Luquillo LTER

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Announcing New LTER Synthesis Working Groups! Sev

Announcing New LTER Synthesis Working Groups!

Seven groups join us in 2023! Read about how they plan to use LTER science to glean new ecological insight, from marine systems to disturbance, and more!

While glacial thawing shapes ecosystem processes i

While glacial thawing shapes ecosystem processes in the Green Lakes Valley, long-term data shows that it alone cannot explain the spatiotemporal patterns of stream chemistries at the Niwot LTER.

Read the full story by Angela Theodosopoulos in this months Network News, plus jobs, highlights from the year, papers, and more.

LTER Network News | December 2022-January 2023

In a harsh environment like the desert, resource a

In a harsh environment like the desert, resource availability can be absolutely critical. This is why researchers like the undergraduate student seen in the first image work to implement nutrient addition experiments. The impact of differential resource availability can be astonishing - just swipe to the second picture to see!

These images highlight the ongoing research overseen by graduate student Dylan Stover at University of Texas El Paso, seen in the third photo hauling gear.

Last but not least, we'd like to share a photo of Eleanor, the baby calf who can be found at College Ranch just south of the Jornada LTER. This site is also home to much of the research conducted by scientists working with the Jornada LTER.

Photo credit: Dylan Stover @dylan.stover

There’s a lot of wide-open spaces on the #jornad

There’s a lot of wide-open spaces on the #jornadaLTER where Honey mesquite (Prosopis glandulosa) has encroached into perennial #grasslands, driving a transition to a shrubland state. Without grass species covering the ground, #soilerosion can increase dramatically in these open areas between mesquite shrubs. Even with efforts to remove mesquite, grasses have a hard time repopulating these open areas following significant soil erosion (i.e. loss of seeds, nutrients) and may not recover without some additional help.

Enter the Connectivity Modifier (or ConMod for short)! These X-shaped ConMods made of hardware cloth are intended to help limit the movement of soil, plant litter, and seeds with wind or water-driven erosion through these open spaces. Over time, these materials will collect within the ConMods and create conditions more amenable to grass recovery. These ConMods were recently installed on plots treated or untreated with herbicide to see if they can be an effective restoration tool to aid grass recovery alongside mesquite control!
#LTER #longtermresearch #lternetwork #drylands #ecology #STEM #STEAM #fieldresearch #research #phdlife #scicommers

Photo and writing credit: Molly Reichenborn

Samples being prepared to send for sequencing. lon

Samples being prepared to send for sequencing. longtermresearch #lternetwork #microbes #soilmicrobes #microbialecology #STEM #STEAM #womendoingscience #laboratorylife #fieldresearch #research #phdlife #gradlife #scientistswhoselfie #thisiswhatascientistlookslike #scicomm

Doing science in desert be like. #Jornada #LTER #s

Doing science in desert be like. #Jornada #LTER #science #scicomm #STEM #STEAM

Collecting soil samples from Jornada,LTER for soil

Collecting soil samples from Jornada,LTER for soil microbial analysis. The sites are part of Duneland Restoration Project. From the soil, once the DNA is extracted, it is send for amplicon sequencing. Results from it will help us learn about different microbial communities found in ecological state changes seen in Jornada,LTER. #longtermresearch #lternetwork #ecology #STEM #STEAM #womendoingscience #laboratorylife #fieldresearch #research #phdlife #gradlife #scientistswhoselfie #thisiswhatascientistlookslike #scicomm

DataBits has been around since 1989, and a new ret

DataBits has been around since 1989, and a new retrospective shows how the newsletter tracks the evolution of information technology. Also, jobs, REU's, AGU, articles on corals and long-term research, and much more.

LTER Network News | November, 2022

At the Santa Barbara Coastal (SBC) LTER, we do a l

At the Santa Barbara Coastal (SBC) LTER, we do a lot of swimming, reeling out transect tapes, counting, measuring, and writing underwater! We survey our local kelp forests along permanent transects at 11 sites. We count mobile animals including fishes and invertebrates, identify macroalgae and sessile invertebrates on the substrate, and measure and count the number of kelp plants along the transects.

Our divers perform monthly, seasonal, and annual surveys of our sites to characterize benthic community structure, production of giant kelp, and track changes in canopy biomass over time.

@sbc_lter
📹 @jgogawa96

Have you ever wondered what kelp forests and sandy

Have you ever wondered what kelp forests and sandy beaches look like from above?

Researchers at the Santa Barbara Coastal (SBC) LTER are using aerial drones to capture high resolution images of kelp forest canopy density and kelp wrack deposition on beaches. Drones can capture images with high resolution (6mm to 4 cm pixel sizes) compared to the coarser resolution (tens of meters) captured by satellites. These tools can help researchers understand how kelp forest canopies fluctuate over time and in space.

Drone images of sandy beaches help scientists like postdoctoral researcher, Kyle Emery @k_emery2012 evaluate how subsidies from kelp forests to sandy beaches can influence sandy beach invertebrate communities.

Orthomosaic images by @k_emery2012
@katie.cavs
@sbc_lter

Welcome to the Santa Barbara Coastal (SBC) LTER! R

Welcome to the Santa Barbara Coastal (SBC) LTER! Researchers at SBC study the ecological processes structuring kelp forest ecosystems, sandy beaches, and the coastal ocean within the Southern California Bight and the Santa Barbara Channel.

Part of our long term monitoring efforts include monthly sampling of water column biology and biogeochemisty at 5 of our coastal reefs. We use small boats to access our local kelp forests where our expert technicians, graduate students, and undergraduates collect water samples for further analysis in the lab.

Drone footage from Bowin de Barros

@sbc_lter #kelp #kelpforest

Who likes mustard? Not earthworms 🪱! We use mus

Who likes mustard? Not earthworms 🪱! We use mustard to irritate invasive earthworms out of their burrows and survey their diversity and abundance in forests across the Twin Cities Metropolitan Region. This work is part of a larger project through the #msplter investigating how vegetation influences soil properties in urban forests. By rearranging and consuming leaf litter, earthworms play an important role in shaping these dynamics!

We’re signing off now. See you soon!

#longtermresearch #lternetwork #ecology #STEM #STEAM
#laboratorylife #fieldresearch #research #phdlife #gradlife
#thisiswhatascientistlookslike #scicomm

👻👻👻Are urban butterflies 🦋 spookier be

👻👻👻Are urban butterflies 🦋 spookier because of the pollutions? MSP LTER post-doc Lindsey Kemmerling and her team are sacrificing butterflies and using all parts of the butterflies to measure how pollution affects body condition. They are also using lichens as bio-monitor of air pollution across the Twin Cities.

1. Urban butterfly
2. Lichens as biomonitor
3. Looking for butterflies near rail yard
4. Lindsey on the field
5. Field site cuing Halloween
6. The decapitated head of a clouded sulphur.

👻Happy Halloween! 🎃

#longtermresearch #lternetwork #ecology #STEM #STEAM
#laboratorylife #fieldresearch #research #phdlife #gradlife
#thisiswhatascientistlookslike #scicomm

Minnesotans love our lakes, but what happens in wi

Minnesotans love our lakes, but what happens in winter in the land of 10,000 frozen lakes? This is the watershed group from Minneapoli-St. Paul (MSP) LTER, the newest urban site to the LTER network.

The Twin Cities area has decades-long water quality monitoring data, but only in the summer months. We started winter lake core collections to better understand the nutrient dynamics in the winter time (which is about 5-6 months out of a year).

By the way, sunglasses are key for winter fieldwork!

#longtermresearch #lternetwork #ecology #STEM #STEAM
#laboratorylife #fieldresearch #research #phdlife #gradlife
#thisiswhatascientistlookslike #scicomm

🐿🐿🐿 Have you also wondered why squirrels

🐿🐿🐿

Have you also wondered why squirrels thrive in polluted environments? We are curious too!

Hello, this is the squirrel squad from Minneapoli-St. Paul (MSP) LTER, the newest urban site to the LTER network. Meet MSP LTER grad researcher Charlotte Devitz (Twitter @bendybiologist) and learn more about her 🐿 research.

Here, we are capturing these critters to study how their behaviors facilitate the process of adapting to urban environments by comparing them to their rural companions, examining how much "people food" 🥤🍟they are eating, and determining whether key pollutants like metals and microplastics are detectable in samples collected from the squirrels.

#longtermresearch #lternetwork #ecology #STEM #STEAM
#laboratorylife #fieldresearch #research #phdlife #gradlife
#thisiswhatascientistlookslike #scicomm

The sawgrass marshes are changing—threatened by

The sawgrass marshes are changing—threatened by seawater rise and high salinity levels. But to study the effects, researchers need to travel deep into the marsh, sometimes overnight.

This story, penned by Mareli Sanchez-Julia, in this month's Network News. Plus, jobs, funding, the LTER response to the decadal review, and more.

LTER Network News | October, 2022 - [Campaign URL]

Whoa, check out Ruby An's winning photo from the L

Whoa, check out Ruby An's winning photo from the LTER Photo Contest this year! Really sums up LTER research in a single snap.

Read about the Photo Contest winners, the ASM (a huge success!), updates from around the network, jobs, papers, and more in this month's LTER Network News.

LTER Network News | September, 2022

Whew-last week was a blur at our All Scientists' M

Whew-last week was a blur at our All Scientists' Meeting!

Hard to sum it up—so here's a pic of a moment at the end of a long day of conferencing. I stumbled upon these researchers after they drew LTER in the sand—completely unsolicited (promise!).

That's the beauty of this meeting—the inspiration sticks around far longer than the sessions last!

Thanks to all who made it a huge success. It feels like there's real momentum across the network right now!

@planktonprincess
@dante.a.capone
@jameeadams
@scripps_ocean
& if you know the other CCE LTER grad student instagram handles, please tag them!

Meet some of the amazing students working at the L

Meet some of the amazing students working at the Luquillo LTER:

“I am Evald Maceno, a PhD Candidate in Environmental Science at the University of Puerto Rico studying seasonal and interannual patterns of plant reproduction in tropical forests.

My research encompasses four main objectives:

(1) Define interannual variation in flowering and fruiting phenology caused by hurricane disturbance and drought

(2) Determine the influence of plant functional traits associated with seasonal timing of flowering and fruiting

(3) Determine the proximate environmental cues that trigger flowering and control timing of reproduction in tropical forests and

(4) Compare masting trends related to latitude and species diversity in three different tropical forests.

Each of these objectives will improve our understanding of the ecology of tropical forest reproduction and its sensitivity to climate change”.

Pictured here is doctoral candidate Evald Maceno assisting with bi-weekly collections of flowers, fruits, and seeds in the Luquillo Forest Dynamics Plots (LFDP).

To learn more about the LFDP visit the following story map:

https://arcg.is/0vXmvS - Ground truthing remotely sensed data with LFDP census trees

Picture credit: Monique Picón

Story map credit: Miguel León

Follow the Luquillo LTER social media -

Instagram: @luquillo.lter

Twitter: @LUQLTER

Facebook: /luquillo.lter

#luquillolter #studentsofluquillo #lter #longtermresearch #lternetwork #ecology #stem #fieldresearch #research

Time-lapse video of Iana Grullón-Penkova and Will

Time-lapse video of Iana Grullón-Penkova and William Mejía installing a sensor to monitor soil moisture to a depth of 50 cm.

This is a TRACE team collaboration with the Luquillo LTER to evaluate the effects of drought conditions and future climate on tropical forests.

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LUQ is hiring three masters-level positions for fi

LUQ is hiring three masters-level positions for field and program support at El Verde!
Positions Described in English:
https://buff.ly/3RuSvPf
Cargos descritos en español:
https://buff.ly/3SAPlLk

Proud of our Luquillo LTER team presenting their w

Proud of our Luquillo LTER team presenting their work and research at the #LTERasm2022 #researchers #research #studentsofluquillo #lter #tropicalecology #science

Amazing week and participation from our #LuquilloL

Amazing week and participation from our #LuquilloLTER team at #LTERasm2022. Our hearts are with those who could not attend due to #HurricaneFiona. #research #researchers #tropicalecology #ecology #lter #studentsofluquillo

Tamara Heartsill-Scalley describes research at the

Tamara Heartsill-Scalley describes research at the Bisley Experimental Watersheds (BEW)
https://buff.ly/3xk1V9E Also see this story map:
https://buff.ly/3tiREYH

On behalf of the GSRC: If you missed our LUQ LTER

On behalf of the GSRC: If you missed our LUQ LTER lightning talk sessions, you will find the recording links below. Thank you to all of our excellent invited speakers!

June 1st https://youtu.be/iRTccduKC8M

June 2nd https://youtu.be/z6h130n4fwc

Email any questions to mvega2@ncsu.edu

#lter #luqlter #studentsofluquillo

Check out this video from Tatiana Barreto Vélez a

Check out this video from Tatiana Barreto Vélez and Nicholas D. Nunez Rodriguez. They illustrate water sampling performed in the Luquillo LTER https://buff.ly/3NjUPaC. An ArcGIS Sotry map was also created for this video https://buff.ly/3GTmPPT

Check out this video from Roi Ankori-Karlinsky, Ph

Check out this video from Roi Ankori-Karlinsky, PhD candidate with Columbia University
https://buff.ly/3xiwyfA
An ArcGIS Sotry map was also created for this video https://buff.ly/3xix90O

🚨 GSRC: This is a reminder that starting tomorr

🚨 GSRC: This is a reminder that starting tomorrow we will be hosting the "Luquillo LTER Lightning Talks: Research History in a Tropical Caribbean Forest"!

When? June 1st and 2nd at 1:00 pm AST/EDT.

This event is open to everyone, so please distribute it to those that might be interested.

Email mvega2@ncsu.edu for meeting details.

#lter #luqlter #studentsofluquillo

On behalf of the GSRC: We are thrilled to invite

On behalf of the GSRC:

We are thrilled to invite you to the GSRC-hosted event: "LUQUILLO LTER LIGHTNING TALKS: RESEARCH NETWORK IN A TROPICAL CARIBBEAN FOREST"! They will occur on June 1st and 2nd starting from 1:00 pm AST/EDT. We have a fantastic set of speakers on both dates who will talk about some of the main projects and committees at our site.

This event will be open to everyone, so please distribute it widely to others that might be interested.

We want to thank all the speakers for their time and effort to make this event possible. We are looking forward to seeing you there!

Email mvega2@ncsu.edu for meeting details.

#lter #luqlter #studentsofluquillo

On behalf of the GSRC: Thank you to all who voted

On behalf of the GSRC: Thank you to all who voted for the LUQ LTER Student Art Contest! And thank you to the students who submitted their work. The resulting submissions were fantastic. We received nearly 600 votes!! Even though we could only choose one winner today, know that the support and admiration for each submission was great!

A winner has been selected by the community! Join me in congratulating Ana Maria Meza Salazar as the winner of our Student Art Contest Competition (see her submission attached)! Ana is the winner of the $500 award for research-related costs. Congratulations, Ana!

On behalf of the LUQ LTER GSRC: Only one week left

On behalf of the LUQ LTER GSRC: Only one week left to vote!

Choose your favorite student art contest submission! Submissions cover a diversity of interesting research topics creatively represented.

Show support by voting here: https://t.co/WDJ6EF2bv0

Share widely!

Trouble viewing or voting? Email mvega2@ncsu.edu

#lter #luqlter #studentsofluquillo

In case you missed it! LUQ LTER GSRC presents: D

In case you missed it!

LUQ LTER GSRC presents: Dr. Ariel Lugo - Land Use and Research History of the Luquillo Mountains

Watch on: https://youtu.be/JZmh1DFU4X4 via

@YouTube

#lter #luqlter #studentsofluquillo

On behalf of the GSRC: Join us today at 1:00 pm ED

On behalf of the GSRC: Join us today at 1:00 pm EDT/AST for the seminar titled: "Land Use and Research History of the Luquillo Mountains", with our Invited speaker Dr. Ariel Lugo!

Email mvega2@ncsu.edu for details

LUQ Students! Don't miss out on the chance to shar

LUQ Students! Don't miss out on the chance to share your work and creativity, and to win $500 for your research-related costs*! Only three more days to submit. Deadline: April 25th, 2022. Submit here: https://t.co/yt6EFljWRl or to mvega2@ncsu.edu

#lter #luqlter #studentsofluquillo

Check out our new Virtual Site Visit! https://buff

Check out our new Virtual Site Visit! https://buff.ly/3xJR4GK

Attention students! We are thrilled to announce ou

Attention students! We are thrilled to announce our first GSRC-hosted seminar with invited speaker Dr. Ariel Lugo! All are welcome to attend!

Topic: "Land Use and Research History of the Luquillo Mountains"

May 5th at 1:00 pm AST

Email mvega2@ncsu.edu for meeting details

🚨 LUQ students! One week left to submit to the

🚨 LUQ students! One week left to submit to the LUQ LTER Art Contest! Show and tell us about your work for a chance to win $500* for research purposes (see images). Email mvega2@ncsu.edu with questions and for non-Gmail user submissions!
Submit here: https://t.co/yt6EFlBxIT https://t.co/Y81Lhcbuuq

LUQ LTER STUDENT ART COMPETITION! The winner of th

LUQ LTER STUDENT ART COMPETITION! The winner of the competition will receive a $500 prize* towards research-related costs! Submissions will open from March 28th - April 25th, 2022.

Submit Here: https://buff.ly/3Dm0Orl
Please email mvega2@ncsu.edu for more info.

Hello LUQ-LTER community! The GSRC is accepting su

Hello LUQ-LTER community! The GSRC is accepting submissions for the LUQ LTER STUDENT ART COMPETITION. Share your creativity and stories with us! Compete for a $500 PRIZE* for research-related costs (see further details in the attached images). Any questions or submissions from non-gmail account users? Please, contact mvega2@ncsu.edu.

Submission Form: https://forms.gle/jjv15AhD3uDbD2my5

#lter #luqlter #studentsofluquillo

On behalf of the LUQ-LTER GSRC: please join us in

On behalf of the LUQ-LTER GSRC: please join us in learning about the research of Ph.D. candidate Mariely Vega-Gómez. Show Mariely your support by leaving a comment below!

"Hello everyone! My name is Mariely Vega Gómez. I am Puerto Rican 🇵🇷 and passionate about my island and its natural resources. It has been a thrilling journey to research the streams of the El Yunque National Forest (EYNF). In collaboration with the LUQ-LTER’s Stream Flow Reduction Experiment (StreamFRE) team, my project will answer how tropical stream ecosystems respond to natural disturbances.

My trajectory studying freshwater ecosystems started as an undergraduate at @upr.rp 🐔. I am currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Biology at @ncstateappliedecology 🐺 under the mentorship of Dr. Alonso Ramírez. I have been a part of the Ramírez Lab since I was an undergraduate. This is when I was introduced to the striking diversity of stream fauna.

Stream ecosystems are teeming with life! For my thesis, I will evaluate how macroinvertebrates and their egg masses respond to natural disturbances and to an experimental flow reduction. In collaboration with the StreamFRE team, monthly macroinvertebrate sampling has been ongoing since 2016.

I love my study site and organisms, and this amazing opportunity to learn more about them every day. Part of my drive is the opportunity to contribute to the island that I love and increase our understanding of its amazing natural resources.

Thank you all! Feel free to reach out to me with any questions!
Email: mvega2@ncsu.edu
Twitter: @MarielyV10
And learn more about my work and the work of my colleagues by following the @ARamirezLab on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter

Photos by M. Jewell, A. Ramírez and Y. Acosta”

#lter #luqlter #studentsofluquillo

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