| The
Application of LTER Science to Ecosystem Management
Time: 9 a.m.-noon
Date: February 26, 2004
Location:
National Science Foundation Headquarters, Arlington, Virginia, USA
Organizers: Mark Harmon and Phil Robertson
9:00 a.m. OVERVIEW- When
Does LTER Science Become Applied?
Mark Harmon,
Andrews LTER |
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| Abstract: At
first glance the US LTER network would not seem to be a “hot-bed”
of traditional applied research. However, a closer look indicates
that basic findings from LTER science are often applied very
rapidly to ecosystem management. There are several causes of
this phenomenon. First, new understanding of ecosystem function
reveals new dimensions on how management impacts natural systems.
Second, new concepts (e.g., landscape dynamics) yield key perspectives
on how ecosystems can be managed. Third, new tools ranging from
chemical analysis to simulation models developed in LTER can
often be readily applied to ecosystem monitoring, assessment,
and planning. This morning’s session will feature several
examples of how LTER science is finding its way into management
application. |
9:10 a.m. How
is Knowledge of Biological Legacies Applied to Forest Management?
| Sherri L. Johnson, Andrews LTER |
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| Abstract: Research
findings from the H.J. Andrews Experimental Forest and Long
Term Ecological Research site are rapidly applied to forest
and ecosystem management within North America and internationally,
as they have been for many years. A key concept developed from
Andrews LTER science is that natural disturbances and forest
harvest activities create long-term biological legacies across
the landscape. Increased knowledge of the functional dynamics
of these biological legacies, for example the role of dead wood
in terrestrial and aquatic systems, has resulted in major changes
to forest harvest practices and riparian management strategies.
Moreover, fire histories have provided the foundation for landscape-scale
adaptive management plans. Basic research has proven extremely
valuable in addressing forest management questions and issues. |
9:35 a.m. How
Do We Apply LTER Science to Water Mangement in Florida’s Everglades?
| Fred H. Sklar, Florida Coastal
Everglades LTER |
 |
Abstract: Understanding
the ecology of the Everglades at all landscape scales, from
the ubiquitous cyanobacteria periphyton to the Florida panther,
is a tall order, even for an $8.3 billion restoration program
(www.evergladesplan.org).
The Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP) is dependent
upon science to establish conservation criteria with the hope
that by “getting the water right,” implementation
will reverse current negative environmental trends (Note: This
may be viewed by District management as criticism of CERP. Important
point is that 50% of the historic Everglades is gone and cannot
be restored.). The science behind CERP must identify hydroperiod,
water depth, and sheetflow criteria for a broad range of species
and ecosystems if restoration is going to be successful. The
FCE-LTER program works closely with a number of state and federal
agencies in the process of modeling, monitoring, and assessing
the Everglades. To quote a reviewer: “The ongoing restoration
of the Everglades provides a superb framework for the long-term
science conducted at the FCE LTER site.” As such, the
FCE-LTER is taking scientific advantage of the large-scale intervention
in this ecosystem to predict the effects of a change in hydrologic
conditions or nutrient loading on a broad range of ecological
attributes.
Flexibility in the design and implementation
of Everglades restoration, needed to balance modeling and ecological
uncertainties, will depend upon the ability of CERP to develop
an adaptive management approach. This will ensure that new scientific
or technical information developed by the FCE-LTER are incorporated
into the restoration efforts, while providing a unique feedback
for the testing of ecological hypotheses and restoration endpoints.
The FCE-LTER hypotheses that are most relevant for water management
are based on new views of how hydrology and nutrient chemistry
is controlled by both upstream and adjacent systems. This ability
to think “outside the box” will supply the sound
scientific information needed to reduce the ecological and economic
risks associated with adaptive restoration design, implementation,
and sustainability. |
10:00 a.m. Can
LTER Science Benefit Acid Mine Drainage Remediation in the Western
U.S.?
| Mark Williams, Niwot Rdige LTER |
 |
Abstract: Acid
mine drainage (AMD) is a common problem at thousands of abandoned
mine sites in the Rocky Mountains. The combination of low pH
and high concentrations of toxic metals can have severe toxicological
effects on aquatic ecosystems. Contamination of 4th and 5th
order streams with toxic metals is common, with concentrations
exceeding aquatic standards for over 1,300 river miles in Colorado
alone. Clean-up strategies are controversial for several reasons.
The treatment of AMD has traditionally involved an end-of-the-pipe
strategy, which is extremely expensive. Capital costs at individual
sites often exceed $10,000,000 and maintenance costs are generally
greater than $1,000,000 per year. With an estimated 100,000
AMD sites in the western US alone, such treatment strategies
are not economically feasible for the region as a whole. Cultural
attitudes confound treatment strategies, as many areas are proud
of their hard-rock mining heritage. For example, the EPA has
spent well over $100,000,000 at the Leadville Superfund site
to control AMD in that town, yet has been hanged in effigy.
The Colorado State Legislature passed several laws declaring
the artifacts of mining in Leadville-tailings piles, mine shafts-
historical landmarks. Therefore, even traditional remediation
techniques cannot be used to address the problem of AMD in Leadville
because they involve moving these historical landmarks.
Here we use Leadville as an example of
how targeted remediation strategies can significantly reduce
the cost of treatment while at the same time preserving important
cultural artifacts related to the legacy of hard-rock mining
in the West. The combination of steep slopes, thin soils, fractured
rock, and heavy snowfall common to mining locations in the mountainous
West make understanding the hydrology of these systems very
complicated, reducing our ability to use targeted remediation
practices. Here we present innovative procedures to eliminate
and/or control AMD based on first principles gleaned from research
on surface-groundwater interactions at the Niwot Ridge LTER
site. A suite of isotopic, hydrometric, and solute tools developed
at the NWT Ridge LTER site permit identification of contaminated
areas within a mine and areas of clean water within the mining
district. These tools are being used to guide the construction
of a $10,000,000 underground project that will remove AMD that
is threatening the town, and will allow the de-commission of
an existing water treatment plant for AMD that costs over $1,000,000
per year to operate. In turn, these tools can be used at many
other AMD sites to develop targeted remediation strategies.
|
10:20 a.m. Break
10:40 a.m. Managing
for Ecosystem Services in Intensive Agriculture: A New Kind of Productivity?
| Phil Robertson, Kellogg Biological
Station LTER |
 |
Abstract: Agriculture’s
single-minded focus on crop productivity has provided few incentives
for the development and adoption of strategies to promote other
ecosystem services. It has also favored quick, intensive approaches
to production challenges without regard to their larger environmental
costs. Research at KBS is showing the value of a broader perspective
for developing new management strategies for corn – soybean
– wheat production in the upper Midwest: managing for
environmental benefits does not necessarily mean managing for
lower yields, and benefits can themselves be profitable if properly
valued. Two examples illustrate these points: maintaining insect
diversity can provide biocontrol options for repelling exotic
pests such as the new soybean aphid now invading the US Midwest,
and a whole-system global warming analysis provides new options
for reducing the global warming impact of modern cropping systems.
Full valuation of such services awaits new economic approaches
that consider both market and non-market mechanisms for rewarding
growers.
|
11:05 a.m. Applying
LTER Principals to the Establishment of Marine Reserves in Coastal
Systems
| David Siegel, Santa Barbara Coastal
LTER |
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| Abstract: No-take marine reserves
or marine protected areas (MPA’s) have been proposed as
a general tool for ecosystem and fishery management for nearshore
coastal waters. MPA’s are attractive conservation tools
as they allow adult fish to grow to full maturity enabling “natural”
nearshore communities to develop. They may also be useful fishery
management tools as they restrict harvest to specific regions
eliminating open access fisheries. However, the establishment
of MPA’s and their assessment require long-term data sets
and new scientific understanding. Here, we introduce these issues
and describe how the Santa Barbara Coastal LTER, and coastal
LTER’s in general, can contribute to our understanding
of the benefits, effects, costs and value of marine protected
areas. |
11:30 a.m. How
Do We Use LTER Science to Manage Wildlife And Zoonotic Disease at
the Urban/ Rural Interface?
| Mike Antolin, Shortgrass Steppe
LTER |
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| Abstract: The list of emerging
diseases that have a zoonotic origin grows daily (recent additions
to the North America: SARS, avian influenza, monkeypox). Many
diseases are either endemic to the U.S. (e.g. Lyme disease,
rabies) or have become established after introduction (e.g.
plague, rabies). The LTER network is in a unique place lead
in the long term monitoring of wildlife populations that live
in relatively close proximity to humans. LTER scientists have
the ability to collaborate with scientists studying wildlife
diseases from the perspective of long-term climatic and primary
productivity data that can predict increases and declines of
wildlife populations. In turn, the same effort can produce risk
models of diseases that directly infect humans or indirectly
affect us through the plants and animals that are our companions
and upon which agriculture depends. Our research on the epizootology
and persistence of plague in prairie dogs at the Short Grass
Steppe LTER provides a prime example, although parallels exist
in studies of deer mice and other small rodents (hantavirus),
deer (Lyme disease, chronic wasting disease), frogs (parasitic
worms and chytrid fungi), and various carnivores (rabies). |
11:55 Concluding Remarks
Mark Harmon
Participants
Mark Harmon, Andrews LTER
Department of Forest Science Oregon State University Corvallis,
Oregon 97331
Email: mharmon@lternet.edu
Sherri L. Johnson, Andrews LTER
USDA Forest Service Pacific Northwest Research Station Corvallis,
Oregon 97331
Email: sjohnson@lternet.edu
Fred H. Sklar, Florida Coastal Ecosystems LTER
South Florida Water Management, Everglades Division 3301 Gun Club
Road
West Palm Beach, Fl 33406,
Email: fsklar@sfwmd.gov
Mark Williams, Niwot Ridge LTER
Department of Geography and Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research,
University of Colorado, Boulder CO 80309-0450
Email: mwilliams@lternet.edu
G. Philip Robertson, Kellogg Biological Station LTER
W.K. Kellogg Biological Station, Hickory Corners, MI 49060 and Dept.
of Crop & Soil Sciences
Michigan State University
Email: grobertson@lternet.edu
David A. Siegel, Santa Barbara Coastal LTER
Institute for Computational Earth System Science, University of
California, Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara, CA 93106-3060
Email: davey@icess.ucsb.edu
Michael F. Antolin, Shortgrass Steppe LTER
Department of Biology Colorado State University Fort Collins, CO
80523
Email: mantolin@lternet.edu
Robert Waide, Executive Director, LTER Network Office
University of New Mexico, Albuquerque NM 87131
Email: rwaide@lternet.edu
Henry Gholz, LTER Program Director
Division of Environmental Biology, National Science Foundation
Email: hgholz@nsf.gov
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