Upcoming calls for proposals will be distributed widely and will include those for scientists associated with LTER, LMER, and other intensive, long term monitoring sites
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has awarded research grants to two teams affiliated with Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) and Land-Margin Ecosystems Research (LMER) sites. The three-year studies were chosen for their potential to advance the state of the science in long-term, large-scale ecological monitoring and assessment. EPA’s Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program (EMAP) sponsored the nationally- competitive awards to strengthen the applicability of intensive site research for addressing ecological issues at broad regional scales.
One study will test an index of estuarine biotic integrity across biogeographic provinces.
Principal investigators are Drs.:
- Linda Deegan, The Ecosystems Center, Woods Hole Marine Biological Laboratory
- John Buonaccorsi, Department of Math and Statistics, University 0f Massachusetts
- Roxanna Smolowitz, Department of Animal Health, University of Pennsylvania
The team will explore combinations of metrics involving submerged aquatic vegetation and fish community structure for their ability to reflect system condition and to differentiate among a range of anthropogenic and natural stressors at the watershed level. The study incorporates all of the existing LMER sites (Plum Island Sound, Waquoit Bay, Chesapeake Bay, Tomales Bay, Columbia River), the Virginia Coast LTER site, and the San Francisco Bay.
The second study will explore the ability of remotely-sensed data on phenological activity and heterogeneity to detect changes in grassland species composition in response to stress. The researchers, all from Kansas State University, are Drs. John Briggs, Clarence Turner, John Blair, Walter Dodds, Geoffrey Henebry, and Alan Knapp, Division of Biology, and Drs. Douglas Goodin and Duane Nellis, Department of Geography.
The study will utilize the differences in the spectral signatures of C3 and C4 vegetation to quantify large-scale impacts of stress from land use and climate change. Field sites for imagery and ground-data analysis represent a diversity of grassland regions and include Konza Prairie LTER, Tallgrass Prairie Reserve (OK), Niobrara Valley Preserve (NE), and Cross Ranch (ND), all owned by the Nature Conservancy.
Research for the two studies will begin in late 1994. Both studies build on existing projects, and incorporate historical data from field sites. EPA’s EMAP is providing a total of $600,000 for the studies over a three-year period.
In 1995, EPA plans to expand its competitive grants program from $20 million to $100 million for investigator-initiated research. Concomitant with this Agency-wide objective, EMAP will significantly increase its support for research grants next year. Upcoming calls for proposals will be distributed widely and will include those for scientists associated with LTER, LMER, and other intensive, long-term monitoring sites. Research issues will likely focus on the development and evaluation of:
- Ecological indicators and indices
- Testable hypotheses relating observed ecological response to natural and anthropogenic stresses
- Models and statistical methods to estimate ecological condition at watershed and regional scales