Notes by Matthew Clark (mateo@lternet.edu)
November 11, 1996

Activities co-hosted by Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI), Panama, and the Organization for Tropical Studies (OTS), Costa Rica. General meeting organization and financial support from US LTER Network Office. Number of participants: approximately 30.

NOTE: more detailed information can be obtained from the archive of submitted Country Reports

Opening Address by STRI and OTS

• Panama is at a unique geographic nexus between two continents convergence of biological systems and human cultures
• Barro Colorado Island (BCI) is a nature monument; islands and parts of mainland are protected
• The Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI, USA) maintains BCI and several other sites in Panama (e.g. Bocas del Toro, Galeta, San Blas)
• Plans to construct a canopy crane in a non-seasonal forest on the Carribean coast pollen profiles reveal that indigenous populations had an impact on the vegetation of Panama. This pressure was relaxed when the Europeans arrived and directly reduced indigenous populations through introduced disease.
• Karl Kaufman and Steven Paton are data managers for STRI

• The Organization for Tropical Studies (OTS) has promoted research and educational training since 1963
• OTS's flagship biological station is La Selva, in the Atlantic lowlands of Costa Rica
• OTS also runs other biological stations, such as Palo Verde, which is situated on the Western side of Costa Rica. This is a 19,000 hectare reserve which includes tropical dry forest, limestone outcrops and wetlands.

Opening ILTER Presentation by James Gosz

Power Point slides from this presentation are available: Click Here

• ILTER is not a USA funding source, but rather is working to stimulate interaction and facilitate the development of international, regionally-networked, site-based long-term ecological research
• long-term research is often geared toward answering large-scale ecological questions
• often, long-term research that is conducted is completed, yet researchers fail to make their data available to a larger audience
• effective long-term research necessarily means that today's researchers will have to provide means of passing data on to future researchers
• data sets must be managed and maintained, and metadata (data about the data) will be vital information to make sense of these large data archives
• stress is on data management => its critical
• As an highly poignant example, Jim talks about hyperspectral, remotely sensed data sets. These sets will come from a new generation of satellites that will scan through 384 channels (wavelengths in the electromagnetic spectrum), whereas current Thema tic Mapper images are only scan 7 wavelength bands. Jim estimates that each US LTER site will receive 0.15 Terabytes of data per year
• Lessons learned, why long-term is better
  • short-term research is often misleading
  • studies are often only at one scale
  • no standards, so comparison is difficult
  • biotic data exhibit more variability than abiotic data

Puerto Rico Presentation by Robert Waide

• addressed points of from the ILTER meeting in Puerto Rico, also directions of LTER
• Luquillo Experimental Forest is a LTER-funded research site

Bolivia Presentation by Monica Moraes Ramirez

• in Bolivia, there is a desire for long-term sites
• 13 sites can be identified as having much potential
• no sites have exceeded 10 years of study
• 4 sites have some long-term research going; these are integrated into the National System of Protected Areas
  • Parque Nacional Noel Kempff Mercado
  • Reserva de la Biósfera Estación Biológica Beni
• Instituto de Ecologia
  • long-term sites desired
  • needs a network
  • wants planning exchange
  • funding is an issue

Brazil Presentation by Francisco Rodrigues Barbosa

• ILTER has stimulated a long-term network in Brazil (BLTER), 13 graduate institutions involved
• Funding is by the National Research Council of Brazil (CNPq)
• Objectives are:
  • collaborative effort
  • an agenda to address primary and secondary productions, nutrient dynamics, population dynamics, organization of communities and ecosystems, and conservation of biodiversity
• Site selection was based upon criteria: representativeness of the area for conservation purposes, geographic distribution and diversity of biomes, existing infrastructure, including availability of personnel and institutional linkages of the site
• Discussed the following sites:
  • Ducke, near Manaus
  • Estação Ecológica Mamirauá
  • Biological Dynamics of Forest Fragments Project (BDFFP)
• there are 8 additional proposed site. One of these, Caratinga is in the NE of Brazil, where little data has been collected. Atlantic lowland forest, coastal waters,
• Western part of Brazil is uncovered by research efforts, mainly due to lack of f unding

Colombia Presentation by Gisele Didier

• Humbolt Institute was created in 1993, but has really just been operational for 18 months
• Purpose is to coordinate and carry out research that contributes to the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity in Colombia at the level of organisms and genes, compositional attributes and also research into human impacts
• the Humbolt Institute is a non-profit corporation, directed through NGOs, the Colombian National Science Foundation, and the Ministry of the Environment
• So far, they have accomplished: biological collections, rapid ecological assessments, and some systematics work
• There is a desire for a national LTER network; have identified 9 sites
  • Coloso - on the Carribean near Baranquilla, tropical dry forest and only place where this ecosystem is protected
  • Ucumari - on the West slope of the Andes, some cloud forest, fragmentation an issue of research here, some work by the Colombian NSF an Wildlife Conservation Society
  • Chingaza National Park - eastern slope of the eastern Andes, place of Andean condor reintroduction, cloud and montane forest
  • La Planada Private Reserve - a reserve owned by Fundacion Fes (NGO) on western slope of western Andes
  • Macarena biological station - hypothesis that it was a Pleistocene refugia makes it a very interesting site, research carried out in this station focuses mainly in flora and fauna inventories and primate ethology
  • Araracuara Station in the Amazon - lowland tropical rainforest
  • Caparu Station - lowland tropical rainforest
  • Utria National Park - on the Pacific coast, Choco. Lowland tropical rainforest, mangroves and coral reefs
  • Gorgona National Park - island, lowland tropical rain forest , research carried out focuses fauna and flora inventories and threatened species monitoring (particularly with the humpbacked whale)
• issues for Humbolt: need to identify more human and financial resources; need time to mature as an organization
• directions: no physical bases at this point, but have links with institutions; focused on establishing a nationally protected network

Costa Rica Presentation by Jorge Jimenez

• Costa Rica is small but includes many life zones
• 200f the country is protected in national parks or reserves
• but, there is strong deforestation pressure outside of these parks and reserves
• hardly any unprotected forest left
• there is a lack of coordination between researchers and institutions
• mentioned projects with long-term potential, like the Trials Project which is growing native species for reforestation purposes, GIS at La Selva and Las Cruces
• most studies associated with sites, and have no guarantee of long-term funding viability
• research is strongly linked to individual researchers, and not institutions
• the risks associated with this dynamic are: absence of long-term financial support, data is lost is the researcher disappears, there is little access to data by other researchers
• areas that have received little protection and/or research are freshwater swamps, premontane forests, tropical dry forests

Ecuador Presentation by Renato Valencia and Fernando Ortiz-Crespo

• 120f Ecuador is in reserves
• major national parks are Galapagos, Yasuni, Sangay and Podocarpus
• 18 1ha plots have been established in the Amazon lowlands with high potential for long-term research
• Yasuni Forest Dynamics project found 800 sp. in 2 ha

El Salvador Presentation by Rafael Ibarra

• Major sociological framework to keep in mind with El Salvador: the civil war ended in 1992, its a very small country with 6 million people
• there is an increasing general awareness of environmental issues, especially as the deterioration of the environment and ecosystems is affecting the quality of life, the economy and general stability
• the signs of deterioration are apparent in: high sociologic stress and violence, increased poverty, poor water quality
• 800f the vegetation has been eliminated
• 770f the soil affected by erosion
• forested areas reduced to less than 1%
• solid waste is growing rapidly, and in many places it is not being picked up
• 3 mammals, 3 tree spp, and 10 birds are now extinct
• 62 trees, 53 orchids, 2 fish, 42 birds, 9 mammals endangered
• 800f children under 5 suffer from malnutrition
• 460f the population does not have potable water
• needs:
  • faculty exchange
  • consultants
  • contact groups
  • email lists
  • project interchange
  • legislation
• Comment by Bob Waide: ILTER now involved in urban and agricultural type research, so many of El Salvador's problems may be addressed in this context

Guatemala Presentation by Luis Furlan

• outline follows: existing LTER research, needs, obstacles
• Existing LTER: long-term research network does not exist, yet there are protected areas, good laws (on paper). The Universidad San Carlos has long-term water quality studies, but no strong ecological focus
• needs: joint research, research into resource quality, animal populations, natural history of species, vegetation cover, environmental dynamics, human impacts
• obstacles: lack of funds, lack of skills, cultural barriers (there is no tradition of doing ecological research)
• the country lacks information which is key for studies, analysis and decision making
• solution: research should incorporate a monitoring and evaluation component, set a precedent (first step needed), proper funding and training, make research available to a larger audience

Mexico Presentation by Carlos Galindo

• Carlos is affiliated with the Tropical Research Program in the Center for Conservation Biology at Stanford University (United States)
• TRPs work in the past has been in Madagascar, but is now moving into working with groups in Tikal NP (Guatemala), Calakmul Biosphere Reserve (Mexico), Rio Napo (Ecuador), Atun Sacha, Zona Reservada de Tambopata-Cardamo (Amazon Basin, Peru)
• Some example of research are: selective logging in Tikal (Maya Biosphere reserve?), frogs, butterflies, vegetation cover using GIS in Calakmul, and mapping flora using GIS in Rio Napo
• forming partnerships is main priority in these projects, especially in Mexico and Guatemala, which share a common region (El Peten). There are one or two universities or NGOs that they work with in each country; try to include training as a component of this relationship
• Bob Waide: comments that training and long-term studies go hand-in-hand
• Mexico: 50 protected sites, 1/3 have academic institution affiliations, small amount of long-term data
• UNAM - Centro de Ecologia has research in Los Tuxtlas (rain forest), Chamela an Cuixmala (tropical dry forest), Durango (shrub desert), Monte Azules (Chiapas, rainforest)
• no network exists among organizations, they operate in isolation
• biosphere reserves do not share information

Panama Presentation by S. Joseph Wright

• Longterm research in Panama is well developed. The players are: ANCON, Fundacion Natura, INRENARE, Missouri Botanical Garden (Flora of Panama, NSF funded), Panama Canal Commission, STRI, Universidad de Panama
• Panama is has a diversity of ecosystems, structured around elevational, moisture and north/south gradients
• National parks are acquiring guards through INRENARE
• Next to Belize, Panama has the largest chunk of forested land in Central America
• ANCON - projects with conservation, reforestation, maintains a biodiversity database
• INRENARE - 15 projects (flashed the statistics - contact Jo for actual sites)
• Universidad de Panama - Herbario Nacional, Museo de Invertebrados "Fairchild", Instituto de Biodiversidad

Peru Presentation by Miles Silman

• Miles has recently completed a doctorate degree at Duke University. He has worked with John Terborgh
• He conducted his research on plant community ecology at Cocha Cashu in Manu National Park
• Peru contains 84 of the 103 recognized ecological life-zones
• 1000 study sites
• much research by international and national universities and NGOs is conducted
• Miles surveyed LTER potential of sites based upon the following criteria:
  • presence of research infrastructure
  • breadth and scope of research program
  • the long-term nature of the site with respect to both past research future prospect of research
• Overview by biome: included Arequipa, Loreto/Iquitos, Huanaco, Rio de Dios
• Not many sites meet these requirements, but Cocha Cashu and Pakitza are noteworthy
• Identified problems are: 1) research infrastructure is poor in Peru 2) permitting process 3) there needs to be movement in the academic community towards long-term studies

• Venezuela has diversity of ecosystems: Andes, llanos, tropical rainforests, xeric sites, mangroves
• 20 universities with long-term research
• many institutions with long-term research activities are not coordinated at a larger level
• information management system is needed
• financial support necessary. Although petroleum brought money in the past, there is a conservative economic climate in the country
• Ortiz-Crespo from Ecuador: acknowledgement of a wide disparity of funding within each country in the region (e.g. Venezuela vs. Ecuador)
• cooperative ventures are key to establishing infrastructure
• good to have one key site to hopefully be a model for future integration
• need to sell long-term research, instead of just 1 to 3 year chunks of research
• Patricia Roberts-Pichette (Canada): says that funds follow good ideas => marketing of long-term research to international/national funding agencies; networks are a good way to capture funding
• needs: 1) official support from country (commitment), 2) overcome political vs. Scientific differences => form a national effort 3) transition in funding from the individual to organizations 4) standardization of data for comparative studies
• Bob Waide: says that lobbying politicians can happen if sell in terms of economic reason; thus, agroecology and infectious disease are important topics

November 13, 1996

National Science Foundation Presentation by JoAnn Roskoski

• NSF funds go to: basic scientific research, strengthen scientific and engineering research potential and educational programs
• Strategies are: develop intellectual capital, integrate research and education, strengthen the physical infrastructure, promote partnerships
• Grants must go to US institutions but can have a collaborative association with researchers in other countries
• NSF responsibilities for biological research falls under the following categories: long-term, systematics, environmental physics (?), environmental biology, computational biology
• Budget for FY96 was $300.8 M in Biological Sciences (24uccess rate of proposals to awards)
• LTER fits into part of budget line-item called "centers"; FY96 budget of $23.20M
• Urban LTER - studies human ecosystems, FY97 estimated budget of $0.5 M
• NSF funded biodiversity programs attempt to: 1) assess the state and extent of biodiversity 2) the role of biodiversity 3) develop expertise 4) expanded dimensions (e.g. partnerships with other groups like NIH and AID)

United States (LTER) Presentation by James Gosz

• LTER
  • studies representative ecosystems and compares organisms and processes
  • operate at a large spatial scale, and over long period of time
  • multidisciplinary
  • comparative
  • modelling and networking are key functions
• flashed a slide of a graph, with increasing # of measurements (increasing cost) on the x-axis and increasing frequency of measurement (increasing cost) on the y-axis; LTER had a low x value, but high y value; LANDSAT was high in both; Soil survey had low y-value, but high x, etc.
• Mentioned the following groups:National Science and Technology Council (NSTC), in which the US president is chair; National Reseaarch Strategy for Tropospheric Ozone (NARSTO), which conducts research on seasonal and interannual climate change; Enviro nmental Synthesis Center (at University of California, Santa Barbara), which facilitates think-tank type forums
• priorities are identified in NSF and are usually driven by the research community, documents and scientific societies

NSF International Programs Presentation by Christine French

• NSF has representatives of their interests in France (for Europe) and Japan (for Asia)
• these representative are looking outward to build connections of the NSF community with international efforts, but funding must still go to US institution which is working with international projects (or regional agencies, NGOs)
• education is big - NSF tries to facilitate exchange of junior scientists
• ILTER fits into this scheme by helping to train and transfer technology
• any international effort must fit into NSF scientific priorities
• however, awareness of what type of research is going on outside of the US is now a mandated priority of NSF

Canada Funding Presentation by Patricia Roberts-Pichette

• Key players in Cananda: Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), International Research Council (IRC)
• CIDA funds can flow to international countries, proposals must be of the "high priority" sort. CIDA is not so much interested in research as it is in training and resource management
• Canadian embassies may be a source of funding to tap into for small types of purchases (e.g. $5,000 to $10,000)
• there are some possibilities for debt-for-nature swaps

England Presentation by David Norse

• British embassies are also a good place to start for discrete improvements (e.g. travel, etc), but have a good argument
• Talks about the 4-framework program, which is in a phasing-out process
• "Climate Change" is a big priority
• for now, funding is 2-3 years max., but this problem (for long-term research) may be addressed in the fifth framework (to be continued)
• The Darwin Initiative has some money, and is administered by the Department of the Environment; it is looking at taxonomic questions, and is considering forming LTERs

Ecuador Comments by Fernando Ortiz-Crespo

• Ecuador has participated in England's 3 framework, and was getting funding through that for some time
• things broke down with the introduction of the 4-framework system because there was a mandate to work with networks and universities (larger organizational bodies)
• in Ecuador, things are so bureaucratic that the system there could not deal effectively with the 4-framework
• he stressed that the 5th-framework must consider small countries and their often underdeveloped infrastructure

Conocit Presentation by Walter Jaffe

• Conocit is now 30 years old
• they have funded/worked towards: human resources development (e.g. graduate student funding), research efforts by individual scientists, loans to companies doing technological research
• however, there is fragmentation of individual scientists, and no coordination at the national level
• Conocit tried to remedy this by making three Principle Investigators collaborate, to pool resources

CNPq Presentation by Francisco Rodrigues Barbosa

• CNPq has a relatively large budget at US$800 M, yet bureaucracy and policy change tends to eat up a large share of this money)
• in general, the focus is towards ecologically integrated programs, with a long-term perspective. $42 M dedicated over 10 years
• BLTER is committed to the cause, and has a strong desire to be part of an international network

Proceedings followed with country reports in the sequence listed below.
See individual Country Reports for more information.

• Czech Republic Presentation by Vera Straskrabova
• Hungary Presentation by Edit Kovacs-Lang
• Poland Presentation by Kajetan Perzanowski and Tadeusz Prus
• Taiwan Presentation by Chang-Hung Chou
• Canada Presentation by Patricia Roberts-Pichette
• England Presentation by David Norse
• Japan Presentation by Toshio Iwakuma

Francisco Rodrigues Barbosa suggests a Latin American LTER meeting

• Latin American ILTER meeting is tentatively set for May, 1997
• some countries will first need to have a national meeting
• known ILTER (US-funded) national meetings for the region: Mexico (January 1997 and March 1997). Chile (January 1997)
• should the Latin American ILTER include Spain and Portugal? They do push biosphere reserves through MAB
• some confusion on this point, but we believe there are 19 countries including the Carribean
• Will all countries come or should we just go with those that can make it?
• Gisele stressed that this meeting should have focus, otherwise there may be too much individual squabbling over needs
• Jorge: need to sell to individual governments; there is a mutualism with the government that needs to be formed - catch them in the momentum