What are ‘Core Areas’?
The Core Areas are five research themes that are central to Long Term Ecological Research Network science. These core areas require the involvement of many scientific disciplines, over long time and broad spatial scales.

Data on the Core Areas is collected at regular intervals over space and time to establish and understand the existing conditions in an ecosystem before any kind of experimental manipulation can begin. An understanding of existing conditions is the basis for experimental manipulation.
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CORE AREAS:
1) Pattern and control of primary production Plant growth in most ecosystems forms the base or “primary” component of the food web. The amount and type of plant growth in an ecosystem helps to determine the amount and kind of animals (or “secondary” productivity) that can survive there.

2) Spatial and temporal distribution of populations selected to represent trophic structure A population is a group of organisms of the same species. Like canaries in the coalmine, changes in populations of organisms can be important indicators of environmental changes.

3) Pattern and control of organic matter accumulation in surface layers and sediments 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.

4) Patterns of inorganic inputs and movements of nutrients through soils, groundwater and surface waters Nitrogen, phosphorus and other mineral nutrients are cycled through the ecosystem by way of decay and disturbances such as fire and flood. In excessive quantities nitrogen and other nutrients can have far-reaching and harmful effects on the environment.

5) Patterns and frequency of site disturbances Disturbances often shape ecosystems by periodically reorganizing or destroying them, allowing for significant changes in plant and animal populations and communities.