Region: Latin America
Wilfredo Franco
Chair: Venezuelan
LTER Network Coordinating Committee
and Armando
Torres-Lezama
Research Institute for Forest Development (INDEFOR),
Facultad de Ciencias Forestales y Ambientales,
Universidad de Los Andes, Merida, Venezuela
E-mail: torres@ing.ula.ve Tel:+58.74.401507
Venezuela is divided in three quite different regions : a) the coastal and mountain region which comprises one third of the surface but supports 90% of the population; b) the very flat alluvial region of the Orinoco Llanos which comprises about 20% of the country ; and c) the Guayana-Amazonas region which is the southern half of the country and is still very sparsely populated. This territorial and economical distribution determines a wide demand for long term ecological research, which varies from the study of the environmental impact of the industrial and urban development in the North to the inventory of the still quite unknown biological diversity in the southern half of the country.
The Venezuelan government, through the National Council for Scientific and Technological Research (CONICIT) and encouraged by the success of the US LTER Network, decided in 1996 to establish and support the Venezuelan Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) Network in cooperation with scientific institutions throughout the country.
In December 1996, CONICIT created
the Commission for the LTER Network, which carried on a review process of 14
potential sites, of which ten were selected using the following criteria:
1)scientific background and commitment to long term ecological research and
cooperation;
2)existing capabilities in facilities and personal;
3)biogeographical setting; and 4) current and potential long term ecological
research.
The Venezuelan LTER Network was established 29 September 1997. The representatives from each Venezuela LTER Network site met at CONICIT on 30 September to initiate its collaborative activities. A second workshop was conducted in March 1998 in Mérida with the support of CONICIT, Fundacite-Mérida (Regional Science Foundation)and the Universidad de Los Andes. It addressed important decisions regarding network organization, including proposals to develop a Network Office and a project for the strengthening of all the stations and their connectivity. The current Network organization has a Coordinating Committee comprised of two scientists from each station and headed by a chair, an Executive Committtee comprised of the Chair and three regional Coordinators, and an Advisory Council of independent scientists.
In June 1998, Venezuela hosted the 4th Latin American LTER Conference, with the objective of discussing the concepts, structure and function, of the national LTER networks in accordance with regional and countries particularities. Additionally, we meeting initiated the development of
a Latin American LTER Pilot Project. The meeting included extensive discussions of data management needs and resources in the region. This Conference was an integrated effort of CONICIT, the National Science Foundation and the US-LTER Network Office, the CNPq (Brazil), the Humboldt Institute for Biodiversity (Colombia) and other Latin American Institutions.
As a follow-up activity of the 4th Latin American LTER Conference and the 2nd National workshop, a third national workshop was held in February 2000 at El Merey Center for Forestry Research with the support of CVG-Proforca, CONICIT, Universidad de Los Andes, Universidad Central de Venezuela and Fundación La Salle. Dr. Armando Torres Lezama was elected as director of the CONICIT project for the strengthening of the network. Similarly, Dr. Magdiel Ablan was elected as the director of the CONICIT connectivity project.
At the current level of the network development, each station is still carrying on its own research program. Efforts must be made to promote a common research program and to initiate interactions among stations. At the second national workshop in March 1998, the main objective of the Network were defined as: 1) to study long term ecological changes in some key biomes of the country; 2) to understand ecological processes in selected ecosystems; 3) to provide ecological information relevant to sustainable development; and 4) to contribute to ecological regional and
global monitoring initiatives. Similarly, the following common core areas were established: a) primary productivity and biogechemical cycles; b)evaluation of biological diversity; c) population dynamics; d) environmental impact of human activities; e) alternatives to improve productivity through ecosystem management; and f)global changes. All the stations have educational and public outreach activities.
Stations infrastructure varies greatly. Here we refer to EDIMAR, the oldest one. This is a well equipped research station, which carries on advanced oceanographic projects in cooperation with national, United States and European institutions. The station is the coordinator of the Cariaco project (NSF-CONICIT), which is interested in examining the budget of total CO2 upwelled with deep, nutrient rich water relative to annual export of organic carbon from surface waters. It has also participated in the CARICOMP project (COMAR/UNESCO) since 1980, which attempts to determine the variation in the productivity of coastal marine ecosystems. The station has an important museum dedicated to marine ecology.
THE NEXT STEPS
The recently initiated Venezuelan LTER Network is still working on the following initiatives: 1. Reinforcement plan for each station: to improve the capabilities of the stations through the cooperation between CONICIT and the station holder institutions; 2. Connection program between the stations. All the stations should be interconnected via internet for access to information and data; 3. Creation of databases for each station, including a directory of researchers and projects. 4. Discussion on the concepts, structure and functioning of the LTER Network according to the needs of the country; and 5. Creation of the Network Office.
Network web site URL:
http://cesimo.ing.ula/LA-ECO-RED/ECORED/
National Network chairperson and e-mail address: Dr. Wilfredo Franco, sede@telcel.net.ve
Year network joined LTER network: 1997