%0 Journal Article %J BioScience %D 2012 %T Long-term ecological research in a human-dominated world %A Robertson, G.P. %A Scott. L. Collins %A D.R. Foster %A Brokaw, N. %A Ducklow, H.W. %A Gragson, T.L. %A Gries, C. %A Hamilton, S.K. %A McGuire, A.D. %A Moore, J.C. %A Stanley, E.H. %A Waide, R.B. %A Williams, M.W. %K coupled natural–human systems %K cyberinfrastructure %K environmental education %K environmental observatories %K socioecological systems %X
The US Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) Network enters its fourth decade with a distinguished record of achievement in ecological science. The value of long-term observations and experiments has never been more important for testing ecological theory and for addressing today's most difficult environmental challenges. The network's potential for tackling emergent continent-scale questions such as cryosphere loss and landscape change is becoming increasingly apparent on the basis of a capacity to combine long-term observations and experimental results with new observatory-based measurements, to study socioecological systems, to advance the use of environmental cyberinfrastructure, to promote environmental science literacy, and to engage with decisionmakers in framing major directions for research. The long-term context of network science, from understanding the past to forecasting the future, provides a valuable perspective for helping to solve many of the crucial environmental problems facing society today.
%B BioScience %V 62 %P 342 -353 %G eng %U https://academic.oup.com/bioscience/article/62/4/342/243601 %M KNZ001498 %R 10.1525/bio.2012.62.4.6 %0 Journal Article %J Ecology %D 2008 %T Species responses to nitrogen fertilization in herbaceous plant communities, and associated species traits %A Cleland, E.E. %A Clark, C.M. %A Scott. L. Collins %A Fargione, J.E. %A Gough, L. %A Gross, K.L. %A Pennings, S.C. %A W.D. Bowman %A Robertson, G.P. %A Simpson, J. %A Tilman, D. %A K.N. Suding %XThis synthetic data set contains plant species relative abundance measures from 35 nitrogen (N) fertilization experiments conducted at 10 sites across North America. The data set encompasses the fertilization responses of 575 taxa from 1159 experimental plots. The methodology varied among experiments, in particular with regard to the type and amount of N added, plot size, species composition measure (biomass harvest, pin count, or percent cover), additional experimental manipulations, and experimental duration. At each site, each species has been classified according to a number of easily identified categorical functional traits, including life history, life form, the number of cotyledons, height relative to the canopy, potential for clonal growth, and nativity to the United States. Additional data are available for many sites, indicated by references to publications and web sites. Analyses of these data have shown that N enrichment significantly alters community composition in ways that are predictable on the basis of plant functional traits as well as environmental context. This data set could be used to answer a variety of questions about how plant community composition and structure respond to environmental changes.
%B Ecology %V 89 %P 1175 - %G eng %U https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1890/07-1104.1 %M KNZ001180 %R 10.1890/07-1104.1 %0 Book Section %B Standard Soil Methods for Long Term Ecological Research %D 1999 %T Measuring decomposition, nutrient turnover and stores in plant litter %A Harmon, M.E. %A Naddlehoffer, K.J. %A John M. Blair %E Robertson, G.P. %E Bledsoe, C.S. %E Coleman, D.C. %E Sollins, P.S. %B Standard Soil Methods for Long Term Ecological Research %I Oxford University Press %C New York %P 202 -240 %G eng %M KNZ00691 %0 Book Section %B Standard Soil Methods for Long Term Ecological Research %D 1999 %T Soil Carbon and nitrogen availability: Nitrogen mineralization, nitrification, soil respiration potentials %A Robertson, G.P. %A Wedin, D. %A Groffman, P.M. %A John M. Blair %A Holland, E. %A Nadelhoffer, K.J. %A Harris, D. %E Robertson, G.P. %E Bledsoe, C.S. %E Coleman, D.C. %E Sollins, P.S. %B Standard Soil Methods for Long Term Ecological Research %I Oxford University Press %C New York %P 258 -271 %G eng %M KNZ00706 %0 Book Section %B Standard Soil Methods for Long Term Ecological Research %D 1999 %T Soil invertebrates %A Coleman, D.C. %A John M. Blair %A Elliott, E.T. %A Wall, D.H. %E Robertson, G.P. %E Bledsoe, C.S. %E Coleman, D.C. %E Sollins, P.S. %B Standard Soil Methods for Long Term Ecological Research %I Oxford University Press %C New York %P 349 -377 %G eng %M KNZ00679