Long- Term Ecological Research LONG-T ERM ECOLOGICAL RESEARCH CHANGING THE NATURE OF SCIENTISTS Edited by Michael R. Willig and Lawrence R. Walker 1 1 Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide. Oxford is a registered trade mark of Oxford University Press in the UK and certain other countries. Published in the United States of America by Oxford University Press 198 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016, United States of America. © Oxford University Press 2016 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of Oxford University Press, or as expressly permitted by law, by license, or under terms agreed with the appropriate reproduction rights organization. Inquiries concerning reproduction outside the scope of the above should be sent to the Rights Department, Oxford University Press, at the address above. You must not circulate this work in any other form and you must impose this same condition on any acquirer. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Willig, Michael R., editor. | Walker, Lawrence R., editor. Title: Long-term ecological research : changing the nature of scientists / edited by Michael R. Willig and Lawrence R. Walker. Description: New York, NY : Oxford University Press, 2015. | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2015030157 | ISBN 9780199380213 Subjects: LCSH: Ecology—Research—United States. | Long-Term Ecological Research Program. Classification: LCC QH541.26 .L67 2015 | DDC 577.072073—dc23 LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2015030157 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Printed by Sheridan Books, Inc., United States of America We dedicate this volume to past, present, and future participants in the Long-T erm Ecological Research program, as well as to those visionaries in the National Science Foundation and other governmental agencies who have contributed to the program’s genesis and perpetuation. Contents xi Preface, M ichael R. Willig and Lawrence R. Walker xv List of Contributors Part One Introduction and Overview 3 1 . Changing the Nature of Scientists: Participating in the Long- Term Ecological Research Program, Michael R. Willig and Lawrence R. Walker 29 2. Sustaining Long- Term Research: Collaboration, Multidisciplinarity and Synthesis in the Long-T erm Ecological Research Program, R obert B. Waide 43 3. Reflections on Long- Term Ecological Research from National Science Foundation Program Directors’ Perspectives, Henry L. Gholz, Roberta Marinelli, and Phillip R. Taylor Part Two H. J. Andrews Experimental Forest (AND) LTER Site 55 4. Streams and Dreams and Cross-s ite Studies, S herri L. Johnson 63 5. Data, Data Everywhere!, S usan G. Stafford 73 6. Science, Citizenship, and Humanities in the Ancient Forest of H. J. Andrews, Frederick J. Swanson Part Three Arctic (ARC) LTER Site 83 7. Bridging Community and Ecosystem Ecology at the Arctic Long- Term Ecological Research Site via Collaborations, L aura Gough 91 8. Long- Term Ecological Research in the Arctic: Where Science Never Sleeps, John E. Hobbie 99 9. Forty Arctic Summers, Gaius R. Shaver Part Four Baltimore Ecosystem Study (BES) LTER Site 109 1 0. Of Fish and Platypus: If You Could Ask a Fish What It Feels Like to Swim, J. Morgan Grove 119 1 1. Long- Term Ecological Research on the Urban Frontier: Benefiting from Baltimore, S teward T. A. Pickett viii Part Five Cedar Creek Ecosystem Science Reserve (CDR) LTER Site s 129 1 2. Beneficiary of a Changed Paradigm: Perspectives of a “Next-G eneration” nt e Scientist, Elizabeth T. Borer nt o 137 13. Listening to Nature and Letting Data Be “Trump”, David Tilman C Part Six Central Arizona– Phoenix (CAP) LTER Site 147 14. The Socializing of an Ecosystem Ecologist: Interdisciplinarity from a Career Spent in the Long- Term Ecological Research Network, Daniel L. Childers 155 15. An Urban Ecological Journey, Nancy B. Grimm Part Seven Coweeta (CWT) LTER Site 167 16. An Anthropologist Joins the Long-T erm Ecological Research Network, Ted L. Gragson Part Eight Florida Coastal Everglades (FCE) LTER Site 177 17. The Benefits of Long- Term Environmental Research, Friendships, and Boiled Peanuts, Evelyn E. Gaiser 185 18. Collaboration and Broadening Our Scope: Relevance of Long- Term Ecological Research to the Global Community, Tiffany G. Troxler Part Nine Jornada Basin (JRN) LTER Site 197 19. A Dryland Ecologist’s Mid- Career Retrospective on Long- Term Ecological Research and the Science– Management Interface, Brandon Bestelmeyer 205 20. Tales from a “Lifer” in the Long- Term Ecological Research Program, D ebra P. C. Peters Part Ten Konza Prairie (KNZ) LTER Site 215 21. A Forest to Prairie Transition as a Long- Term Ecological Research Scientist, John Blair 225 22. Growing Up with the Konza Prairie Long- Term Ecological Research Program, A lan K. Knapp 233 23. Born and Bred in the Long- Term Ecological Research Network: Perspectives on Network Science and Global Collaborations, Melinda D. Smith Part Eleven Luquillo (LUQ) LTER Site 243 24. Confessions of a Fungal Systematist, D . Jean Lodge 251 25. A Glimpse of the Tropics Through Odum’s Macroscope, Ariel E. Lugo 259 26. Taking the Long View: Growing Up in the Long- Term Ecological Research Program, W hendee L. Silver Part Twelve Moorea Coral Reef (MCR) LTER Site ix 269 27. Kelp Forests, Coral Reefs, and the Long- Term Ecological Research C o n Program: Synergies and Impacts on a Scientific Career, S ally J. Holbrook te n 277 28. The Long- Term Ecological Research Construct for Understanding ts Dynamics of Coral Reef Ecosystems and Its Influence on My Science, Russell J. Schmitt Part Thirteen Niwot Ridge (NWT) LTER Site 289 29. Top of the World Collaborations: Lessons from above Treeline, Katharine N. Suding Part Fourteen North Temperate Lakes (NTL) LTER Site 299 30. My Evolution as a Long-T erm Ecological Research Scientist, John J. Magnuson Part Fifteen Palmer Antarctica (PAL) LTER Site 309 31. Learning from a Frozen Ocean: The Changing Face of Antarctic Ocean Ecology, Hugh W. Ducklow Part Sixteen Plum Island Ecosystem (PIE) LTER Site 319 32. Mysteries in the Marsh, Anne Giblin 325 33. Perspectives on a 30- Year Career of Salt Marsh Research, James T. Morris Part Seventeen Santa Barbara Coastal (SBC) LTER Site 335 34. Evolution of an Information Manager, Margaret O’Brien Part Eighteen Sevilleta (SEV) LTER Site 345 35. From the Long- Term Ecological Research Program to the National Science Foundation and Back: A Personal History of Long- Term Ecological Research Science and Management, Scott L. Collins 355 36. The Long- Term Ecological Research Stimulus: Research, Education, and Leadership Development at Individual and Community Levels, James R. Gosz Part Nineteen Shortgrass Steppe (SGS) LTER Site 365 37. Long- Term Ecological Research and Lessons from Networked Lives, J ohn C. Moore Part Twenty Virginia Coastal Reserve (VCR) LTER Site 375 38. Networking: From the Long-T erm Ecological Research Program to the National Ecological Observatory Network, B ruce P. Hayden 381 39. Sharing Information: Many Hands Make Light Work, J ohn H. Porter