Past Research 1996-2002 The focus of the 1996-2002 Coweeta LTER research was to investigate the complex interactions of natural disturbances and human land use across a range of scales. Within the southern Appalachian Mountains, these effects interact with steep environmental gradients to produce complex spatial patterns and temporal dynamics that are present in the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and landscape levels. The Coweeta Basin has over a 60 year history of ecosystem research that provides invaluable baseline information and whose past results coupled with our society's needs have led the current direction of inquiry. P-I. Characterizing Disturbance and Heterogeneity P-IA. Historical Fire Regimes P-IB. Historical Human-caused Land Cover Change P-IC. Socio-economic Drivers of Land-use Change P-II. Effects of Disturbance/Environmental Heterogeneity on Populations and Communities P-IIA. Disturbance History, Land-use, and Impacts on Biodiversity at Various Spatial Scales P-IIB. Land-use and Long-term Change in Aquatic Ecosystems of the southern Appalachians P-IIB1. Faunal assemblages and ecosystem function in streams of different land-use P-IIB2. Interactions among biota and sediments in streams of different land-use P-IIB3. Long-term patterns of change in aquatic biota P-IIB4. Experimental manipulation of sediment inputs P-IIC. Linkages Among Spatial Variation in Plant Quality, Herbivore Population Dynamics, and Soil Processes P-IIC1. Herbivory and plant quality P-IIC2. Herbivory and soil processes P-IID. Environmental Heterogeneity and Community Dynamics P-IID1. Effects of spatial/temporal environmentalheterogeneity on stream fish assemblages P-IID2. Disturbance/heterogeneity as determinantsof species richness of animal assemblages P-IID3. Site factors, plant life-history traits, and gap studies P-III. Disturbance/Heterogeneity on Biogeochemical Cycling & Ecosystem Processes P-IIIA. Within Stream Ecosystems P-IIIA1. Characterizing stream ecosystem processes P-IIIA2. Long-term stream studies and effects of land-use on stream ecosystems P-IIIB. Within Riparian Ecosystems P-IIIB1. Riparian zone delineation and nutrient cycling P-IIIB2. The role of Rhododendron in riparian zone function P-IIIC. Within Forest Ecosystems P-IIIC1. Variation in pools and fluxes of carbon P-IIIC2. Variations in pools and fluxes of nutrients P-IIIC3. Variations in pools and fluxes of water P-IIIC4. Linkages among carbon, nutrients, and water cycling P-IIIC5. Role of species vs. environmental heterogeneity in regulating ecosystem processes P-IIID. Natural Disturbances