Lotic Intersite Nitrogen eXperiment (LINX), a long term, NSF-funded study whose results were recently published in the scientific journal, Nature. ]]> Baltimore Ecosystem Study (BES) Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) site provided the keynote address at the Baltimore Watershed Conference on March 1, 2008. The Conference celebrated the announcement of the Baltimore Watershed Agreement by Baltimore County Executive Jim Smith, and City of Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon. The two leaders confirmed their commitment to working jointly to improve the environmental quality and sustainability of these important land-water resources. They charged a blue ribbon Committee of Principals, representing the action agencies and community leaders in both the City and County, with recommending priorities to the two jurisdictional executive leaders for activities advancing each of the five goals for improving watershed sustainability in metropolitan Baltimore: 1) community greening, 2) development and restoration, 3) stormwater management, 4) trash as a contaminant, and 5) public health. For the text of the agreement and more on what each of these goals might encompass see http://resources.baltimorecountymd.gov/Documents/Environment/Watersheds/watershedgree06.pdf ]]> Limnology & Oceanography, North Temperate Lakes (NTL) LTER and University of Wisconsin at Madison researchers John Magnuson, Olaf Jensen and Barbara Benson reported that winter ice cover over lakes, rivers, and ponds in the region are lasting fewer and fewer days.]]> ]]> Global Change and the Ecology of Cities”published in the journal Science, CAP LTER principal investigator Nancy Grimm and colleagues argue that much of the current environmental impact of climate change originates in cities, so the increasing growth of cities should see similar growth in their urban footprint. ]]> www.lternet.edu/news/Article151.html). ]]> www.rff.org/rff/News/Features/NSF_Report.cfm.]]>
In October 2005, hurricane Wilma severely disrupted the Florida Everglades ecosystem. Fringing mangrove forests exposed to hurricane-level winds were effectively destroyed, while more sheltered forests were severely damaged. At the FCE-LTER flux tower site (SRS-6), about a third of the trees were destroyed and roughly 3 cm of carbonate mud added on the mangrove forest floor. All instruments on the flux tower were also destroyed (Figure 1) and the tower itself damaged beyond repair and had to be replaced. The boardwalks and supporting structures also had to be re-built. ]]> Research Experience for Teachers (RET)
Larry Byman, a Biology and Environmental Field Studies teacher in Longview, Washington, worked with Andrews Forest scientists during the 2006 field season to learn about long-term data collection and data management techniques. Based on what he learned at the Andrews Forest, Byman developed an environmental curriculum for use at the Longview District’s Wake Robin Outdoor Learning Center. “This ranks as one of the absolute best learning experiences I’ve had during my teaching career,” said Byman. His lessons cover topics such as litter decomposition, moth diversity, soil seed bank, stream cross sections, and tree growth rates. Byman’s lessons are available through the Wake Robin Outdoor Learning Center’s website, www.longview.k12.wa.us/wr/LTER.

Kurt Cox, a junior high science teacher from the McKenzie School District, developed a set of research activities on the McKenzie High School grounds which is based upon research being conducted at the Andrews Forest. The seventh and eighth-graders will visit the Andrews LTER site in the fall and spring to conduct vegetation surveys, examine log decomposition, and measure stream structure.

More information on educational activities of the Andrews Forest program is available at www.fsl.orst.edu/lter/edu/schoolyard/ret.cfm?topnav=156.

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]]> www.lakemetabolism.org; http://gleon.org), and my visit there was part of a growing collaboration between individual LTER sites and the Taiwan Ecological Research Network (TERN).]]> Dr. Clyde Goulden, Director of The Academy' of Natural Sciences Institute for Mongolian Biodiversity and Ecological Studies, has been awarded the Friendship Medal for his contributions to Mongolia’s development.
]]> “Long-Term Dynamics of Lakes in the Landscape: Long-Term Ecological Research on North Temperate Lakes,” has received a glowing review in the June 2007 issue of Limnology and Oceanography Bulletin. ]]> ZooGoer magazine, a membership publication of the Friends of the National Zoo published online by the Smithsonian Institution. ]]> ]]> National Geographic magazine explores the tallgrass prairie ecosystem in the heartland of the United States. ]]> Science, whose focus is the International Polar Year ( IPY), features an article entitled "Boom and Bust in a Polar Hot Zone" by science writer Erik Stokstad that highlights research by Palmer LTER. ]]> ]]> the imagination of readers far and wide. ]]> By David R. Foster, John F. O’Keefe ]]> Alaska’s Changing Boreal Forest By Chapin, F.S., III, M.W. Oswood, K. Van Cleve, L.A. Viereck, and D.L. Verbyla (editors). 2006. Oxford University Press, New York.]]> The LTER Network Office (LNO) is coordinating access by LTER sites to historical and recent satellite reconnaissance data, as well as MODIS time series subsets and imagery from the International Space Station. This effort is to provide access for LTER sites to data that are acquired and archived by collaborating partners, including the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the United States Geological Survey (USGS). Information on these and other LTER Network remote sensing data is available on the LTER remote sensing and GIS information page at www.lternet.edu/technology/ltergis/.]]> The Journey to El Yunque middle school ecology curriculum isn’t just another sugarcoated science project that’s long on fun and short on real learning. According to Dr. Steven McGee, Principal Investigator of Journey to El Yunque and president of The Learning Partnership, a rigorous, standards-based evaluation of the curriculum has confirmed that students using the Journey to El Yunque curriculum gained greater understanding of population dynamics than a comparison group using a traditional ecology curriculum.]]> New LTER book captures children’s fascination with Antarctica.]]> Researchers seek new ways to study ecological processes.]]> All Things Considered on Saturday, April 22 (Earth Day) carried an item about the NSF-funded BES residential carbon study. ]]> http://sols.asu.edu/faculty/jcollins.php), as head of Biological Sciences following the retirement of Dr Mary E. Clutter.]]> Science magazine.]]>