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

Long-Term Ecological Research ◽

10.1093/oso/9780199380213.003.0044 ◽

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.

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

Long-Term Ecological Research ◽

10.1093/oso/9780199380213.003.0033 ◽

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).

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

Long-Term Ecological Research ◽

10.1093/oso/9780199380213.003.0035 ◽

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.

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A Glimpse of the Tropics Through Odum’s Macroscope

Long-Term Ecological Research ◽

10.1093/oso/9780199380213.003.0040 ◽

2016 ◽

Author(s):

Ariel E. Lugo

Keyword(s):

Puerto Rico ◽

Tropical Forest ◽

Environmental Quality ◽

Forest Service ◽

Ecological Research ◽

Ecological Processes ◽

Long Term Ecological Research ◽

Us Forest Service ◽

The Tropics

The philosophy of research in the Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) program expanded what I learned in graduate school from H. T. Odum by providing an approach for a holistic understanding of ecological processes in the tropics. Participation in the LTER program enabled collaborations with many talented people from many parts of the world and enabled the mentoring and education of a new cadre of tropical natural and social sciences students. By expanding the opportunities for research and analysis at larger scales, the LTER program allowed me to address tropical ecosystem responses to such phenomena as hurricanes, floods, landslides, and past land uses and to do so at the appropriate scales of time and space. Paradigms of tropical forest resilience and adaptability in the Anthropocene emerged from research at the Luquillo (LUQ) LTER site. I first became aware of the LTER program in 1978 as I walked by the White House in Washington, DC, with Sandra Brown, then an intern on the President’s Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ), and Wayne Swank, a US Forest Service employee on detail with the National Science Foundation (NSF). I was a staff member at CEQ, and W. Swank explained to us a new long-term ecological research program that he was helping develop at the NSF. Although the first cadre of sites appeared to have been selected, I was immediately captured by the concept and expressed my interest in developing a proposal for a tropical site in Puerto Rico. Little did I know at the time that my whole scientific career was about to change, in part because of the LTER program, but also because I was to become a US Forest Service scientist. The first 30 years of my US Forest Service career would be heavily influenced by the LTER program and the people I worked with while developing a new way of thinking about tropical forest ecosystems. I am an ecologist trained at the Universities of Puerto Rico and North Carolina at Chapel Hill. My experience before becoming part of the LTER program involved (1) teaching at the University of Florida at Gainesville and (2) government work at the Commonwealth (Puerto Rico Department of Natural Resources) and federal (President’s Council on Environmental Quality) levels.

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