News
19 February 2023
The Department of Environmental Science (ACES) at Stockholm University is one of the largest departments in the Faculty of Science. The department is divided into four units with more than 190 researchers, teachers, doctoral students and technical/administrative staff from over 30 countries. The department has a strong focus on research, spanning from couplings between climate change and biogeochemical cycles (atmosphere-land-ocean) to the sources, transport and effects of environmental contamin...
13 February 2023
Ninety researchers from 26 countries, part of the eLTER PPP and eLTER PLUS projects, gathered in Mallorca from 16 to 20 May 2022 for the first ever consortia physical meeting. This was a great opportunity to capture the spirit of the projects, so a professional team was hired to shoot 23 videos which we present to you now. They are grouped into three categories: - eLTER Stakeholders Information: The videos here aim to provide comprehensive and tailored information to the four main Stakehold...
13 February 2023
Berchtesgaden National Park is Germany's only national park in the Alps. It offers unique opportunities for research on mountain landscapes and their natural dynamics. Particularly relevant research topics include species conservation, ecosystem dynamics, long-term ecological monitoring across trophic levels, and learning from protected areas for ecosystem management. Research and monitoring in Berchtesgaden National Park is led by Prof. Rupert Seidl, Chair of Ecosystem Dynamics and Forest Manag...
7 February 2023
The cross-border project SIMILE (Italian acronym for “System for the Integrated Monitoring of Insubric Lakes and their Ecosystems”) financed within the Interreg Italy-Switzerland Cooperation Programme 2014-2020, is coming to an end. SIMILE focused on three subalpine lakes, two of which, Maggiore and Como, belonging to the LTER Italy network.The project’s general objectives were the improvement of lake monitoring and the strengthening of the coordinated management of water through an intensificat...
6 February 2023
The LTSER Sabor site in the Northeast of Portugal has been participating in the LIFEPLAN project for the last two years. LIFEPLAN is coordinated by Helsinki University, with several partners across the world aiming to assess the global diversity of a wide diversity of terrestrial taxa, including birds, mammals, insects, plants, and fungi.Using the most recent advances in sampling methods, as well as in molecular, bioinformatic, bioacoustics and statistical analysis, the project aims to set the s...
6 February 2023
Atmospheric pollution is associated with demonstrated health and climate issues. Our understanding of the sources and transformation processes are confronted with the chemical complexity of the particulate phase, and more particularly of its organic fraction. The metrological limits of the instruments commonly used in the various observatories therefore deprive us of a complete vision of the mechanisms involved.Indeed, it has been recently underlined that in Paris, for instance, around 80% of or...
6 February 2023
The ESA EarthCARE Team is looking for a young graduate trainee to undertake an investigation into the EarthCARE mission. EarthCARE’s objective is to investigate the interaction between clouds, aerosols and radiation, providing global profiles of clouds, aerosols and precipitation along with co-located radiative flux measurements. The data will be used to evaluate the representation of these constituents in weather forecasting and climate models. The payload consists of the ATmospheric LIDar...
3 February 2023
The Riserva Naturale Montagna di Torricchio is a protected area in the Central Apennines, Italy. During a recent survey of the reserve's insect biodiversity, directed by Dr. Federico Landi, a new species of beetle was found.As reported by Magrini (2021), Duvalius landii is a medium to large species of beetle that lacks eyes and pigmentation. It belongs to the straneoi group, cirocchii subgroup (sensu Magrini 2017).ReferencesMagrini P., 2017 - Revisione dei Duvalius Delarouzée, 1859 dei Gruppi be...
2 February 2023
The Karst Research Institute at the Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts (ZRC SAZU) is the leading partner of the LTER Slovenia consortium which belongs to eLTER. Within the consortium, multidisciplinary research focuses on karst areas, regions characterized by water-soluble rocks, which results in the absence of water at the surface, as water flows mainly underground through fractures.On the surface, the most characteristic karst landforms are karst plateaus and various...
1 February 2023
The permanent position of scientist at INRAE in soil sciences (erosion and effect of plant cover), at the LISAH lab is now open to competition, with the following schedule.Candidates must have a PhD or equivalent. In-depth skills in soil science and, ideally, in soil physics are highly recommended. Knowledge in modelling would be particularly appreciated. Basic knowledge of functional ecology would be a plus. Good interpersonal skills and openness to multidisciplinary are essential.Candidates sh...
31 July 2021
The Global Ecosystem Research Infrastructure (GERI) arranged a session in the vEGU2021. The session consisted of 10 presentations covering topics like water resources and oceans, SDG’s addressed by RIs, climate models informing policy decisions and the fundamental concept of the emerging GERI, which was presented by the eLTER PLUS coordinator, Professor Jaana Bäck.
GERI is a consortium of six distributed RIs (eLTER and ICOS in Europe, TERN in Australia, NEON in US,&nbs...
28 July 2021
Country: PortugaleLTER site: Baixo Sabor LTERThe Baixo Sabor LTsER is located in Portugal, in the region of Trás-os-Montes, within the watershed of the Sabor river (3868 km2), which drains into the Douro river. It encompasses the lower reaches of the Sabor River and the catchment of its tributaries (1590 km2).The research on site aims to understand the long-term consequences of river damming on freshwater and adjacent terrestrial ecosystems. As such, a thorough fish monitoring program has been e...
25 July 2021
The purpose of the document is to provide the various eLTER teams, National Coordinators and the Site and Platform Coordinators with up-to-date information on how to handle their communication on local, national and international level in the best possible way.
Furthermore, the included information could be of general usefulness for the eLTER community even outside of the project. Among the contents of the Handbook are:
- How to write for social media: Twitter / Facebook...
24 July 2021
Country: IsraeleLTER platform: Ramat Hanadiv LTSER PlatformConnected to the edge of the trap is an inverted bottle that traps flies, mosquitoes, moths, and other flying insects. The insects are weighed, identified by experts, and preserved in Israel’s National Nature Collections. The trap is resistant to weather hazards, including the strong winds that blow through the region now and then, and has been fenced by the staff of Ramat Hanadiv to protect it from wildlife damage. The large-holed netti...
23 July 2021
In a collaborative effort of multiple LTER member networks, as well as external input from the University of Maryland and the University of Salzburg, ILTER has funded and recently published an open-access study dedicated to assessing the biogeographical and socio-ecological representativeness of the ILTER site network.The findings of this study and derived recommendations will foster and support the future development of ILTER. The developed methodology also bears relevance for eLTER and has alr...
22 July 2021
The monitoring station of Companhia das Lezírias (CL) joined the LIFEPLAN project, as a representative of the montado landscape. Every week and until 2026, the cE3c team will collect the images and sounds recorded automatically by cameras and audiomoths installed on trees, and samples of spores and flying insects collected with a cyclone sampler and a malaise trap. Soil samples will also be collected 8 times a year. This sampling effort will be alternating every year wit...
20 July 2021
Country: SloveniaeLTER site: Postojna-Planina Cave SystemKarst areas are characterized by solubility of carbonate rocks, resulting in predominantly underground drainage. Due to rapid flow and quick transmission of any substances, these areas are very vulnerable to pollution. Some areas, like large enclosed depressions called poljes, are also susceptible to flooding. This happens when groundwater level rises above surface or when inflow into poljes is larger than outflow through swallow holes.The...
14 July 2021
Following a comprehensive working process eLTER completed a stakeholder assessment identifying six external and one internal stakeholder categories with over 30 groups. The starting point for this mapping exercise was the preliminary stakeholder analysis for the ESFRI application. The initial picture was further developed by several workshops and reflections with internal and external participants. A focus was put on the future eLTER RI coordination and their links to European and national level...
8 July 2021
The Global Ecosystem Research Infrastructure (GERI) arranged a session in the vEGU2021. The session consisted of 10 presentations covering topics like water resources and oceans, SDG’s addressed by RIs, climate models informing policy decisions and the fundamental concept of the emerging GERI, which was presented by the eLTER PLUS coordinator, Professor Jaana Bäck.
GERI is a consortium of six distributed RIs (eLTER and ICOS in Europe, TERN in Australia, NEON in US,&nbs...
4 July 2021
The Swiss Geosciences Community completed its Roadmap for Research Infrastructures 2025–2028. It recommends strengthening the multidisciplinary nature of the geosciences by putting all activities under the roof of the Integrated Swiss Geosciences. They will be supported by four specific research infrastructure pillars (Figure 1) that provide the basis for a state-of-the-art multidisciplinary integrated and harmonized geoscientific research environment.
Pillar I, Integrated Long-term Observato...
9 March 2016
A video featuring the Montado long-term research site, one of the eLTER project's Transnational Access sites, has been produced by the OPERAs project.
The video explains how the cork plantations of Portugal are some of the most biologically diverse agricultural systems on the planet. Despite this, the unique Montado area is under threat from over exploitation, climate change and disease. The EU-funded OPERAs project has teamed up with Po...
1 February 2016
Dr Mark Frenzel (UFZ, Germany), who is closely involved in developing LTER-Europe, was interviewed recently about how LTER-Europe & EU BON can work together
The European Biodiversity Observation Network, EU BON, has signed memoranda of understanding with almost thirty institutions and projects, aiming at greater collaboration and exchange of expertise. Among the early partners is LTER-Europe. Dr Mark Frenzel, who has had a leading ro...
2 March 2015
LTER-Europe's EnvEurope project picks up an award at Green Week, Brussels
The EnvEurope project, which was started by and developed within LTER-Europe, has recently won an award for Best LIFE Environment Project, 2014. EnvEurope, which was completely dedicated to the LTER-Europe network, was funded by the European Union's LIFE+ programme.
The project contributed to the integration and coordination of long-term ecological research...
1 July 2013
News of a magazine article on long-term research
"In the era of Big Data, research projects that focus on phenomena that unfold across decades have distinct benefits—and some drawbacks". This article in 'The Scientist' discusses long-term research, it's merits and the associated challenges: http://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/36091/title/The-Long-View/
2 February 2013
Several members of ILTER - including Martin Forsius of Finnish LTER - have edited a special issue on ecosystem services.
Ecosystem services: climate change and policy impacts is a special issue of the journal Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability, and is edited by Bojie Fu, Martin Forsius and Jian Liu. The issue includes papers by the editors, including one by Forsius et al., which is directly based on Finnish LTER data. Also included is a paper by Vihervaara, et al.,...
27 December 2012
A paper published at the end of 2012 by a team of ILTER members demonstrates the importance of the International Long Term Ecological Research network in studying and monitoring environmental changes at a global level.
The paper, authored by Dr Petteri Vihervaara (Finland) and co-workers, is entitled "Using long-term ecosystem service and biodivers...
11 November 2012
The International Long Term Ecological Research Network (ILTER), of which LTER-Europe is a part, is leading the development of the GEO BON Global Network of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Observation Sites. The medium terms aims of this initiative are to pull together the "community of common interest" of individuals and contact points for sites and networks that would be willing to contribute to the network.
A meta-database of sites will al...
18 August 2012
The Global Land Project has formally accepted ILTER as an endorsed network, enabling ILTER to participate more strongly in GLP research programmes.
The International LTER network, ILTER, has been accepted as an endorsed network of the Global Land Project (GLP), a joint core Project of both the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP) and the International Human Dimensions Programme on Global Environmental Change (IHDP). The GLP...
9 March 2012
The EU's INTERACT research infrastructure project, which includes some ILTER research sites, has recently been highlighted by the EU as a success story.
The EU is funding a number of infrastructure projects aiming to build environmental research and monitoring capacity. INTERACT is one such project. Its main objective is to build capacity for identifying, understanding, predicting and responding to diverse environmental changes throughou...
14 June 2011
News of the LTSER workshop that took place in Helsinki in June, co-organised by LTER-Europe and ALTER-Net
The workshop 'Long term socio-ecological research: What do we know from science and practice?' was co-organised by LTER-Europe and ALTER-Net. It took place in Helsinki, Finland from 14-17 June 2011. The workshop was attended by 33 people; 14 European LTER networks were represented. The programme featured nine keynote presentations, e...