Ecologists to gather at KBS for US LTER Science Council meeting

Principal investigators from research sites in the Long-term Ecological Research—LTER—program are gathering at W.K. Kellogg Biological Station this week for an LTER annual meeting.

The 2023 Science Council meeting will take place at the Station Wednesday through Friday, May 10-12, focusing on the theme of spatial scaling. Attendees will explore the scaling of LTER-sourced data and how that information is or could be useful for researchers wanting to apply them at broader scales.

The meeting will begin with a round of site-specific lightning talks. Over the three-day meeting, attendees can participate in breakout sessions, field trips, and—a must when visiting KBS—enjoy a picnic dinner on Windmill Island, yard games, and a bonfire.

On Thursday, May 11, KBS faculty, staff and students will lead tours of the LTER, Long-term Agroecosystem Research, and Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center field sites.

We welcome researchers from LTER sites around United States and beyond to KBS!

KBS LTER

The Kellogg Biological Station Long-term Ecological Research site studies the ecology of intensive field crop ecosystems and its environmental consequences. LTER research at KBS is designed to answer the broader question of how agronomic management can better utilize biological resources in cropping systems to control pests, provide nitrogen, and build soil fertility: In short, how to make agriculture more profitable and provide environmental benefits.

Established in 1989, the KBS LTER is one of 28 NSF LTER sites nationally and is the only one dedicated to understanding the ecology of agricultural systems.

LTER Network

The LTER Network was founded in 1980 by the National Science Foundation with the recognition that long-term research could help unravel the principles and processes of ecological science, which frequently involves long-lived species, legacy influences, and rare events. As policymakers and resource managers strive to incorporate reliable science in their decision making, the LTER Network works to generate and share useful and usable information.