News Release

Scientists across the nation want to emulate MSU's long-term research success

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Michigan State University

EAST LANSING, Mich. --- If imitation is the highest form of flattery, then researchers associated with the Michigan State University Long-Term Ecological Research site at the Kellogg Biological Station should be very proud.

A paper in the July/August issue of the journal BioScience calls for the United States to use the internationally known program as a model for agricultural research and set up a network of LTER-like sites across the country. Typically, agricultural research projects are funded for two to three years.

"After more than 20 years of successful research at MSU and other LTER sites, many in agriculture are recognizing the substantial value of long-term interdisciplinary work at a single location and are suggesting that a network of agricultural sites could help to address many of the important challenges facing agriculture today," said Phil Robertson, MSU professor of crop and soil sciences who serves as director of the MSU LTER project.

"Basically," he added, "scientists from around the country are asking the U.S. Department of Agriculture to create a network of sites like MSU's."

The national LTER network, funded by the National Science Foundation, is made up of 26 sites studying ecology and environmental biology to provide a better understanding of the ecology of both natural and managed systems. The MSU site, established in 1988, is the only one to focus on agriculture. Its research looks at how biodiversity — plants, animals and microbes in agricultural landscapes — contributes to farm productivity, environmental performance and profitability. The site attracts researchers from all over the world and is available to any scientist with a legitimate research interest.

Robertson is one of the paper's 17 authors; the others are researchers from universities across the country, including Harvard, Texas Tech, Oregon State, Ohio State and Cornell. Robertson said there is widespread appreciation for the research being done at MSU, as well as the realization that one program can't possibly encompass the diversity of U.S. agriculture. The BioScience paper is based on a white paper prepared for the USDA that calls for the establishment of a long-term agricultural research network.

"I've long said that having only one LTER site devoted to agriculture is a bit narrow minded," he said. "What we really need is a network, not just one or even two sites. We hope this paper will stimulate interest in both long-term agricultural research and the network concept in the same way that papers 25 years ago stimulated interest in LTER. And there are indications that the USDA is listening — I've heard that an initial competition may be announced yet this year."

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In addition to the National Science Foundation, research at the MSU LTER site is also supported by the Michigan Agricultural Experiment Station.

For more information on the MSU Long-Term Ecological Research site at the Kellogg Biological Station, visit: www.lter.kbs.msu.edu/.

For a copy of the paper, see "Long-term Agricultural Research: A Research, Education, and Extension Imperative"


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