This U.S.-Hungary workshop will examine the potential for a network of international long-term ecological research (LTER) sites within the Carpathian Basin of Europe. It takes place in Budapest during June 1999. Co-organizers Kate Lajtha of Oregon State University and Edit Kovacs-Lang with the Institute of Ecology and Botany of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences hope to promote a heightened level of exchange among regional scientists who traditionally focus their research on national questions rather than trans-boundary topics. Recognizing that the Carpathian Basin eco-region is a fairly consistent physico-geographical unit, with relatively high biodiversity, the workshop program features discussions directed toward finding ways to improve networking among researchers in the neighboring scientific communities from Poland, Ukraine, the Czech Republic, the Slovak Republic, Hungary, and Romania. The NSF-supported national LTER will serve as a working model and U.S. scientists will contribute to the workshop agenda.
The U.S. LTER network recognizes that cross-site research offers scientists the opportunity to generalize about ecological phenomena and test the validity of local findings. Drawing upon the U.S. LTER experience, this international workshop will bring together scientists from the regional countries and from the United States to: 1) introduce scientists from participant countries to each other and LTER concepts, 2) share research ideas, data management techniques and networking programs, and 3) plan linked experiments and measurements. If successful, the workshop could lead to new collaborative research efforts in topics that test and expand models linking land use history to biogeochemical cycling and nutrient use, air pollution to ecosystem structure and function, and potentially, anthropogenic effects of air pollution and land use to biodiversity.
This workshop featuring long-term ecological research in the Carpathian Basin fulfills the program objective of advancing scientific knowledge by enabling experts in the United States and Central Europe to combine complementary talents and share research resources in areas of strong mutual interest and competence. ***
