Anonymous: Conducting Time-Series in the Antarctic, JGOFS News, 1993 REPORT Conducting Time-Series Studies In The Antarctic: The Palmer Long-Term Ecological Research Project (U.S. JGOFS Newsletter - March 1993, 5-6) As the focus of planning for a U.S. JGOFS process study in the Southern Ocean shifts from scientific issues to implementation, interest in current antarctic programs with complementary goals is growing. At their recent meeting in Miami, U.S. JGOFS steering committee members discussed opportunities for cooperation with the Palmer Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) project, an antarctic time-series study that is now in its second field season. The National Science Foundation supports a network of 19 LTER sites in ecosystems ranging from prairies and temperate forests to the polar regions. All LTER projects are required to conduct research in five core areas: patterns and control of primary production, distribution of populations representing trophic structures, patterns and control of organic matter accumulation, patterns of inorganic inputs and movements of nutrients, and patterns and frequency of disturbance to the research site. In a report prepared for the Antarctic Journal of the United States, Robin Ross and Langdon Quetin of the University of California at Santa Barbara (UCSB) present an overview of the Palmer LTER, the first marine site in the program. Established in 1990, the Palmer LTER focuses on the pelagic marine ecosystem of the Antarctic and the processes that link the extent of annual pack ice to the biological dynamics of different trophic levels in the waters west of the Antarctic Peninsula. Overall objectives of the Palmer LTER are: - to document interannual variability in the development and extent of pack ice; - to document interannual variability in life-history parameters of primary producers and populations of key species and to quantify the processes underlying this natural variation; - to construct models that link ecosystem processes to physical variables, simulate spatial and temporal relationships between populations, and predict and validate the impact of changes in the annual extent of pack ice on ecosystem dynamics. Core measurements include results from a sampling program based at Palmer Station throughout the austral spring and summer and an annual cruise covering a region roughly 400 by 200 kilometers southwest of Anvers Island. The report notes that cruises are planned for the austral spring and fall of 1993 to define the temporal and spatial variability in biological, chemical, optical and physical characteristics of the region and to study processes underlying interactions between the ice cover and the marine ecosystem. During the 1991-92 season, Palmer LTER researchers carried out two major research efforts, a cruise on R/V Polar Duke in November and a near-shore monitoring and experimental program from mid-October through early March. Cruise participants measured hydrographic and optical characteristics of the water column, phytoplankton biomass, photosynthetic potential and community composition, and the distribution, abundance and physiological condition of selected secondary producers, particularly the antarctic krill. The near-shore program focuses on the hydrography, chemistry and biology of waters surrounding Palmer Station and the population dynamics and ecology of Adelie penguins and south polar skuas that nest on nearby islands. An automatic weather station has been installed southeast of Palmer Station to provide information essential to the Palmer LTER's database. Six research groups are currently conducting studies as part of the Palmer LTER. Principal investigators and their projects are: Ray Smith (UCSB): remote sensing, climatology, environmental optics, hydrography and bio-optical modeling of primary production Barbara Prezelin (UCSB): phytoplankton and inorganic nutrient dynamics, photosynthetic regulation and bio-optical modeling of primary production Robin Ross and Langdon Quetin (UCSB): distribution, abundance and ecological physiology of secondary producers, biological-physical modeling William Fraser and Wayne Trivelpiece (Old Dominion Univ.): seabird population dynamics and reproductive ecology, population modeling Eileen Hofmann and John Klinck (Old Dominion Univ.): oceanic circulation, biological-physical and population modeling David Karl (Univ. of Hawaii): dissolved organic carbon, microbial processes The project is funded for six years, with the possibility of a further four years pending review. Participants in both programs see considerable merit in fostering interaction between them. U.S. JGOFS steering committee member Eileen Hofmann, also a Palmer LTER investigator, cited some of the reasons. "The data sets we are taking are relevant to the goals of JGOFS and we are taking them in an area that is not usually sampled as we are doing it," she observed. Office of Polar Programs manager Polly Penhale pinted out that Palmer LTER researchers are working in a different part of the Southern Ocean from the proposed area of focus for the U.S. JGOFS process study. Having data sets from a variety of areas helps address the question of the representativeness of a given area. The Palmer LTER project is currently the most relevant one for U.S. JGOFS interests in the Southern Ocean, Penhale said, noting that the two programs are addressing the same set of carbon cycling questions with a different twist. "I can foresee informal cooperation and interaction: data exchange, joint meetings, that sort of thing," she added.