Long-term ecological research in a human-dominated world

View/ Open
Date
2012-04Author
Robertson, G. Philip
Concept link
Collins, Scott L.
Concept link
Foster, David R.
Concept link
Brokaw, Nicholas
Concept link
Ducklow, Hugh W.
Concept link
Gragson, Ted L.
Concept link
Gries, Corinna
Concept link
Hamilton, Stephen K.
Concept link
McGuire, A. David
Concept link
Moore, John C.
Concept link
Stanley, Emily H.
Concept link
Waide, Robert B.
Concept link
Williams, Mark W.
Concept link
Metadata
Show full item recordCitable URI
https://hdl.handle.net/1912/5202As published
https://doi.org/10.1525/bio.2012.62.4.6DOI
10.1525/bio.2012.62.4.6Keyword
Coupled natural—human systems; Cyberinfrastructure; Environmental observatories; Environmental education; Socioecological systemsAbstract
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.
Description
Author Posting. © American Institute of Biological Sciences, 2012. This article is posted here by permission of American Institute of Biological Sciences for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in BioScience 62 (2012): 342-253, doi:10.1525/bio.2012.62.4.6.
Collections
Suggested Citation
BioScience 62 (2012): 342-253Related items
Showing items related by title, author, creator and subject.
-
The challenge to detect and attribute effects of climate change on human and natural systems
Stone, Daithi; Auffhammer, Maximilian; Carey, Mark; Hansen, Gerrit; Huggel, Christian; Cramer, Wolfgang; Lobell, David; Molau, Ulf; Solow, Andrew R.; Tibig, Lourdes; Yohe, Gary (Springer, 2013-08-30)Anthropogenic climate change has triggered impacts on natural and human systems world-wide, yet the formal scientific method of detection and attribution has been only insufficiently described. Detection and attribution ... -
Environmental turbulent mixing controls on air-water gas exchange in marine and aquatic systems
Zappa, Christopher J.; McGillis, Wade R.; Raymond, Peter A.; Edson, James B.; Hintsa, Eric J.; Zemmelink, Hendrik J.; Dacey, John W. H.; Ho, David T. (American Geophysical Union, 2007-05-17)Air-water gas transfer influences CO2 and other climatically important trace gas fluxes on regional and global scales, yet the magnitude of the transfer is not well known. Widely used models of gas exchange rates are based ... -
Preface to special section on Beaufort Gyre Climate System Exploration Studies : documenting key parameters to understand environmental variability
Proshutinsky, Andrey; Krishfield, Richard A.; Barber, David G. (American Geophysical Union, 2009-05-23)