽  
Resource Managers ◽  
Virtual Landscapes ◽  
Natural Resource Managers

Abstract Context Understanding the variability and dynamics of ecosystems, as well as their responses to climate or land use change, is challenging for policy makers and natural resource managers. Virtual reality (VR) can be used to render virtual landscapes as immersive, visceral experiences and communicate ecosystem dynamics to users in an effective and engaging way. Objectives To illustrate the potential and believability of VR, a team of landscape ecologists and immersive visualisation researchers modelled a reference Australian Box Gum Grassy Woodland landscape, an endangered eucalypt woodland ecosystem that is difficult to observe in its pre-European colonisation form. Methods We document considerations for designing the immersive virtual landscape, including the creation of animated three-dimensional (3D) plants that alternate between the seasons, and soundscapes that change through the course of a simulated day. We used a heuristic evaluation with experts to assess the potential of immersive VR landscape modeling. Results This cross disciplinary collaboration resulted in a VR experience that was evaluated in a series of meetings by 27 ecologists and managers in biodiversity conservation, many of whom were familiar with Box Gum Grassy Woodlands. 88% of participants stated that the simulation was believable and participants thought that virtual landscapes held great potential for education, public engagement and land management. Conclusions Possible future directions include open-source libraries of ecological 3D models, and the visual simulation of historic landscapes and future climate change scenarios.

scholarly journals Bringing citizen monitoring into land management: a case study of the Bosque Ecosystem Monitoring Program

2016 ◽  
Vol 15 (03) ◽  
pp. A02 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rowan Converse ◽  
Daniel Shaw ◽  
Kim Eichhorst ◽  
May Leinhart
Keyword(s):  
Natural Resource ◽  
Monitoring Program ◽  
Rapid Expansion ◽  
Federal State ◽  
Ecosystem Monitoring ◽  
Resource Managers ◽  
Natural Resource Managers ◽  
Citizen Monitoring

Despite the rapid expansion of citizen-based monitoring, data from these programs remain underutilized by natural resource managers, perhaps due to quality and comparability issues. We present the Bosque Ecosystem Monitoring Program as a case study of an initiative successfully meeting long-term monitoring needs of federal, state, tribal, and local natural resource managers, and informing public policy. To maximize potential for partnerships with managers, we recommend the creation of a five-year plan including scientific goals and financial solvency strategies prior to establishing a citizen science program, and offering multiple platforms for data-sharing and dialogue.

Participatory Mapping in Browns Canyon National Monument, Colorado (USA)

2017 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-16
Author(s):  
John Harner ◽  
Lee Cerveny ◽  
Rebecca Gronewold
Keyword(s):  
Land Management ◽  
Planning Process ◽  
Management Plan ◽  
Bureau Of Land Management ◽  
National Monument ◽  
Resource Managers ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Us Forest Service ◽  
Natural Resource Managers

Natural resource managers need up-to-date information about how people interact with public lands and the meanings these places hold for use in planning and decision-making. This case study explains the use of public participatory Geographic Information System (GIS) to generate and analyze spatial patterns of the uses and values people hold for the Browns Canyon National Monument in Colorado. Participants drew on maps and answered questions at both live community meetings and online sessions to develop a series of maps showing detailed responses to different types of resource uses and landscape values. Results can be disaggregated by interaction types, different meaningful values, respondent characteristics, seasonality, or frequency of visit. The study was a test for the Bureau of Land Management and US Forest Service, who jointly manage the monument as they prepare their land management plan. If the information generated is as helpful throughout the entire planning process as initial responses seem, this protocol could become a component of the Bureau’s planning tool kit.

Integration of Human/Social Dimensions into the Traditional European Model of Natural Resource Education and Management

2005 ◽  
Vol 156 (8) ◽  
pp. 264-268
Author(s):  
James J. Kennedy ◽  
Niels Elers Koch
Keyword(s):  
Natural Resources ◽  
Natural Resource ◽  
Life Forms ◽  
Western World ◽  
Social Dimensions ◽  
Roles And Responsibilities ◽  
Resource Managers ◽  
Natural Resource Managers ◽  
Rural Ecosystem ◽  
Professional Roles And Responsibilities

The increasing diversity, complexity and dynamics of ecosystem values and uses over the last 50 years requires new ways for natural resource managers (foresters, wildlife biologists, etc.)to understand and relate to their professional roles and responsibilities in accommodating urban and rural ecosystem users, and managing the complimentary and conflicting interactions between them. Three stages in Western-world natural resources management are identified and analyzed, beginning with the (1) Traditional stage: natural resources first, foremost and forever, to (2) Transitional stage: natural resource management,for better or worse, involves people, to (3) Relationship stage: managing natural resources for valued people and ecosystem relationships. The impacts of these three perspectives on how natural resource managers view and respond to ecosystems,people and other life-forms is basic and can be profound.

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