Long-Term Ecological Research Program Research Articles

The Palmer LTER: A Long-Term Ecological Research Program at Palmer Station, Antarctica

The Palmer LTER: A Long-Term Ecological Research Program at Palmer Station, Antarctica

Data, data everywhere but not a byte to read: Managing monitoring information

The problem of managing scientific information for widespread availability and use can be overwhelming. At Oregon State University, the Quantitative Sciences Group has found a workable solution. The group has developed a Forest Science Data Bank (FSDB) to house data generated by scientists and collaborating researchers in the Andrews Long-Term Ecological Research program. Today the FSDB houses some 2400 data sets from over 350 existing ecological studies and adds about 20 new studies yearly. This paper describes what we have learned in setting up the FSDB as a facility that can be used by researchers who both deposit information in and retrieve information from the FSDB.

Contributions of the Long-Term Ecological Research Program

Journal Article Contributions of the Long-Term Ecological Research Program Get access Jerry F. Franklin, Jerry F. Franklin Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Caroline S. Bledsoe, Caroline S. Bledsoe Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar James T. Callahan James T. Callahan Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar BioScience, Volume 40, Issue 7, July/August 1990, Pages 509–523, https://doi.org/10.2307/1311319 Published: 01 August 1990

The long‐term ecological research program

Major developments have emerged in the field of ecology as a result of taking a long‐term approach to both basic and applied research [Strayer, 1986]. In recognition of both the advantages of long‐term research programs and the historical difficulty of sustaining such research efforts, the National Science Foundation (NSF) instituted its Long‐Term Ecological Research (LTER) Program in 1980 [Callahan, 1984]. The LTER Program has a number of important links with the geosciences and is likely to play a significant role in work on terrestrial, freshwater, and estuarine ecosystems within the International Geosphere‐Biosphere Program (IBGP); it is thus a good time for us to begin communicating with geoscientists who are helping to shape IGBP.

Standardized meteorological measurements for LTER sites

Standards have been established for meteorological measurements at Long‐Term Ecological Research (LTER) Sites. The LTER program is designed to allow for coherence in research over the long term and to recognize that many parts of ecosystems operate over a long time scale and show directionality and periodicity in ecosystems. The following LTER sites are funded in 5‐year renewable funding periods and overseen by a central coordinating committee, consisting of the principal investigators for all sites, that supplies normal National Science Foundation peer review procedures: H. J. Andrews Experimental Forest, Oreg.; Cedar Creek Natural History Area, Minn.; Central Plains Experimental Range, Colo.; Coweeta Hydrological Laboratory, N.C.; Illinois and Mississippi Rivers, Ill.; Jornada Experimental Range, N. Mex.; Konza Prairie, Kans.; Niwot Ridge/Green Lakes Valley, Colo.; North Inlet, S.C.; Northern Lakes, Wis.; Okefenokee Natural Wildlife Refuge, Ga.