Geographical and Thematic Distribution of Publications Generated at the International Long-Term Ecological Research Network (ILTER) Sites - Earth Stewardship: Linking Ecology and Ethics in Theory and Practice - page 191

Chapter 13
Geographical and Thematic Distribution
of Publications Generated at the International
Long-Term Ecological Research Network
(ILTER) Sites
Ben Li , Terry Parr , and Ricardo Rozzi
Abstract The International Long-Term Ecological Research (ILTER) network
is currently unmatched by other global networks in its ability to coordinate and
collaborate on long-term ecological research and monitoring at a planetary scale.
This offers an ideal research, information, and infrastructural platform for the
Earth Stewardship initiative. However, to achieve an effective synergy between
ILTER and Earth Stewardship it is critical to overcome problematic geographical
and conceptual gaps in ILTER Research. To quantify these gaps we produced a
new database of scholarly and grey literature generated at long-term ecological
or socio-ecological research (LTER) sites worldwide. We assessed: (1) the geo-
graphical origin of LTER researchers; (2) the geographical regions where these
researchers conduct their studies; (3) which thematic areas are investigated in
LTER research, and to what extent do they include concepts associated with
Earth Stewardship; (4) in which venues are LTER research outputs published.
Regarding the production of knowledge at ILTER, we found a marked Northern
Hemispherism : > 90 % of the ILTER publications are generated by researchers
from the Northern Hemisphere. Furthermore, 89 % of ILTER publications
are generated by researchers associated with LTER networks in the North
Temperate region (23° N - 66° N). Regarding conceptual gaps, < 0.5 % of ILTER