Mt Halla San is in Jeju Island, the only volcanic subtropical island, in South Korea. Every year the island is hit by several typhoons. It has shaped unique environmental characteristics and biodiversity. In addition the mountain is one of the most popular vacation sites with growing ecological concern.

Tarfala Research Station is located at 1130 m a.s.l. in the high alpine Kebnekaise mountains, northern Sweden. The Tarfala valley catchment reaches from 2100 to 500 m a.s.l. Vegetation spans high alpine flora, mountain heath and meadows and the upper mountain birch forest zone. The lake, rivers and glacier meltwater streams is part of the headwaters for the unregulated Kalix River. The station was established in 1946 with the main aim to study glacier massbalance. The best known glacier is Storglaciären which is one of the most well studied glaciers in the world. The glaciers and terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems formed by the harsch climate in this area is now changing rapidly. Over the years the environmental monitoring program has expanded and includes today mountain meteorology, water discharge and chemistry, permafrost and vegetation. The station belongs to Stockholm University and is part of the Swedish Infrastructure for Ecosystem Science (SITES).

The site comprises 10,000 ha of pristine lowland rainforest in northern Papua New Guinea, owned by indigenous landowners from Wanang Village and declared as Conservation Area. The forest has >500 species of woody plants and largely intact, mildly hunted vertebrate communities. The site includes a field research station (phone, radio, accommodation, catering, solar power) accessible on foot or by helicopter. Further, the site has 50-ha forest dynamics plot from the Center for Tropical Forest Science network, with >300,000 stems tagged and monitored from 2012. There is significant background information on plants, birds, frogs, and several insect taxa. Insect monitoring programme is planned from 2013.

Draix-Bleone observatory was created in 1983 to study mountain erosion and sediment transport. It is located in the French South Alps, upstream of Digne, on the left side (Draix site) and right side (Galabre site) of the Bleone river. Several catchments are equipped to measure water and sediment fluxes, at spatial scales ranging from 0.001 km2 to 34 km2, with contrasted land use and land cover. The smallest catchments are entirely situated on black marl that are very sensitive to weathering and erosion, resulting in a badland topography. The Bouinenc and Galabre catchments integrate a larger diversity of lithologies and land use that are characteristic of the Pre-Alps. The climate is mountainous and Mediterranean. These sites are characterized by their intense erosion and intermittent sediment fluxes. The variables that are monitored on the long-term include rainfall and meteorology, high-frequency water discharge and suspended sediment concentration (1-10 minutes), event-scale bedload transport, some physico-chemical properties of stream water and sediments. Draix-Bleone Observatory is managed by IGE and is funded by INRAE, INSU and OSUG. It is a member of the French research infrastructure OZCAR. The GIS Draix-Bleone gathers all research teams involved on these sites.

The Hölstein site is located in in the eastern part of the Swiss Jura mountains (47°26’16.4’’, 7°46’31.1’’; 540 m a.s.l.), in a mixed, temperate forest with an exceptionally high biodiversity and a vigorous tree regeneration. The research plot has a size of 1.6 ha and comprises 540 mature trees. The main tree species are Fagus sylvatica and Picea abies with an admixture of Abies alba, Quercus petraea, Pinus sylvestris, Acer pseudoplatanus, Carpinus betulus, Fraxinus excelsior and Sorbus torminalis. A canopy crane is installed in the center of the research area to access the tree canopies for in situ measurements and for sampling of leaf material. Rainout shelters will be installed in 2019 for conducting a long-term throughfall exclusion experiment.

S.C.I IT7228221 Foce Trigno-Marina di Petacciato (Campobasso) S.C.I. IT7140108 Punta Aderci-Punta della Penna S.C.I. IT7140109 Marina di Vasto The site includes 3 Natura 2000 sites along the central Adriatic coast, where the last fragments of natural vegetation zonation on sand coastal dunes occur (shore vegetation, embryo and mobile dune vegetation, annual Mediterranean grasses and wet dune slacks).

The site is a revitalized young steppe habitat patch, dominated by fescue (Festuca rupicola). The average altitude is around 100 m. The site is a grazing spot and it was recently used for the reintroduction of the European ground squirrel (Spermophilus citellus) to the area after 70 years. Other important species present at the site include Vojvodina blind mole rat (Nannospalax (leucodon) montanosyrmiensis) and Spring meadow saffron (Bulbocodium versicolor).

The Presidential Estate of Castelporziano stretches itself over an area of about 6100 ha and is located approximately 24 km from the city of Rome. The territory is characterized by remarkable natural features. It shows most of the typical Mediterranean ecosystems (relict strips of lowland forest with hygrophilous vegetation, deciduous and evergreen mixed oak woods, Mediterranean scrub, dune vegetation). Until recently (2019), there were large surfaces of stone pine unfortunately destroyed by the combined action of alien pest Toumeyella parvicornis with Tomicus destruens, the main pest of Mediterranean pine forests. Inside the Estate, there are two Special Areas of Conservation (SACs): one concerning the coastal strip (IT6030027) and the other one concerning hygrophulous oak-woods (IT6030028). In addition to including the two SACs, the Estate is in its entirety Special Protection Area (SPA - IT 6030084). From a botanical point of view this area, together with the neighbouring Castelfusano territory, represents what remains of the vast forest system that covered the entire delta of the Tiber and the surrounding areas. The land is mostly flat, but in the North there are modest reliefs that are not higher than 85 m. on sea level. A complex set of ancient dunes and a chain of more recent dunes stretch out along the coastline. There are many temporary and permanent natural pools and wetland areas with seasonal floodings caused by meteoric water and groundwater, which usually dry out during summer and represent sites with the greatest biodiversity. From an ecological point of view, those “relict wetland areas” play actually a very important role for biodiversity because of plant species which are typical of hydrosoil and in the past were widespread but have now almost disappeared.

The research station of Lautaret Garden is a set of infrastructures and human resources at the service of alpine environmental research, spread over two sites open all year round. One is located on the campus of the University Grenoble Alpes (dept 38), it is divided into greenhouses, arboretum, experimental zone. The other is located at the Lautaret pass (dept 05) at an altitude of 2100m. The site of altitude gathers an Alpine Botanical Garden, three buildings, an experimental zone and natural area. This structure provides field support for scientific projects, two laboratories, accommodation for 46 people, hydrology and climate data and also botanical expertise. It organizes, in its multimedia room and meeting rooms, trainings, thematic schools, conferences, seminars. The research themes developed mainly concern the ecology of environments in relation to climate, socio-ecosystems, adaptation of living organisms, the physical environment and biogeochemical cycles. Some projects have been carried out since 1980, others operate on a multi-year basis. The station also welcomes foreign researchers within the framework of the Transnational access.

SCI IT7222217 Foce Saccione-Bonifica Ramitelli (Campobasso) The site includes 1 Natura 2000 site along the central Adriatic coast, where the last fragments of natural vegetation zonation on sand coastal dunes occur (shore vegetation, embryo and mobile dune vegetation, annual Mediterranean grasses, costa dunes with Juniperus spp and wet dune slacks).