Fish sampling done as part of routine analyses of a group of LTER lakes.

SOURCE: Thomas M. Frost, University of Wisconsin, Trout Lake Station.

cal field stations either currently have, or have the potential for, aquatic science research and education. In addition, the National Science Foundation supports a network of field sites, listed in Table 4-2, through its Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) program; most of these sites include an aquatic research component, and four (North Temperate Lakes for lakes and Hubbard Brook, Coweeta, and Andrews for streams) have long histories of advancing knowledge in limnology.

Educational opportunities at field stations should be improved in several ways:

• More undergraduates should be encouraged to take advantage of field stations or other outdoor laboratories as part of their general education in aquatic science. For example, more stations could develop short courses or workshops specifically for undergraduates. Universities with on-campus aquatic resources (lakes, streams, or wetlands) could establish their own outdoor laboratory programs for undergraduates.

• The range of ecosystem types and the geographic distribution of field stations should be expanded to encompass a broad range of aquatic ecosystems that occur across the continent. For example, the LTER sites listed in Table 4-2 reflect neither the range of habitat types nor the latitudes at which those habitats occur, especially for wetland and lake ecosystems. Funding resources should be focused on developing additional sites representing lake and wetland ecosystems over the range of climatic conditions