TITLE: The Palmer LTER: 1991-1998
AUTHORS: R.C.Smith
DATE: 31 Aug - 4 Sep 1998
PLACE: VII SCAR International Biology Symposium in New Zealand 
Workshop on Long Term Ecological Research in Antarctica with
Moderator, Diana Wall, US

Raymond C. Smith, ICESS, University of California at Santa Barbara

The Palmer Long-Term Ecological Research (PAL) program focuses on 
the marine ecosystem in the western Antarctic Peninsula (WAP) region.
The addition of the PAL to the LTER Network in October 1990 extended
the geographical & ecological range of the LTER significantly & provided
the opportunity to link ecological processes between hemispheres as
well as across terrestrial & marine biomes.  A central tenet of the PAL 
is that the annual advance & retreat of sea ice is a major physical 
determinant of spatial & temporal changes in the structure & function 
of the Antarctic marine ecosystem, from total annual primary production 
to breeding success in seabirds.