The North Temperate Lakes Long Term Ecological Research program studies the ecology of lakes as one of a network of sites established by the National Science Foundation to support research on long-term ecological phenomena. We are interested in how biophysical setting, climate, and changing land use and cover interact to shape lake characteristics and dynamics over time (past, present, future). Our primary study sites include a set of seven northern Wisconsin and four southern Wisconsin lakes and their surrounding landscapes. The project, which started in 1981, is administered by the Center for Limnology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.