Long Term Ecological Research |
Long
Term Ecological Research
Ecology is the study of relationships between
living organisms and their environment -- the study of how ecosystems function.
Many ecosystem processes happen very slowly. For example, it can take decades
or even centuries for a fallen tree to decay, and for a lake to fill with sediment
and become a grassy meadown. What's more, sometimes these processes happen
very slowly, while other times they proceed quite rapidly. Because ecosystems
change at varying rates over long periods of time, short-term studies of ecosystems
can give misleading results.
In 1980, the National Science Foundation established the Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) Network to support research on long-term ecological processes. One of the goals of the LTER Network is to study how ecosystems change over very long periods of time. To support that goal, the LTER has developed 24 sites: 19 in the lower 48 states plus two sites in Alaska, two in Antarctica, and one in Puerto Rico. More than 1,100 scientists and students use these sites for ecological research. And what these scientists are studying is fascinating!
To help introduce high school and middle school teachers and students to the unique world of the LTER network, we have developed an online manual of educational activities. This manual includes:
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University and Penn State University |