1. What is the Long Term Ecological Rescarch (LTER) program? Why are these long-
ID: 118972 • Letter: 1
Question
1. What is the Long Term Ecological Rescarch (LTER) program? Why are these long-term rescarch efforts worth the expense and other challenges they gencrate? Your response should include specific cxamples of insights gained from long- term research efforts that would be impossible from the more typical short-term (ie., 3-4 year) studies of natural systems. 2. Provide a brief explanation of how land use history in central Massachusetts has impacted the forest community composition observed today. Your response should include examples from the dioramas and introductory presentation at the Fisher MuseumExplanation / Answer
1. NSF established the Long Term Ecological Research Program (LTER) in 1980. Two components differentiate LTER research from projects supported by other NSF programs: 1) the research is located at specific sites chosen to represent major ecosystem types or natural biomes, and 2) it emphasizes the study of ecological phenomena over long periods of time based on data collected in five core areas. Long-term studies are critical to achieve an integrated understanding of how components of ecosystems interact as well as to test ecological theory. Ongoing research at LTER sites is expected to contribute to the development and testing of fundamental ecological theories and significantly advance understanding of the long-term dynamics of populations, communities and ecosystems. It often integrates multiple disciplines and, through cross-site interactions may examine patterns or processes over broad spatial scales. Recognizing that the value of long-term data extends beyond use at any individual site, NSF requires that data collected by all LTER sites be made publicly accessible.
2. Massachusetts has a complex east-to-west environmental gradient involving
changes in physiography, climate, geology and natural disturbance. Until the middle of
the twentieth century, agriculture was the most important land-use across the region;
although the percentage of land in agriculture and the timing of major land-use changes
were remarkably consistent across the state, historical forest patch sizes varied locally
and regionally in relation to physiography. Forest composition of both early historical
and modern forests is most strongly related to environmental conditions, especially
variation in climate. Historical land-use resulted in a state-wide increase in early suc-
cessional tree species and a dramatic, although recovering, change in forest structure. At a regional scale, environmental conditions apparently control
broad patterns of variation in vegetation composition. Historical land-use practices were
relatively homogenous across Massachusetts and local variation was reduced through
data averaging at broad spatial scales. At finer spatial scales, historical land-use has
strong and persistent impacts on vegetation composition and structure.
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