News Release 16-140
NSF-funded scientists to present on long-term ecological research findings at AGU fall meeting
Research topics range from kelp forest changes and life in ice to Midwest rainfall and crops
November 15, 2016
This material is available primarily for archival purposes. Telephone numbers or other contact information may be out of date; please see current contact information at media contacts.
Find related stories on NSF's Long-Term Ecological Research Program at this link.
Climate change effects on the U.S. West Coast's undersea kelp forests. Life in ice. Extreme rainfall patterns and how they affect Midwest crops. These are just a few of the topics scientists affiliated with the National Science Foundation (NSF) Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) Network will discuss at the upcoming American Geophysical Union (AGU) fall meeting, Dec. 12-16.
Scientists funded by NSF's Geosciences and Biological Sciences directorates conducted research at two dozen NSF LTER sites around the world in ecosystems ranging from deserts and grasslands to coral reefs and Arctic tundra. LTER researchers work to identify the factors driving future environmental change, and to map potential ecosystem responses that could result.
Presentations at AGU will address social and ecological change; ecosystem vulnerability, resilience and adaptability; and why long-term data are essential to understanding and predicting future responses to natural and human-caused environmental changes.
For example, scientists at the Kellogg Biological Station LTER site in Michigan conducted a multi-year experiment to look at how extreme rainfall patterns affect nitrogen leaching from row-crop ecosystems in the upper Midwest, and to what extent tillage (the preparation of land for growing crops) might moderate these effects. As global surface temperatures rise, rainfall in heavy storm events is increasing in many areas, including the U.S. Midwest, a major agricultural region. That may result in changes in nutrients in soils, especially in agricultural ecosystems.
Links to this and other NSF LTER presentations at AGU are listed below. The meeting will be held in San Francisco. For more on the NSF LTER Network, please see NSF LTER Network and NSF LTER Discovery Article Series.
Monday, Dec. 12
Tuesday, Dec. 13
Permafrost in Earth System Models: Recent Progress and Future Challenges
Pyrogenic carbon distribution in landscapes and input to aquatic systems
Impacts of storm events on salt marsh sediment dynamics
Wednesday, Dec. 14
Climate Sensitivity Functions and Ecosystem Dynamics Across a Grassland to Shrubland Transition Zone
Microbial community controls on decomposition and soil carbon storage
Integrating Legacy Data to Understand Agroecosystem Regional Dynamics to Catastrophic Events
Moving Uphill: Microbial Facilitation at the Leading Edge of Plant Species Distributional Shifts
Topography and traits modulate drought effects on tree growth in a tropical second-growth forest
Thursday, Dec. 15
Friday, Dec. 16
Grassland Responses to Precipitation Extremes
Climatic impacts of managed landscapes for sustainable biofuel feedstocks production
Soil Phosphorus Cycling from the Tropics to the Poles II
The Resilience and Vulnerability of Arctic and Boreal Ecosystems to Climate Change IV
Apatite grain weathering and soil phosphorus availability in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica
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Scientists are conducting research on life in bogs and under ice at NSF's Bonanza Creek LTER site.
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View of an NSF Kellogg Biological Station LTER experiment to test how crops respond to nitrogen.
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Winter at NSF's Harvard Forest LTER site, where forest ecosystem studies are taking place.
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Mangroves in Florida's Shark River before a cold snap hit the Florida Coastal Everglades LTER site.
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A research tower at NSF's Plum Island Ecosystems LTER site; it measures salt marsh carbon dioxide.
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Media Contacts
Cheryl Dybas, NSF, (703) 292-7734, email: cdybas@nsf.gov
Peter West, NSF (Polar Regions LTER Sites), (703) 292-7530, email: pwest@nsf.gov
Marty Downs, LTER Network Office, (805) 893-7549, email: downs@nceas.ucsb.edu
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