LTER IV: Long-Term Ecological Research on Disturbance, Succession, and Ecosystem State Change at the Virginia Coast Reserve

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The Virginia coast is an extremely dynamic landscape. The Virginia Coastal Reserve (VCR) LTER focuses on understanding the relationships between natural and anthropogenic forces on the ecology of a coastal barrier island, lagoon and mainland system. Frequent storms, tides, and winds cause sea level variations that affect over 70% of VCR's land area. Over the last century sea level rose 35 cm, the highest rise along the Atlantic coast. Seventy years ago the dominant species, eelgrass, disappeared from the lagoons; recolonization began anew in the past 5 years. In addition, 60-90% of the barrier island uplands is new land since 1979. This land creation has left a century-long legacy that we can now use for natural experiments. The central hypothesis of the new phase of the VCR LTER program is that ecosystem and landscape dynamics and land use patterns within the watersheds of the VCR are controlled by the vertical position of the land, the sea, and the freshwater table surfaces. Our research approach is to utilize short-term manipulative experiments, long-term observations, and computer models. We will also capitalize on nature's "experiments" where new landscapes continue to be created and recolonizing species may be moving lagoons back to conditions of earlier times. We will also expand our research to examine 56 watersheds on the peninsula, which currently vary in cover from 80% forest to 80% agriculture. This research goes to the heart of solving fundamental societal problems associated with environmental change at the land-sea interface.