eLTER’s distributed physical network

eLTER RI has two kinds of in-situ facilities: eLTER Sites and eLTSER Platforms. The partner countries contribute sites and platforms as “National Research Infrastructures” (NRIs). Together, these national contributions form the European eLTER RI physical network. 

eLTER Sites and eLTSER Platforms of all categories require the implementation of eLTER’s Whole System Approach (WAILS), the related concept of eLTER Standard Observations and other criteria. For each ecosystem sphere (geo-, hydro-, bio-, atmo- and socio-econosphere) there is a set of Standard Observation variables. These variables can be measured either with a basic method (simple with modest costs) or a prime method (more demanding, high measurement and replication frequencies, etc., thus more expensive).

At eLTER Sites, which are in the range of 100-1000 ha, mainly natural scientific research and observations cover energy-, water-, and matter-budgets, and abiotic and biotic structures across the spheres (the critical zone). eLTER Sites combine regular sampling, permanent measurements and inventories at appropriate intervals across drivers. The long-term operated sites are situated in a wide range of ecosystem types (~10 EUNIS habitat types) covering terrestrial, freshwater and transitional water ecosystems. The design of sites is customised according to the ecological profile of the site (habitat(s), terrain etc.), thus enabling integrated analyses across spheres (geosphere to atmosphere) and covering the required spatial scales. Sites can be small, focussing on a specific place and only one habitat, or larger, with observations covering a number of habitats.

eLTER Sites Category 2

Category 2 eLTER Sites investigate and observe the whole ecosystem at the basic level. Like eLTER Sites Category 1, the eLTER Sites Category 2 comply with the Whole System Approach (WAILS) but differ in magnitude of instrumentation and the choice of methods. Simpler and cheaper methods allow for a larger number of eLTER Sites Category 2, which is crucial for achieving proper coverage at the European scale and specifically for large-scale data products that need consistent observation data across ecosystem spheres for multi- and cross-site analyses.

eLTSER Platforms

eLTSER Platforms (PCat-1 and PCat-2) are spatially explicit living laboratories at the regional scale for conducting transdisciplinary, long-term, socio-ecological research. They are designed and operated with the specific goal of harnessing scientific research on human-environment interactions for addressing environmental challenges and facilitating sustainability transitions. 

eLTSER Platforms represent regions with their cultural, land-use, historical, natural, administrative, and economic characteristics, comprising all relevant agents. Research is conducted at the landscape scale (a delineated region usually determined by administrative boundaries) using diverse disciplinary, interdisciplinary, and transdisciplinary approaches in tight coordination with local and regional stakeholders. eLTSER Platforms include actors and stakeholders, research activities, physical infrastructure and coordination/management with a strong focus on soft infrastructure components like communication and actors engagement. Research and decision making at platforms are supported by long-term environmental data (gathered at the eLTER Site(s) within the boundaries of the platform), as well as social and economic data.

As for the eLTER Sites, the eLTSER Platform Categories 1 and 2 differ in the complexity of data gathering. While eLTSER Platforms Category 2 rely mainly on data retrieved from other sources (official statistics etc.) complemented by an expert assessment of these data (basic method), the eLTSER Platforms Category 2 perform additional in-situ data gathering on social and economic data (prime method). 

The common denominator in eLTER RI is the realisation of the Whole System Approach in observation and research. The Categories and their criteria were specified in detail here.