Inernational LTER News

International participants at the 2003 LTER All Scientist's Meeting in Seattle Washington.

New networks, new committees and a new chairperson all mark exciting developments for the ILTER initiative in 2003. The recent activity has also increased the interest of the Office of International Science and Engineering (the group at the National Science Foundation that oversees international science funding, known as INT), as well as renewed interest from the LTER and ILTER communities. Following a close look at Network Office international activities, INT offered a "Discussion Draft" of a Proposal to LTER concerning U.S. involvement in International LTER activities. This proposal is available on the LTER Web site. Main points include the offer to fund a coordinator to facilitate communication and international collaborative activities, including information management training. This preliminary proposal was presented to the LTER community for discussion at the Sept 2003 All Scientists' Meeting. The initiative, previously supported mainly by supplements to the LTER Network Office, is growing into a much more structured effort. Through this transition the ILTER community and the NSF will continue to discuss the options for growth, welcoming input from the larger community. The U.S. LTER has formed an International Networking Committee Membership includes: Nick Brokaw (Luquillo), Patrick Bougeron (Niwot), Ted Gragson (Coweeta), Steve Hamburg (Harvard Forest), Dave Hartnett (Konza), Brian Kloeppel (Coweeta), Dick Lathrop (North Temperate Lakes), Kate Lajtha (Andrews), Berry Lyons (McMurdo), Chris Madden (Florida Coastal), Dennis Ojima (Shortgrass Steppe), Deb Peters (Jornada), Kristin Vanderbilt (Sevilleta), Bob Waide (Luquillo). No chair has yet been selected.

The ILTER Network has formed a committee of representatives from each of the six regions: Christian Leveque (Western Europe), Julius Oszlanyi (Central and Eastern Europe), Manuel Maass (North America), Jorge Jimenez (Central and South America), Zhao Shidong (East Asia/Pacific), Johan Pauw (Southern Africa). Also, the ILTER Committee has elected new chair - Henbiau King (Taiwan-ROC). These individuals can be reached via the LTER personnel database on the Website.

Two countries have joined the ILTER Network recently. Slovenia and Romania presented the merits of their science and network infrastructure to attendees at the All Scientist's Meeting in Seattle and these presentations are available on the Website. In addition, regional network level activity in southern Africa has increased (see article, next page), as well as good cross-site science developing between Coweeta LTER and France's Zones Ateliers (see article, page 10).

Recent International LTER Publications - a sample

BRAZIL

Abreu, PC; Roerig, LR; Garcia, VM; Odebrecht, C; Biddanda, BB. 2003. Decoupling between bacteria and surf-zone diatom Asterionellopsis glacialis (Castracane) in Cassino Beach, Brazil. Aquatic Microbial Ecology 32:219-228.

Barbosa, F. A. R., F. R. Scarano, M. G. Sabará and F. A. Esteves 2003. Brazilian LTER: ecosystem and biodiversity information in support of decision-making. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 00: 1-13 (in press)

Odebrecht C; Abreu, PC; Fujita C & Bergesch B. 2003. The impact of mud deposition on the long term variability of the surf-zone diatom Asterionellopsis glacialis (Castracane) Round. Journal of Coastal Research, USA. Vol. 35:493-498.

Seeliger, U; Kjerfve, B. (Eds.) 2001. Coastal Marine Ecosystems of Latin America: Ecological Studies 144, Springer Verlag, Berlin, Heidelberg. 360 p.

CANADA

Environmental Monitoring And Assessment Special Issue "Monitoring Ecological Change In Canada-Part 1" - FEB-MARCH, 2001 Volume 67 pp1-291.

Environmental Monitoring And Assessment Special Issue On "Monitoring Ecological Change In Canada Part 2" Volume 88 pp1- 468 October 2003 AMBIO Special Issue: " Biological Recovery From Acidification: Northern Lakes Recovery Study" Ambio, Vol. 32, No. 3 pp 162-248

MEXICO (Chamela, Tropical deciduous forest).

Balvanera, P., Lott, E., Segura, G., Siebe, C., Islas, A. 2002. Beta diversity patterns and determinants in a tropical dry forest of Mexico. Journal of Vegetation Science 13: 145-158.

Campo, J., J.M. Maass, V. Jaramillo, & A. Martínez-Yrízar. 2000. Calcium, potassium and magnesium cycling in a Mexican tropical dry forest ecosystem. Biogeochemistry. 49 (1): 21-36

Campo, J., J.M. Maass, V. Jaramillo, A. Martínez-Yrízar, and J. Sarukhán. 2001. Phosphorus cycling in a Mexican tropical dry forest ecosystem. Biogeochemistry 53:161-179.

Castellanos, J., Jaramillo, V.J., Sanford Jr., R.L & Kauffman, J.B. 2001. Slash-and-burn effects on fine root biomass and productivity in a tropical dry forest ecosystem of México. Forest Ecology and Management 148:41-50.

García-Oliva F., B. Sveshtarova and M. Oliva 2003. Seasonal effect on soil organic carbon dynamic in a tropical deciduous forest ecosystem in western Mexico. Journal of Tropical Ecology 19 (2): 179-188.

García-Oliva, F., R.L. Sanford Jr. and E. Kelly 1999. Effect of burning of Tropical Deciduous forest soil in Mexico on the microbial degradation of organic matter. Plant and Soil 206 (1): 29-36.

García-Oliva, F., R.L. Sanford Jr. and E. Kelly 1999. Effects of Slash-and-burn Management on Soil Aggregate Organic C and N in a tropical Deciduous Forest. Geoderma 88 (1-2): 1-12.

Giardina,C.P., Sanford Jr., R.L., Døckersmith, I.C. & Jaramillo, V.J. 2000. The effects of slash burning on ecosystem nutrients during the land preparation phase of shifting cultivation. Plant and Soil 220:247-260. Jaramillo, V.J., Kauffman, J.B., Rentería-Rodríguez, L. Cummings, D.L. & Ellingson, L.E. (In press). Biomass, C, and N pools in Mexican tropical dry forest landscapes. ECOSYSTEMS.

Kauffman, J.B., M.D. Steele, D.L. Cummings and V. J. Jaramillo. 2003. Biomass dynamics associated with deforestation, fire, and conversion to cattle pasture in a Mexican tropical dry forest. Forest Ecology and Management 176:1-12.

Kelly, C.K.., Banyard-Smith, H., Buckley, Y.M., Carter, R., Franco, M., Johnson W., Jones, T., May B., Pérez I., R., Pérez-Jiménez A., Solís M. A., Steers H. & Waterman, C. 2001. Investigations on commonness and rarity: a comparative analysis of co-occurring, congeneric Mexican trees. Ecology Letters 4: 618-627.

Maass, J.M., A. Martínez-Yrízar, C. Patiño & J. Sarukhán 2002. Distribution and annual net accumulation of above-ground dead phytomass and its influence on throughfall quality in a Mexican tropical deciduous forest ecosystem. Journal of Tropical Ecology 18:1-15.

Segura, G., Balvanera, P., Durán, E., Pérez, A. (In press). Tree community structure and stem mortality along a water availability gradient in a Mexican tropical dry forest. Plant Ecology.

Cotler H. 2001. Soil aggregation as vulnerability indicator for geo-ecosystems at the Pacific coast of Mexico. Proceedings of the International Symposium on Land Degradation and Desertification, México 5-12/05/ 2001.

García-Oliva, F., L. Barajas, M. Nava-Mendoza and J.M. Maass 2002. Long-term C, N and P losses by sediment yield in five watershed in a Mexican tropical deciduous forest ecosystem. In: G. Anze and H. Wenyuan (Eds.) Process of soil erosion and its environment effect. II. Proceedings 12th ISCO, Tsinghua University Press, Beijing, pp: 251-255.

Martínez-Yrízar, A., A. Búrquez y J.M. Maass. 2000. Structure and functioning of tropical deciduous forest in Western Mexico. In: R.H. Robichaux and D Yetman (ed) The tropical deciduous forest of Alamos: biodiversity of a threatened ecosystem in Mexico. University of Arizona Press, Tucson. Pp:19-35.

Vose, J.M. and J.M. Maass 1999. A Comparative analysis of hydrologic responses of tropical deciduous and temperate deciduous watershed ecosystems to climatic change. In: C. Aguirre-Bravo and C. Rodríguez-Franco (comp). 1999. North American Science Symposium: Toward a Unified Framework for Inventorying and Monitorian Forest Ecosystem Resources. Guadalajara, México (November 2-6, 1998). USDA Forest Service Proceedings RMRS-P-12 :292-298.

NAMIBIA

Henschel, J. et al. 2003. "Developing the Environmental Long-Term Observatories Network of Southern Africa (ELTOSA) South African Journal of Science 99, pp. 100-108.

USA

Christian, R. R. 2003. Coastal initiative of the Global Terrestrial Observing System. Ocean & Coastal Management 46: 313-321.