Front Matter -- Preface -- Acknowledgments -- Contents -- Executive Summary -- 1 Planning Long-Term Ecosystem Science -- 2 The Importance of a Conceptual Foundation -- 3 Determining Scope and Geographic Focus -- 4 Organizational Structure -- 5 Community Involvement and Traditional Knowledge -- 6 Data and Information Management -- 7 Synthesis, Modeling, and Evaluation -- 8 Conclusions and Recommendations -- References -- A Biosketches of the Committee's Members -- B Acronyms.