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The IBP served to incorporate ecosystem ecology, and this resulted in a permanent increase in funding support for the field. The IBP led to the creation of numerous smaller-scale models of ecological systems and trained a generation of ecological researchers by pioneering the use of computer modeling in ecology. The successor programs to the IBP are now integral to the Long-Term Ecological Research program (LTER) which is now in its thirtieth year and includes five former IBP sites, with Hubbard Brook among the twenty-six research programs. This chapter describes the development of the LTER program and then presents an overview of some of the key players in its development, including NSF program staff and the Coordinating Committee chairs who have been active in this program. Major scientific findings are also presented here, and some comparisons are made with the predecessor of the LTER, the IBP. Additional synthesis activities, such as the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (NCEAS) are also discussed.

This chapter illustrates the contributions of the Long-Term Ecological Research to the growing awareness of the management of Puerto Rican government in conserving Luquillo Mountains' ecosystem. It also highlights the activities in the Luquillo Experimental Forest (LEF) by addressing the tropical forest conservation issues and relating these to the recurring disturbances experienced by the locality. Finally, it outlines the application of the research to test the accumulated ecological information in anticipating future needs and priorities.

This chapter focuses on the ecological response mechanisms of the Luquillo Mountains to natural and human-induced disturbances, such as hurricanes and land cover change. It identifies the ecosystems of the Luquillo Mountains as a perfect representation of large masses of a non-frost tropical land because of its naturally occurring features: high rainfall, hurricane disturbances, maritime climate, and insularity. It then sets out the Luquillo Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) program as a by-product of the 20th and 21st century experimentations, and discusses its contributions to the basic understanding of the ecological make-up and biogeochemistry of the Luquillo Mountains.

This chapter explores the effects of the organismal diversity to the disturbance sequences that indirectly affects their milieu—the ecosystem. It explains the scientific investigations conducted by the ecologists on the distribution and abundance of organisms, particularly the cycle of nutrients in the food web. It also discusses the flora and fauna's body make-up and nutritional in-take. In this regard, this chapter provides a purview of the connection between biodiversity variations and ecological processes through the following environmental projects: Rain Forest Project and Luquillo Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER).