Abstract
The study of ecosystem processes over multiple scales of space and time is often best achieved using comparable data from multiple sites. Yet, long‐term ecological observatories have often developed their own data collection protocols. Here, we address this problem by proposing a set of ecological protocols suitable for widespread adoption by the ecological community. Scientists from the European ecological research community prioritized terrestrial ecosystem parameters that could benefit from a more consistent approach to data collection within the resources available at most long‐term ecological observatories. Parameters for which standard methods are in widespread use, or for which methods are evolving rapidly, were not selected. Protocols were developed by domain experts, building on existing methods where possible, and refined through a process of field testing and training. They address above‐ground plant biomass; decomposition; land use and management; leaf area index; soil mesofaunal diversity; soil C and N stocks, and greenhouse gas emissions from soils. These complement existing methods to provide a complete assessment of ecological integrity. These protocols offer integrated approaches to ecological data collection that are low cost and are starting to be used across the European Long Term Ecological Research community.
Highlights
Soil faunal diversity relates to the ecological integrity element “Biotic diversity” and is an indicator of soil quality, and of the long-t erm sustainability of an ecosystem (Schoenholtz, Van Miegroet, & Burger, 2000)
Leaf area index (LAI) from deciduous trees can be measured using standard forestry procedures (ICP Forests 2016), by collecting leaves falling into in at least 10 litter traps, weighing them and assessing the ratio leaf area to weight on a subsample of collected leaves
Large-scale ecosystem research requires data that can be linked across sites in order to better understand earth system processes (Guo & Lin, 2016)
Summary
Land use and management Leaf area index Above-ground biomass; Soil organic matter—carbon and nitrogen stocks GHG emissions from soils Above-ground biomass Leaf area index Soil organic matter—carbon and nitrogen stocks GHG emissions from soils Decomposition rate
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