A 1993 ten-year review of the U.S. LTER Program recommended overall expansion to address more effectively today's long-term ecological scientific questions, develop an integrated program that will provide the basis for defensible environment decisions and policies, and implement sustainable resource management practices. The National Science Foundation has begun to implement these recommendations through special competitions to augment site research, encourage cross-site comparisons and syntheses, and expand the range of scientific disciplines to include the physical and social sciences.
Recent awards include:
Causes and Consequences of Land-Cover Change in the Southern Appalachians
Special Competition Proposal Abstracts