Recent Publications from the LTER Network

Palmer LTER Site Participates in Publication of New Children's Book

by Dawn Rawls, Palmer LTER

This novel for middleschool students grew from Bledsoe's time as the NSF/ OPP 1999 Writer in-Residence in Antarctica. Cover illustration is by Carol Newsom/ Artworks, NY.

Fiction can be an important tool for engaging a student's interest in scientific subjects. When research scientists and the author collaborate during the early developmental stages of creating fiction, the reader's experience of the underlying science is greatly enriched.

The Antarctic Scoop by Lucy Bledsoe (October 2003; Holiday House) grew out of the author's visits to McMurdo in Antarctica as part of the NSF Artists and Writers Program which is also sponsoring her current trip to Palmer Station. Her introduction to LTER and long-term science was initiated at a San Diego Antarctic Storytelling Workshop sponsored by Palmer LTER last summer.

This middle-grades novel features an 11- year-old girl who wins a science contest and the prize is a trip to   Antarctica, where she eventually learns that her sponsors have used her to gain access to the science continent. Not only does she expose these foes of science but she solves a problem that has been keeping the South Pole Telescope, built to detect Cosmic Background Radiation, from receiving first light.

Coweeta LTER Research Featured on Cover of journal Ecosystems
The March 2003 issue of Ecosystems featured a cover photo from the Coweeta LTER program, based on the article in that issue entitled "Hillslope Nutrient Dynamics Following Upland Riparian Vegetation Disturbance" by J. Alan Yeakley, David C. Coleman, Bruce L. Haines, Brian D. Kloeppel, Judy L. Meyer, Wayne T. Swank, Barry W. Argo, James M. Deal, and Sharon F. Taylor. The article reported on a 9-year study of the effects both of riparian Rhododendron harvest and of hurricane canopy tree wind throw on nutrient and carbon dynamics in an upland watershed at Coweeta.

Microbes Active in Colorado Snows Fuel Tundra Ecosystem
LTER researchers at Niwot Ridge involved in the Microbial Observatories Program have published their results in a recent issue of the journal Science: "Seasonal Dynamics of Previously Unknown Fungal Lineages in Tundra Soils," Christopher W. Schadt, Andrew P. Martin, David A. Lipson, and Steven K. Schmidt Science 2003 September 5; 301: 1359-1361 Populations of fungi blanketed by Colorado's snows are more active and diverse than previously thought, and are likely responsible for the productivity of the tundra ecosystem they are a part of, according to these findings. Christopher Schadt, now of the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee and a former graduate student at the University of Colorado at Boulder, said "the discovery should help scientists gain greater insight into decomposition rates, carbon cycles and the roles of individual fungi in those processes." Surprisingly, the number of active microorganisms in tundra soils, for at least the top 10 centimeters, (about four inches) peaks when the soils are covered with snow.

Latest Volume of LTER Synthesis Series Published
"Climate Variability and Ecosystem Response at Long-Term Ecological Research Sites" is now available through Oxford University Press. This volume is 16 years in the making according to editor David Greenland (Andrews LTER)."It's roots are in the LTER workshop at Niwot Ridge in August 1988." The other editors are: Douglas Goodin (Konza LTER), and Raymond Smith (Palmer LTER). Several years and meetings later, an outline was agreed upon and a Web page was set up to facilitate collaboration. "People find the synthesis stimulating and thought provoking," says Greenalnd, following several public presentations of the final chapter of the book.