1. DATA-MODEL ASSIMILATION CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES IN THE LTER PROGRAM Debra Peters Lead Research Scientist, USDA ARS, Jornada Experimental Range, Las Cruces, NM 88003-0003. debpeter@nmsu.edudebpeter@nmsu.edu Lead Principal Investigator, Jornada Basin Long Term Ecological Research program Landscape Linkages

2. Long Term Ecological Research Network: - national-level network funded continuously since 1980 - 26 sites and a network office - funded in 6 year increments by the National Science Foundation http://www.lternet.edu

3. LTER network contains diverse ecosystems with common environmental problems – How can we understand and predict dynamics? Are there general principles and properties across sites?

4. LTER from 1980 to 2004+: focus on site- based science and long-term data 1998 grasslands 8% shrublands 92% 1858 Grasslands 1915 grasslands 37% shrublands 63%

5. Human systems Natural systems Ecosystem function Biotic structure Human behavior Ecosystem services Long-term “press” Short-term “pulse” Human outcomes Events Drivers 2000 – future: added focus on network-level science Common conceptual framework for all sites

6. LTER provides solid foundation for regional, continental, and global networks http://www.p2erls.net/riogrande.html Rio Grande Network NM Energy Flux Tower Network (http://bosque.unm.edu/~cleverly/ ).http://bosque.unm.edu/~cleverly/

7. EcoTrends Project (www.ecotrends.info)www.ecotrends.info Led by Jornada LTER-ARS, NMSU National-level networks build on LTER sites

8. Objectives of EcoTrends Project (1)to create a platform for synthesis by producing a compendium of easily accessible long-term graphs and data (> 10 years) from ecological research sites -biogeochemistry -biotic structure -human economic and demographic -climate (2) to illustrate the utility of this platform in addressing important within-site and network-level scientific questions To date, > 50 sites and > 400 datasets are accessible through the EcoTrends project.

9. (> 300 existing sites in the US to-date) Led by Jornada ARS-LTER, NMSU Global Network: Pole-to-Pole Ecological Lattice of Sites (P2ERLS); global “network of networks” (http://www.p2erls.net)http://www.p2erls.net Web portal to information about research sites

10. Opportunities - Data and site information are available for use in models in derived, easy-to-use format (EcoTrends, P2ERLS) - Long-term datasets and sites can be added (EcoTrends) - Sites can be added to continental to global networks accessed via web portals (P2ERLS)

11. Cedar Creek Kellogg Shortgrass steppeJornada Harvard ForestHubbard Brook Coweeta Andrews Palmer Drought severity index (1895-2003) Compare same data from many different sites

12. Jornada ARS- LTER (New Mexico) State changes through time (Laliberte et al. 2004) Santa Barbara Coastal LTER (California) Change in fish species composition with time Compare similar dynamics in different sites Desert in NM Kelp forest off CA coast

13. Products 1. Folio-sized book to be submitted in Jan 2008 to Oxford Univ. Press 2. Website (data, metadata) for synthesis and analysis of static data (http://www.ecotrends.info)http://www.ecotrends.info Opportunities Accessibility of many long-term data sets for modeling and synthesis activities