One of the most palpable needs in global environmental protection is a large database of accurate and reliable data on environmental and ecological phenomena. Although globally there are many ecological projects, most of the data collected have limited accessibility or are poorly archived.

In this thesis, I examine two long-term ecological research networks that attempts to rectify this situation. They are the U.S. Long-Term Ecological Research Network (LTER), and the Taiwan Ecological Research Network (TERN). Both are members of the International Long-term Ecological Research (ILTER) network. As the U.S. LTER is pushing an effort to create a regional LTER network in East Asia, it becomes necessary to understand how regional differences between U.S. and East Asia affect our ability to transplant a Western environmental research model to East Asia.

The premise of this thesis is that the key to successfully implementing environmental research networking in East Asia is to adapt, not adopt Western models. The author argues that we cannot ignore the social, political, cultural, and developmental atmosphere that scientific enterprises operate in. Understanding the issues of cross-cultural scientific management is especially important for ILTER because the ultimate value of its research depends on whether it will be able to sustain large-scale and long-term data collection over a long period of time.

The main conclusions of this thesis are:

• The scientific priority of East Asian nations is to use science for economic development. Making clear to East Asian nations how participation in the network would benefit them will expedite the dissemination and acceptance of LTER in East Asia.
• A region-wide Internet connectivity assessment is necessary for long- term planning of the region's ecological network. The focus of network building should be on long-term capacity building, not short-term technological acquisitions.
• ILTER should develop stronger linkages with other international organizations dealing on both the scientific and non-scientific aspects of ecological issues.
• Scientists should develop cross-cultural awareness before plunging into global collaborative efforts.