Colorado mountains
 

Michael P. Nelson - Abstract

Michael P. Nelson

The Value of, and Challenges for, Long Term Ecological Research

Begin with some very basic questions:

  • Why is long-term (LTER) ecological research of value? 
  • Do some of these values make LTER and lter more vulnerable to critique, while others form the basis of a more defensible justification? 
  • Are there values for lter that are worthy of more serious exploration, articulation, and defense? 

When we work through answers to these questions we see connections between LTER and environmental ethics, and other disciplines as well. 

Those connections demonstrate both the necessity and promise of deep forms of inter- and trans-disciplinarity, and perhaps some surprising new (maybe even important) ways to articulate the value of LTER.

 
 
Background Photo by: Nicole Hansen - Jornada (JRN) LTER