This award continues funding the long-term research program in aridland ecology. The research is to understand how the physical environment and climate variability together affect common species, community dynamics and ecosystem processes in the northern Chihuahuan Desert. The Sevilleta LTER Program addresses ecological concepts and theory emphasizing pulse driven processes in space and time through comprehensive and interdisciplinary research in desert grassland, shrubland, forest and riparian habitats in central New Mexico. Through a combination of long-term measurements, experiments, and modeling, the research considers how climate and the physical environment interact to effect change in aridland ecosystems. The focal sites are the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge and the Middle Rio Grande Basin. The Sevilleta LTER support our Schoolyard LTER program, the Bosque Ecosystem Monitoring Program, reaches hundreds of middle and high school students annually in classroom and outdoor settings. The Arts and Ecology REU Program brings together students from fine arts and ecology for an 11-week summer research and creative experience. LTER scientists and students actively participate in the Ecological Society of America?s SEEDS Program by hosting workshops and mentoring SEEDS Fellows. The Sevilleta LTER participates in the newly developed Junior Scientist Outreach Program, a program sponsored by the Biology Department at the University of New Mexico, which targets underserved Hispanic students in Albuquerque's south valley. Activities include organized visits to the campus, summer field camps, and active participation in field research.
