The International Long Term Ecological Research Network: a platform for collaboration

Authors

Kristin Vanderbilt, Southeast Environmental Research Center, Florida International UniversityFollow
Evelyn E. Gaiser, Southeast Environmental Research Center, Florida International UniversityFollow

Abstract

Many scientists around the world became interested in the U.S. Long Term Ecological Research (U.S. LTER) Network's research model during the 1990s and began to develop LTER and Long Term Socio-ecological Research networks in their own countries. These local networks, including the U.S. LTER Network, were loosely federated in 1993 to form the International Long Term Ecological Research (ILTER) Network, a “network of networks.” Although the first 10 yr of ILTER Network activities were largely supported by funds from the U.S. National Science Foundation, the ILTER Network had transformed into a robust, self-sustaining entity by 2006 following a two-year strategic planning process. The goal of the ILTER Network is to improve understanding of how pressures such as climate change and land use affect global ecosystems in order to inform solutions to current and future environmental problems. To fulfill this mission, the ILTER Network fosters collaborations among member scientists to extend the scope of their research across disciplinary boundaries and across more of the ILTER's 600+ research sites. The ILTER Network also has many long-term data sets that are freely available for use by students, scientists, and policymakers all over the world. In this collection of papers, we consider how the ILTER Network has been, and will be, leveraged by U.S. researchers to advance understanding of ecological and socio-ecological systems around the globe.

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Comments

Originally published in Ecosphere.

This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation through the Florida Coastal Everglades Long-Term Ecological Research program under Cooperative Agreements #DEB-1237517, #DBI-0620409, and #DEB-9910514. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in the material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation

Recommended Citation

Vanderbilt, Kristin and Gaiser, Evelyn E., "The International Long Term Ecological Research Network: a platform for collaboration" (2017). FCE LTER Journal Articles. 454.
https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/fce_lter_journal_articles/454