International Long-Term Ecological Research Network Research Articles

中国湿地生态站现状、发展趋势及空间布局

PDF HTML阅读 XML下载 导出引用 引用提醒 中国湿地生态站现状、发展趋势及空间布局 DOI: 10.5846/stxb202104130960 作者: 作者单位: 作者简介: 通讯作者: 中图分类号: 基金项目: 中国科学院A类战略性先导科技专项（XDA23040203）；国家自然科学基金项目（42171105，41971133）；国家生态系统观测研究共享服务平台建设项目 Current status, development and spatial planning of China's Wetland Ecological Stations Author: Affiliation: Fund Project: 摘要 | 图/表 | 访问统计 | 参考文献 | 相似文献 | 引证文献 | 资源附件 | 文章评论 摘要:湿地调查与监测是全面了解和掌握湿地变化，开展湿地保护和修复的前提和基础。湿地生态站是开展湿地长期监测和野外试验的平台，对研究湿地生态系统过程与功能，揭示湿地变化机理具有重要作用。系统梳理了我国现有的湿地生态站，分析了当前湿地生态站建设中面临的问题，指出：与国际主要生态观测网络相比，我国综合性湿地生态站数量较少、比例偏低，导致在湿地生态系统监测和评估上存在较大空缺；现有生态站存在层级结构不合理、监测指标体系不规范等问题，制约了国家尺度湿地生态系统监测评估的需求。研究基于中国湿地生态站的现状，提出综合性湿地生态站布局原则，认为：应反映湿地生态系统类型代表性及湿地的空间分布特征，体现综合站-区域站-卫星站的层级结构特点，服务国家湿地保护和生态修复的战略需求。按照上述布局原则，对今后综合性湿地生态站的空间布局提出建议。同时，对湿地站发展定位、聚焦的前沿科学问题、湿地联网研究及国际合作方面提出了展望。 Abstract:Wetland survey and monitoring is the prerequisite and foundation for comprehensively understanding and clarifying wetland ecosystem dynamics, and carrying out wetland conservation and restoration. Wetland Ecological Stations provide the platform for long-term wetland observation and in-situ experiments, which are indispensable in studying and revealing the processes, functions, as well as related mechanism of wetland change. There are some problems in the development of wetland ecological stations in China. Compared with the International Long-Term Ecological Research Network, the number and proportion of Wetland Ecological Stations in National Ecological stations are less and there are also some gaps on spatial planning of wetland ecological stations; in addition, wetland ecological stations are not laid out with obvious hierarchical structure (such as Master stations, Regular stations and Satellite stations), and the monitoring indicators and systems for wetland ecological stations are also not standard and uniform, which lead to limitations on monitoring and assessment of wetland ecosystem at national scale. In this study, we summarized and analyzed the status and problems in the development of Wetland Ecological Stations in China, and proposed the planning principles of the National Wetland Ecological Stations in existing National Ecological Stations System. We suggested that it should consider representativeness of wetland ecosystem types and the spatial distribution characteristics of wetlands in China, as well as to take account of the hierarchical structure of wetland stations and their combination to national development strategy and policy demand on wetland conservation and restoration. We proposed some targeted suggestions on spatial planning of China's Wetland Ecological Stations in the future based on the above principles. At the same time, the development orientation of wetland station was determined and the frontier and key scientific issues needing to be focused in the future were discussed, such as the changes of wetland landscape, lake eutrophication and invasive species control, climate change and carbon sequestration mechanism, etc. Finally, how to response to the national development strategy and policy demand was also analyzed. It is proposed to strengthen cooperation with international partners in the fields of biodiversity conservation and monitoring, climate change, transboundary wetlands and the conservation of migratory species. 参考文献 相似文献 引证文献

Assessing the biogeographical and socio-ecological representativeness of the ILTER site network

The challenges posed by climate and land use change are increasingly complex, with rising and accelerating impacts on the global environmental system. Novel environmental and ecosystem research needs to properly interpret system changes and derive management recommendations across scales. This largely depends on advances in the establishment of an internationally harmonised, long-term operating and representative infrastructure for environmental observation. This paper presents an analysis evaluating 743 formally accredited sites of the International Long-Term Ecological Research (ILTER) network in 47 countries with regard to their spatial distribution and related biogeographical and socio-ecological representativeness. “Representedness” values were computed from six global datasets. The analysis revealed a dense coverage of Northern temperate regions and anthropogenic zones most notably in the US, Europe and East Asia. Significant gaps are present in economically less developed and anthropogenically less impacted hot and barren regions like Northern and Central Africa and inner-continental parts of South America. These findings provide the arguments for our recommendations regarding the geographic expansion for the further development of the ILTER network.

Corrigendum: ILTER – The International Long-Term Ecological Research Network as a Platform for Global Coastal and Ocean Observation

Corrigendum: ILTER – The International Long-Term Ecological Research Network as a Platform for Global Coastal and Ocean Observation

ILTER – The International Long-Term Ecological Research Network as a Platform for Global Coastal and Ocean Observation

Understanding the threats to global biodiversity and ecosystem services posed by human impacts on coastal and marine environments requires the establishment and maintenance of ecological observator ...

Contemporary International Long-Term Ecological Research (ILTER)—from biogeosciences to socio-ecology and biodiversity research

Long-term ecological research (LTER) has a strong foundation in the fields of biogeosciences and ecosystem research with infrastructures established in the nineteenth (e.g., 1891—Plon, Germany; 1840—Rothamsted, England) and twentieth centuries (e.g., 1906—Lunz, Austria; 1925—Trout Lake Station, WI, USA; 1955—Hubbard Brook, NH, USA; 1960—Solling, Germany). Over time, it has been repeatedly shown that the long-term study of processes has the potential to significantly improve ecological understanding at the ecosystem or larger scales. The international network of LTER sites (ILTER) was established in 1993 and included 28 countries by the turn of the millennium. The geographical spread of LTER sites across the globe has significantly increased since then, and by 2016, 44 countries have established formal LTER programs with approximately 800 LTER sites and 70 Long-term Socio-ecological Research (LTSER) platforms as part of the international network. Stimulated by the World Summit on Sustainable Development and the UN Convention on Biodiversity, research topics at ILTER sites have diversified considerably. Scientists started to address societal processes driving environmental change, as well as feedbacks of environmental changes on society. Furthermore, biodiversity research became an intrinsic part of LTER in many countries initializing the establishment of research infrastructures in ecosystems not yet included (e.g., caves, marine habitats). In October 2016, the ILTER Open Science Meeting in the Kruger National Park, South Africa, gave an impressive overview of the diversity of LTER across the globe today. With this special issue, we aim to present the broad range of research currently conducted across the ILTER network with a collection of papers from different continents and with research topics both classical to LTER and emerging fields of contemporary LTER.

Long-term responses of mountain forests to environmental change in West-Central Mexico

This study is an important contribution to the International Long-term Ecological Research Network (ILTER), because it presents the local responses of soil and plant composition to global and regional climatic oscillations of the last millennia in Mexico. Mountain forests are ecosystems that have been constantly threatened by both anthropogenic and climate disturbances, mainly over the Late Holocene. By using palaeoecological techniques with fossil pollen and geochemical elements as proxies, this study incorporates the relationship of trees, herbs and epiphytes with dry and humid climate events. High-temporal resolution in the chronologies allowed the assessment of vegetation changes (every ~ 30 years) and soil geochemical elements in three forests located close (< 8 km) to each other. Our results showed that pine forest contracted along the dry periods of the Little Ice Age (AD 1350–1850), the Medieval Climate Anomaly (AD 800 to 1200) and the Late Classic Drought (AD 600 to 800). However, it expanded in the humid period (AD 1200 to 1350). Cloud forest was the most susceptible ecosystem to the above climate anomalies; trees contracted in periods of aridity and expanded in humid periods. The signature for the transitional forest was confounding: trees increased partially in both dry and humid periods with a well-correlated decrease in epiphytes. Soil losses were common in dry periods while fires increased along the last ~ 300 years.

Using data mining techniques to model primary productivity from international long-term ecological research (ILTER) agricultural experiments in Austria

Primary productivity is in the foundation of farming communities. Therefore, much effort is invested in understanding the factors that influence the primary productivity potential of different soils. The International Long-Term Ecological Research (ILTER) is a network that enables valuable comparisons of data in understanding environmental change. In this study, we investigate three ILTER cropland sites and one long-term field experiment (LTE) outside of the ILTER network. The focus is on the influence of different management practices (tillage, crop residue incorporation, and compost amendments) on primary productivity. Data mining analyses of the experimental data were carried out in order to investigate trends in the productivity data. We generated predictive models that identify the influential factors that govern primary productivity. The data mining models achieved very high predictive performance (r > 0.80) for each of the sites. Preceding crop and crop of the current year were crucial for primary productivity in the tillage LTE and compost LTE, respectively. For both crop residue incorporation LTEs, plant-available Mg affected productivity the most, followed by properties such as soil pH, SOM, and the crop residue management. The results obtained by data mining are in line with previous studies and enhance our knowledge about the driving forces of primary productivity in arable systems. Hence, the models are considered very suitable and reliable for predicting the primary productivity at these ILTER sites in the future. They may also encourage researcher-farmer-advisor-stakeholder interaction, and thus create enabling environment for cooperation for further research around these ILTER sites.

Genesis, goals and achievements of Long-Term Ecological Research at the global scale: A critical review of ILTER and future directions

Since its founding in 1993 the International Long-term Ecological Research Network (ILTER) has gone through pronounced development phases. The current network comprises 44 active member LTER networks representing 700 LTER Sites and ~80 LTSER Platforms across all continents, active in the fields of ecosystem, critical zone and socio-ecological research. The critical challenges and most important achievements of the initial phase have now become state-of-the-art in networking for excellent science. At the same time increasing integration, accelerating technology, networking of resources and a strong pull for more socially relevant scientific information have been modifying the mission and goals of ILTER. This article provides a critical review of ILTER's mission, goals, development and impacts. Major characteristics, tools, services, partnerships and selected examples of relative strengths relevant for advancing ILTER are presented. We elaborate on the tradeoffs between the needs of the scientific community and stakeholder expectations. The embedding of ILTER in an increasingly collaborative landscape of global environmental observation and ecological research networks and infrastructures is also reflected by developments of pioneering regional and national LTER networks such as SAEON in South Africa, CERN/CEOBEX in China, TERN in Australia or eLTER RI in Europe. The primary role of ILTER is currently seen as a mechanism to investigate ecosystem structure, function, and services in response to a wide range of environmental forcings using long-term, place-based research. We suggest four main fields of activities and advancements for the next decade through development/delivery of a: (1) Global multi-disciplinary community of researchers and research institutes; (2) Strategic global framework and strong partnerships in ecosystem observation and research; (3) Global Research Infrastructure (GRI); and (4) a scientific knowledge factory for societally relevant information on sustainable use of natural resources.

Long-term changes (1990–2015) in the atmospheric deposition and runoff water chemistry of sulphate, inorganic nitrogen and acidity for forested catchments in Europe in relation to changes in emissions and hydrometeorological conditions

The international Long-Term Ecological Research Network (ILTER) encompasses hundreds of long-term research/monitoring sites located in a wide array of ecosystems that can help us understand environmental change across the globe. We evaluated long-term trends (1990–2015) for bulk deposition, throughfall and runoff water chemistry and fluxes, and climatic variables in 25 forested catchments in Europe belonging to the UNECE International Cooperative Programme on Integrated Monitoring of Air Pollution Effects on Ecosystems (ICP IM). Many of the IM sites form part of the monitoring infrastructures of this larger ILTER network. Trends were evaluated for monthly concentrations of non-marine (anthropogenic fraction, denoted as x) sulphate (xSO4) and base cations x(Ca+Mg), hydrogen ion (H+), inorganic N (NO3 and NH4) and ANC (Acid Neutralising Capacity) and their respective fluxes into and out of the catchments and for monthly precipitation, runoff and air temperature. A significant decrease of xSO4 deposition resulted in decreases in concentrations and fluxes of xSO4 in runoff, being significant at 90% and 60% of the sites, respectively. Bulk deposition of NO3 and NH4 decreased significantly at 60–80% (concentrations) and 40–60% (fluxes) of the sites. Concentrations and fluxes of NO3 in runoff decreased at 73% and 63% of the sites, respectively, and NO3 concentrations decreased significantly at 50% of the sites. Thus, the LTER/ICP IM network confirms the positive effects of the emission reductions in Europe. Air temperature increased significantly at 61% of the sites, while trends for precipitation and runoff were rarely significant. The site-specific variation of xSO4 concentrations in runoff was most strongly explained by deposition. Climatic variables and deposition explained the variation of inorganic N concentrations in runoff at single sites poorly, and as yet there are no clear signs of a consistent deposition-driven or climate-driven increase in inorganic N exports in the catchments.

The International Long‐Term Ecological Research–East Asia–Pacific Regional Network (ILTER‐EAP): history, development, and perspectives

AbstractThere are growing needs to broaden and deepen our multi‐faceted understanding of the ecosystems, and the networks of Long‐Term Ecological Research (LTER) can play significant roles in fostering and applying ecosystem studies at regional and global scales. The International LTER Network (ILTER) is organized as a global network of field research sites and scientists to address current ecological issues such as biodiversity loss and ecosystem degradation within a globally changing environment. The ILTER East Asia–Pacific Regional Network (ILTER‐EAP) is one of the four constituent ILTER regional networks. Since 1995, ILTER‐EAP has been developed to promote data sharing, research collaborations and capability building in the science and to bridge gaps between societal needs and scientific imperatives on concerns in the Asia–Pacific Region. Currently, ILTER‐EAP comprises nine formal ILTER members and two associate networks. Their activities involve long‐term and multiple‐site observations of structural, functional and developmental aspects of ecosystems, data sharing, and bridging society and ecological science. This paper presents a review of the activities of ILTER‐EAP, focusing on its: (1) vision and the development following its inception, (2) scientific activities and major outputs related to selected thematic areas, (3) contributions from ILTER‐EAP to the international initiatives, and (4) future challenges and opportunities relating to its development and role in facilitating regional and global research collaborations. Accordingly, regional research questions were identified that could be most effectively addressed by opening up a common research platform, integrated data management system and the network science, which is open to all interested parties.

A Comparative Framework for Assessing Sustainability Initiatives at the Regional Scale

Summary “Sustainability” has been a prominent goal in environmental and spatial planning over the past three decades. A diverse array of initiatives have been proposed and implemented with the aim of facilitating human economic and social development, while mitigating or even reversing associated environmental damage. These initiatives vary in their definitions of sustainability, their targets for planning and management, their bureaucratic structures, and other characteristics. As such, a universally applicable “how-to” manual for realizing the goals of regional sustainable development remains elusive. The objective of this paper is to provide scholars and practitioners with a simple analytical framework for assessing objectives, strengths, and weaknesses of sustainability initiatives at the regional scale. Drawing upon a review of theoretical and applied research on regional sustainable development, we categorize initiatives into typologies, including (1) Natural resource and ecology-based; (2) Urbanism; (3) Issue-based; and, (4) Governance, participation and science-based. We analyze each according to their focus, scope, fields of action and activities, and successes and challenges. Through this analysis, we define axes that highlight the prominent differences in characteristics between diverse approaches to sustainability. These are: (1) “top-down—bottom-up”, based on who initiates and maintains the sustainability initiative; (2) “ecological—socioeconomic”, defining the relative emphasis on ecological and/or social systems; (3) “holistic—subject-specific”, defining the initiatives’ breadth of the planning and management focus; and (4) “regional-local”, defining the spatial scale of the initiative. These axes are useful for highlighting considerations that may have been neglected within an initiative, possibly preventing successful outcomes. We suggest that successful sustainability initiatives are introspective and work progressively toward balance between the extremes of these axes. This conclusion is buttressed by the evolutionary development of three global-scale sustainability efforts initiated by UNESCO’s Man and The Biosphere program, the International Long-Term Ecological Research Network, and the Urbanist movement.

The International Long Term Ecological Research Network: a platform for collaboration

AbstractMany scientists around the world became interested in the U.S. Long Term Ecological Research (U.S. LTER) Network's research model during the 1990s and began to develop LTER and Long Term Socio‐ecological Research networks in their own countries. These local networks, including the U.S. LTER Network, were loosely federated in 1993 to form the International Long Term Ecological Research (ILTER) Network, a “network of networks.” Although the first 10 yr of ILTER Network activities were largely supported by funds from the U.S. National Science Foundation, the ILTER Network had transformed into a robust, self‐sustaining entity by 2006 following a two‐year strategic planning process. The goal of the ILTER Network is to improve understanding of how pressures such as climate change and land use affect global ecosystems in order to inform solutions to current and future environmental problems. To fulfill this mission, the ILTER Network fosters collaborations among member scientists to extend the scope of their research across disciplinary boundaries and across more of the ILTER's 600+ research sites. The ILTER Network also has many long‐term data sets that are freely available for use by students, scientists, and policymakers all over the world. In this collection of papers, we consider how the ILTER Network has been, and will be, leveraged by U.S. researchers to advance understanding of ecological and socio‐ecological systems around the globe.

A prototype system for multilingual data discovery of International Long-Term Ecological Research (ILTER) Network data

Shared ecological data have the potential to revolutionize ecological research just as shared genetic sequence data have done for biological research. However, for ecological data to be useful, it must first be discoverable. A broad-scale research topic may require that a researcher be able to locate suitable data from a variety of global, regional and national data providers, which often use different local languages to describe their data. Thus, one of the challenges of international sharing of long-term data is facilitation of multilingual searches. Such searches are hindered by lack of equivalent terms across languages and by uneven application of keywords in ecological metadata. To test whether a thesaurus-based approach to multilingual data searching might be effective, we implemented a prototype web-services-based system for searching International Long-Term Ecological Research Network data repositories. The system builds on the use of a multilingual thesaurus to make searches more complete than would be obtained through search term-translation alone. The resulting system, when coupled to commodity online translation systems, demonstrates the possibility of achieving multilingual searches for ecological data.

Photosynthesis and primary production in Lake Kasumigaura (Japan) monitored monthly since 1981

AbstractThis study reports the primary production of phytoplankton determined with a 13C tracer, and their related variables, in Lake Kasumigaura, a shallow, hyper‐eutrophic lake, and the second largest lake in Japan. Measurements were conducted monthly from August 1981 to December 2013 at four stations within the lake. Monitoring was a component of the Lake Kasumigaura Long‐term Environmental Monitoring program, conducted by the National Institute for Environmental Studies (NIES) since 1977. The program collects data on water quality, and plankton and benthic communities. Lake Kasumigaura is registered as a core site of the Japan Long‐term Ecological Research Network (JaLTER), which is a member of the International Long‐term Ecological Research Network (ILTER). This dataset includes daily primary production (Pzd gC m−2 d−1) and the six parameters required to calculate Pzd: maximum photosynthesis rate (Pmax gC gC−1 h−1); light irradiance at the junction of the initial slope (α (gC gC−1 h−1) (μmol photon m−2 s−1)−1) and Pmax of the photosynthesis vs. irradiance (P vs. E) curve (Ek μmol photon m−2 s−1); attenuation coefficient of photosynthetically available radiation (PAR) (KPAR m−1); water depth at each sampling station (Zb, m); dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC mgC L−1) and particulate organic carbon concentrations (POC gC m−3); and chlorophyll a amounts (Chl.a μg L−1). Daily primary production was calculated by obtaining a P vs. E curve over a short‐term incubation (approximately 1 h) in a water tank using in situ water temperature in the laboratory, based on the field conditions of the sampling date. The dataset has been used for ecological studies as well as for management studies on water quality and ecosystems. This dataset is unique among the available published papers concerning lakes or primary production in various ecosystems, collected over a long period of time and freely available.

Changes in biodiversity and trade-offs among ecosystem services, stakeholders, and components of well-being: the contribution of the International Long-Term Ecological Research network (ILTER) to Programme on Ecosystem Change and Society (PECS)

The International Long-Term Ecological Research (ILTER) network comprises > 600 scientific groups conducting site-based research within 40 countries. Its mission includes improving the understanding of global ecosystems and informs solutions to current and future environmental problems at the global scales. The ILTER network covers a wide range of social-ecological conditions and is aligned with the Programme on Ecosystem Change and Society (PECS) goals and approach. Our aim is to examine and develop the conceptual basis for proposed collaboration between ILTER and PECS. We describe how a coordinated effort of several contrasting LTER site-based research groups contributes to the understanding of how policies and technologies drive either toward or away from the sustainable delivery of ecosystem services. This effort is based on three tenets: transdisciplinary research; cross-scale interactions and subsequent dynamics; and an ecological stewardship orientation. The overarching goal is to design management practices taking into account trade-offs between using and conserving ecosystems toward more sustainable solutions. To that end, we propose a conceptual approach linking ecosystem integrity, ecosystem services, and stakeholder well-being, and as a way to analyze trade-offs among ecosystem services inherent in diverse management options. We also outline our methodological approach that includes: (i) monitoring and synthesis activities following spatial and temporal trends and changes on each site and by documenting cross-scale interactions; (ii) developing analytical tools for integration; (iii) promoting trans-site comparison; and (iv) developing conceptual tools to design adequate policies and management interventions to deal with trade-offs. Finally, we highlight the heterogeneity in the social-ecological setting encountered in a subset of 15 ILTER sites. These study cases are diverse enough to provide a broad cross-section of contrasting ecosystems with different policy and management drivers of ecosystem conversion; distinct trends of biodiversity change; different stakeholders’ preferences for ecosystem services; and diverse components of well-being issues.

Fostering ecological data sharing: collaborations in the International Long Term Ecological Research Network

The International Long Term Ecological Research (ILTER) Network was established in 1993 and is now composed of thirty‐eight national networks representing a diversity of ecosystems around the globe. Data generated by the ILTER Network are valuable for scientists addressing broad spatial and temporal scale research questions, but only if these data can be easily discovered, accessed, and understood. Challenges to publishing ILTER data have included unequal distribution among networks of information management expertise, user‐friendly tools, and resources. Language and translation have also been issues. Despite these significant obstacles, ILTER information managers have formed grassroots partnerships and collaborated to provide information management training, adopt a common metadata standard, develop information management tools useful throughout the network, and organize scientist/information manager workshops that encourage scientists to share and integrate data. Throughout this article, we share lessons learned from the successes of these grassroots international partnerships to inform others who wish to collaborate internationally on projects that depend on data sharing entailing similar management challenges.

An Ecoinformatics Application for Forest Dynamics Plot Data Management and Sharing

Several forest dynamics plot research projects in the East-Asia Pacific region of the International Long-Term Ecological Research network actively collect long-term data, and some of these large plots are members of the Center for Tropical Forest Science network. The wealth of forest plot data presents challenges in information management to researchers. In order to facilitate the management of these data, a Forest Dynamics Plot Database and Application Workshop was held in Taiwan 2009. This paper describes the results of the workshop that produced and tested an integrated information management framework. The goal for the framework was to demonstrate how fully documented data archives can be effectively used for data discovery, access, retrieval, analysis, and integration. Results from our work included setting up a database based on the Center for Tropical Forest Science structure on a local relational database (MySQL) server, an authentication interface, a metadata query web page, and 3 workflows to test the framework.

Basic concepts and research activities at Italian forest sites of the Long Term Ecological Research network

Italy entered the International Long Term Ecological Research Network (ILTER) in 2006, contributing a group of research sites in marine, freshwater and terrestrial ecosystems to the global network. Five forest sites are included in the Italian Network. They are representative of the main forest ecosystems in Italy and integrate 15 research stations managed by different institutes. Starting from LTER rationale and basic concepts, the first part of the paper reviews the status of LTER Italy forest sites, the strengths resulting from multidisciplinary expertise and site management, current activities and available datasets. Long term data series on key environmental parameters show the high scientific value of these sites, where monitoring and/or research is still ongoing. But two main LTER issues are currently arising in the international context: (1) overall consistency of datasets; (2) harmonization of sampling methods. For this reason, the second part of the paper investigates the suitability of Italian forest sites to address recommended long term research topics and ecological issues of global concern and to investigate the shift from in-site monitoring to cross-site cooperation and inter-site research.

Integrating Science and Society through Long-Term Socio-Ecological Research

Long-term ecological research (LTER), addressing problems that encompass decadal or longer time frames, began as a formal term and program in the United States in 1980. While longterm ecological studies and observation began as early as the 1400s and 1800s in Asia and Europe, respectively, the long-term approach was not formalized until the establishment of the U.S. long-term ecological research programs. These programs permitted ecosystem-level experiments and cross-site comparisons that led to insights into the biosphere’s structure and function. The holistic ecosystem approach of this initiative also allowed the incorporation of the human-dimension of ecology and recently has given rise to a new concept of long-term socio-ecological research (LTSER). Today, long-term ecological research programs exist in at least thirty-two countries (i.e., members of the International Long-Term Ecological Research Network, ILTER). However, consolidation of the international network within the long-term socio-ecological research paradigm still requires: (1) inclusion of certain remote regions of the world, such as southwestern South America, that are still poorly represented; (2) modifications of the type of research conducted, such as integrating social and natural sciences with the humanities and ethics; and (3) the incorporation of findings and results into broader social and political processes. In this context, a nascent long-term socio-ecological research network in Chile, which extends over the longest latitudinal range of temperate forest in the Southern Hemisphere, adds a new remote region to international long-term ecological research previously overlooked. In addition, collaboration with the University of North Texas and other international partners helps to further develop an interdisciplinary approach for the integration of the ecological sciences and environmental philosophy together with traditional ecological knowledge, informal and formal education, policy, the humanities, socio-political processes, and biocultural conservation.

The CONECOFOR programme from 1995 to 2005

Climate change, ozone effects on forests as well as the loss of biodiversity are nowadays the top priorities of environmental monitoring programmes in Europe. The first set of twenty Level II PMPs (Permanent Monitoring Plots) of the CONECOFOR programme was installed in 1995. At the moment, the intensive monitoring network includes 31 PMPs. All the plots were framed into the UN/ECE ICP-Forests; since 1998, 10 plots were also included into the UN/ECE ICP-IM as bio-monitoring sites. With the entering into force of EC Regulation Forest Focus, these new priorities found an EU legal basis for co-funding the related pilot projects, developed at trans-national level in the field of forest biodiversity monitoring: ForestBIOTA and BioSoil. In the frame of the EEA programme SEBI2010, a specific qualitative forest indicator has been developed by the Italian Forest Service. The Forest Status Indicator is based on sub-indicators identified and implemented at pan-European and National level, such as tree condition, forest structure, deadwood, plant species composition and naturalness, mostly available at European level and collected according to harmonized methods. In 2004, the Italian Forest Service (CONECOFOR Board) joined the Network of Excellence ALTER-Net. The participation to ALTER-Net gave the opportunity to Italy to become official member of the International Long Term Ecological Research Network (ILTER) in 2006: four LTER-Italy sites include forest environments and 10 research stations (plots) belong to CONECOFOR Level II network. At international level, CONECOFOR is the leader in FutDiv proposal (Future Forest Biodiversity Monitoring in Europe) and an associated beneficiary in the FutMon proposal (Further Development and Implementation of an EU-level Forest Monitoring System), already submitted under the EC Regulation LIFE+.