Long-Term Ecological Research: Changing the Nature of Scientists

465 Pages·2016·23.556 MB·English

by  Michael R. Willig, Lawrence R. Walker

Long- Term
Ecological
Research

LONG-T ERM
ECOLOGICAL
RESEARCH
CHANGING THE
NATURE OF
SCIENTISTS
Edited by
Michael R. Willig
and
Lawrence R. Walker
1
1
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Willig, Michael R., editor. | Walker, Lawrence R., editor.
Title: Long-term ecological research : changing the nature of scientists /
edited by Michael R. Willig and Lawrence R. Walker.
Description: New York, NY : Oxford University Press, 2015. | Includes
bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2015030157 | ISBN 9780199380213
Subjects: LCSH: Ecology—Research—United States. | Long-Term Ecological
Research Program.
Classification: LCC QH541.26 .L67 2015 | DDC 577.072073—dc23 LC record available at
http://lccn.loc.gov/2015030157
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Printed by Sheridan Books, Inc., United States of America
We dedicate this volume to past, present, and future participants in the
Long-T erm Ecological Research program, as well as to those visionaries
in the National Science Foundation and other governmental agencies
who have contributed to the program’s genesis and perpetuation.

Contents
xi Preface, M ichael R. Willig and Lawrence R. Walker
xv List of Contributors
Part One Introduction and Overview
3 1 . Changing the Nature of Scientists: Participating in the Long- Term
Ecological Research Program, Michael R. Willig and Lawrence R. Walker
29 2. Sustaining Long- Term Research: Collaboration, Multidisciplinarity and
Synthesis in the Long-T erm Ecological Research Program, R obert B. Waide
43 3. Reflections on Long- Term Ecological Research from National Science
Foundation Program Directors’ Perspectives, Henry L. Gholz,
Roberta Marinelli, and Phillip R. Taylor
Part Two H. J. Andrews Experimental Forest (AND) LTER Site
55 4. Streams and Dreams and Cross-s ite Studies, S herri L. Johnson
63 5. Data, Data Everywhere!, S usan G. Stafford
73 6. Science, Citizenship, and Humanities in the Ancient Forest of
H. J. Andrews, Frederick J. Swanson
Part Three Arctic (ARC) LTER Site
83 7. Bridging Community and Ecosystem Ecology at the Arctic Long- Term
Ecological Research Site via Collaborations, L aura Gough
91 8. Long- Term Ecological Research in the Arctic: Where Science Never
Sleeps, John E. Hobbie
99 9. Forty Arctic Summers, Gaius R. Shaver
Part Four Baltimore Ecosystem Study (BES) LTER Site
109 1 0. Of Fish and Platypus: If You Could Ask a Fish What It Feels Like
to Swim, J. Morgan Grove
119 1 1. Long- Term Ecological Research on the Urban Frontier: Benefiting
from Baltimore, S teward T. A. Pickett
viii Part Five Cedar Creek Ecosystem Science Reserve (CDR) LTER Site
s 129 1 2. Beneficiary of a Changed Paradigm: Perspectives of a “Next-G eneration”
nt
e Scientist, Elizabeth T. Borer
nt
o 137 13. Listening to Nature and Letting Data Be “Trump”, David Tilman
C
Part Six Central Arizona– Phoenix (CAP) LTER Site
147 14. The Socializing of an Ecosystem Ecologist: Interdisciplinarity
from a Career Spent in the Long- Term Ecological Research Network,
Daniel L. Childers
155 15. An Urban Ecological Journey, Nancy B. Grimm
Part Seven Coweeta (CWT) LTER Site
167 16. An Anthropologist Joins the Long-T erm Ecological Research
Network, Ted L. Gragson
Part Eight Florida Coastal Everglades (FCE) LTER Site
177 17. The Benefits of Long- Term Environmental Research, Friendships,
and Boiled Peanuts, Evelyn E. Gaiser
185 18. Collaboration and Broadening Our Scope: Relevance of Long- Term
Ecological Research to the Global Community, Tiffany G. Troxler
Part Nine Jornada Basin (JRN) LTER Site
197 19. A Dryland Ecologist’s Mid- Career Retrospective on
Long- Term Ecological Research and the Science– Management
Interface, Brandon Bestelmeyer
205 20. Tales from a “Lifer” in the Long- Term Ecological Research
Program, D ebra P. C. Peters
Part Ten Konza Prairie (KNZ) LTER Site
215 21. A Forest to Prairie Transition as a Long- Term Ecological Research
Scientist, John Blair
225 22. Growing Up with the Konza Prairie Long- Term Ecological Research
Program, A lan K. Knapp
233 23. Born and Bred in the Long- Term Ecological Research Network:
Perspectives on Network Science and Global Collaborations,
Melinda D. Smith
Part Eleven Luquillo (LUQ) LTER Site
243 24. Confessions of a Fungal Systematist, D . Jean Lodge
251 25. A Glimpse of the Tropics Through Odum’s Macroscope, Ariel E. Lugo
259 26. Taking the Long View: Growing Up in the Long- Term Ecological
Research Program, W hendee L. Silver
Part Twelve Moorea Coral Reef (MCR) LTER Site ix

269 27. Kelp Forests, Coral Reefs, and the Long- Term Ecological Research C
o
n
Program: Synergies and Impacts on a Scientific Career, S ally J. Holbrook te
n
277 28. The Long- Term Ecological Research Construct for Understanding ts
Dynamics of Coral Reef Ecosystems and Its Influence on
My Science, Russell J. Schmitt
Part Thirteen Niwot Ridge (NWT) LTER Site
289 29. Top of the World Collaborations: Lessons from above Treeline,
Katharine N. Suding
Part Fourteen North Temperate Lakes (NTL) LTER Site
299 30. My Evolution as a Long-T erm Ecological Research Scientist,
John J. Magnuson
Part Fifteen Palmer Antarctica (PAL) LTER Site
309 31. Learning from a Frozen Ocean: The Changing Face of Antarctic
Ocean Ecology, Hugh W. Ducklow
Part Sixteen Plum Island Ecosystem (PIE) LTER Site
319 32. Mysteries in the Marsh, Anne Giblin
325 33. Perspectives on a 30- Year Career of Salt Marsh
Research, James T. Morris
Part Seventeen Santa Barbara Coastal (SBC) LTER Site
335 34. Evolution of an Information Manager, Margaret O’Brien
Part Eighteen Sevilleta (SEV) LTER Site
345 35. From the Long- Term Ecological Research Program to the National
Science Foundation and Back: A Personal History of Long- Term
Ecological Research Science and Management, Scott L. Collins
355 36. The Long- Term Ecological Research Stimulus: Research,
Education, and Leadership Development at Individual
and Community Levels, James R. Gosz
Part Nineteen Shortgrass Steppe (SGS) LTER Site
365 37. Long- Term Ecological Research and Lessons from Networked
Lives, J ohn C. Moore
Part Twenty Virginia Coastal Reserve (VCR) LTER Site
375 38. Networking: From the Long-T erm Ecological Research Program
to the National Ecological Observatory Network, B ruce P. Hayden
381 39. Sharing Information: Many Hands Make Light Work, J ohn H. Porter