Ecological Research in Marine Environments

LTER 1

Long-Term Ecological Research in Marine Environments is Topic of Symposium. Image Courtesy: Plum Island Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) Site Long-Term Ecological Research at Plum Island, Massachusetts

At a symposium on Thursday, March 3, scientists will highlight projects underway at the new California Current Ecosystem research site, and the Moorea Coral Reef research site, in the Pacific islands of French Polynesia. These studies and research at other Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) sites are contributing important information about the plight of the world’s oceans. Scientists will also identify and discuss ecological “grand challenges” of the 21st Century.

The LTER network, funded by the National Science Foundation, comprises 26 field sites located primarily in the United States, but with a geographic span from the Arctic and Antarctic to the tropics. The sites represent Earth’s major ecosystems and include deserts, grasslands, forests, tundra, urban areas, agricultural systems, freshwater lakes, coastal estuaries and salt marshes, coral reefs and coastal ocean zones.

Who: Henry Gholz, NSF LTER Program Director, Philip Taylor, NSF Biological Oceanography Program Director, Scientists from coastal and other LTER sites

What: Symposium on results of Long-Term Ecological Research at marine sites

When: Thursday, March 3, 2005, 8:30 a.m. – 12:45 p.m.

Where: National Science Foundation 4201 Wilson Blvd. Stafford II Building, Room 555 Arlington, VA22230

For a detailed symposium agenda, or to arrange for a pass to enter the building, please contact: Cheryl Dybas, cdybas@nsf.gov, (703) 292-7734 - NSF- Media Advisory 05-003 February 24, 2005