Network of Long-Term Ecological Research

LTER Mark Frenzel, Cornelia Baessler, Stefan Klotz,,

Steffen Zacharias et al.

Mission • improve understanding of global ecosystems and inform solutions to

current and future environmental problems

Aims & Objectives • promote collaboration and cooperation among ecological researchers

and research networks at different spatial scales

• improve comparability of long-term ecological data, and facilitate

exchange and preservation of this data (EnvEurope on European level)

• deliver scientific information to scientists, policymakers, and the public

and develop best ecosystem management practices to meet the needs of

decision-makers at multiple levels

• facilitate education of the next generation of long-term scientists

LTER – Mission and Aims

LTER Organization LOCAL LTER sites: e.g. UFZ TERENO

NATIONAL LTER Networks: e.g. LTER-D www.lter-d.de

REGIONAL LTER Networks: e.g. LTER-Europe www.lter-europe.net

N

Networks of scientists & sites • long-term • site-based • ecological and • socioeconomic research

GLOBAL ILTER www.ilternet.edu

Page 4 Frenzel, Baessler, Klotz: CT Biosphere

Issues: Land use change – consequences for species & functional diversity 6 biodiversity study sites within a gradient of land use intensity

Low

Moderate

High

LOCAL LTER sites: UFZ TERENO

LOCAL LTER sites: UFZ TERENO assessment targets

Land use - land use intensity, landscape structure, configuration,

fragmentation

Soil - type, depth, quality, water retention

Vegetation analyses - composition, productivity

Monitoring of selected organisms groups

Page 5

Monitoring of selected organisms groups

Vascular plants => Primary producers (overall biodiversity indicators)

Bees & Hoverflies => Important pollinators (ecosystem service agents)

Butterflies => Indicators for habitat quality, pollinators (TMD – Tagfalter-Monitoring Deutschland)

Birds => Highly mobile, sensitive to landscape context, integrative on landscape scale

Genetic variation of selected species, microevolution

Page 6

LOCAL LTER sites: UFZ TERENO assessment targets

LTER-D - Organization

Aquatic Agriculture Urban Forest

UFZ Coordination office LTER-sites: 20 Members: 29

• Universities (Ecosystem research)

• National Parks, Biosphere Reserves

• Research projects (e.g. DFG-Exploratories for

functional biodiversity research)

• State Research Centres (e.g. Helmholtz Association

of German Research Centres, TERENO; Leibniz

Association)

N

LTER Organization

FUNDING!

EnvEurope: Targeting at European LTER sites 67 sites: 7 Marine 45 Terrestrial 15 Freshwater 9 biogeographic regions

EnvEurope = Environmental quality and pressures assessment across Europe:

the LTER network as an integrated and shared system for ecosystem

monitoring (01.2010 - 12.2013)

German Partners:

− UFZ

− Leibniz Institute Senckenberg

− University of Kiel

− University of Rostock

− FZ Jülich

− Leibniz Institute ZALF

Life+ Project EnvEurope

ENVEurope - Objectives

• Provide and develop an integrated information management system

• Provide ecological data and information on long-term trends of terrestrial, freshwater and marine ecosystem quality at the European scale

• Selection of key environmental quality indicators sensitive to defined major pressures and drivers

• Define harmonized parameters and methods, proposed and shared by the whole LTER community

Ecological integrity indicators

flora diversityfauna diversity

habitat structureadditional variables

soilwater

airhabitat

additional variables

inputstorageoutput

other state variablesefficiency measures

inputstorageoutput

other state variablesefficiency measures

inputstorageoutput

other state variables

efficiency measures

ecos

yste

m

stru

ctur

es

biotic diversity

abiotic hetero-geneity

ecos

yste

m p

roce

sses energy

budget

matter budget

water budget

EnvEurope conceptional framework: Ecological Integrity

STRUCTURES

PROCESSES

S Ecological integrity

Provision of Ecosystem

Services

I Human

well-being

Ecosystem structures - biotic diversity - abiotic heterogeneity Ecosystem processes - energy balance - water balance - matter balance

Regulating services - climate regulation - water purification . . . Provision services - food - fuels . . . Cultural services - inspiration - genetic ressources . . .

Social well-being - health - social security - education - nutrition - accommodation - leisure . . . Economy - employment - spending power - infrastructure - progress . . .

P Land use

D Drivers of

human action

R Response

Decision process

Demonstration project in EnvEurope

Linking remote sensing based data CORINE CLC with

• Ecosystem Services (individually ranked according to CORINE categories)

• at different time periods (CORINE data avaiability: 1990, 2000, 2006)

• local knowledge of LTER site managers (validation)

Limits: resolution of CORINE data, dynamic landscapes

Strengths of LTER network of sites: • Long term character = importance for climate change

monitoring • Data quality by harmonized data acquisition • Biodiversity data + ecologically meaningful parameters

Opportunities for LTER-Europe: • Land service of GMES or GISC useful for LTER? • GMES looks for harmonized network (one of the main goals of

EnvEurope) • Upscaling issues may be widely assessed

Outlook and Questions

1. LTER-Europe and EnvEurope as GMES stakeholder for

in situ data validation of GMES services (remote – local

earth observation)?

2. Provision of LTER data and ecologically meaningful

information to be upscaled through GMES services

3. Harmonized methods for ground-truth data retrieval

4. Demonstration project GMES – LTER?

This is… the End!