- This event has passed.
2023 Natural Areas Conference (VIRTUAL)
November 2, 2023 @ 10:00 am CDT
2023 Natural Areas Conference: The Power of Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER): Informing Natural Areas Management
November 2, 2023, 10:00AM-3:30PM CDT
The National Science Foundation (NSF) Long Term Ecological Research Program (LTER) was established in 1980 to address ecological questions that cannot be resolved with short-term observations or experiments, emphasizing the study of ecological phenomena over long periods of time.
Long-term studies are essential to achieve an integrated understanding of how populations, natural communities and other components of ecosystems interact and are affected by management techniques and climate change. Getting this valuable science and research findings into the hands of those that can positively affect the conservation of critically important landscapes with an eye towards climate resilience are mutual goals of the National Science Foundation and the Natural Areas Association.
NAA, in partnership with the LTER Network, will highlight the important research being done within the LTER network that informs the practices of our land management audience from around North America. LTER researchers will convey the findings of their studies that inform on-the-ground management decisions that affect biodiversity conservation and ecological health in the systems in which natural areas practitioners work.
The conference will feature LTER representatives from the following ecosystems:
- Prairies & Grasslands
- Forests
- Coastal Regions
- Lacustrine/Riverine, and
- Drylands
