Large marine site located in the Kvarnerić area, around the sheltered coast and waters of the eastern part of the Lošinj and Cres archipelago. It is one of the most important feeding and breeding areas for bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) in the Eastern Adriatic. Lithostratigraphic units represented on the coast are dolomites and post sedimentary diagenetic breccia (upper albian, lower cenomanian - K16, K12), rudist limestones (cenomanianmaastricht - K21-6). Soils on the coast are rockyground, anthropogenic soil on karst. The area was created after the transgression of the sea after the last glaciation; marine shelf; highly indented coastline. In July 2006 of preventive protection of a part of the Kvarnerić region for 3 years as a Special Marine Reserve (Cres-Lošinj Special Marine Reserve – CLSMR has been declared.

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.

This site is located on the territory of National Park “Rila”, Bulgaria. Parangalitsa has been a reserve since 1933. It is situated on part of the southwestern slopes of Rila mountain, covering 1,509 hectares. It contains some of the oldest pine tree forests in Europe with an average age of over 200 years. The site is a part of the network of bioecological stations of Forest Research Institute – BAS and research is focused on highly productive coniferous forests with unique biomass. In the main experimental plots, long-term complex studies were conducted during the period 1979 - 1998, a large-scale database was created and a number of significant scientific results were obtained. In the period 2000 - 2018, separate targeted studies were carried out - focused on some ecosystem processes, which allows the analysis and evaluation of the functioning of ecosystems to be don

The Yatsugatake-Kawakami Forest of Mountain Science Center, University of Tsukuba, consists of three forest areas: the Yatsugatake Forest (80 ha) located in Minamimaki, Nagano Prefecture, Japan, the "Megumi-no-Mori" (14 ha) on the campus where the administration building is located, and the Kawakami Forest (189 ha) located in Kawakami, Nagano Prefecture, Japan. The Yatsugatake Forest is 1400-1450 m above sea level, and the Megumi-no-Mori is 1350 m above sea level. The forest is characterized by gentle slopes without remarkably topographic change and a mosaic of secondary deciduous broad-leaved forest dominated by oak (Quercus crispula) and Asian black birch (Betula davurica）, and intermediate moor characterized by thatch herb (Moliniopsis japonica) and Japanese alder (Alnus japonica). Rare plants such as primrose (Primula sieboldii) and drosera (Drosera rotundifolia) are also found here. Black soil is distributed throughout the Yatsugatake Forest and Megumi-no-Mori. The Kawakami Forest is located between 1360 and 1700 m above sea level. 70% of the forest area is planted with Japanese larch (Larix kaempferi). The rest is a secondary deciduous broadleaf forest dominated by oak and birch. Some of the forests are dominated by a beech (Fagus crenata) stand, a natural Sawara cypress (Chamaecyparis pisifera) stand, and spruce (Picea alcokiana) stand. The forest is covered with brown and black soils, and the topography of the forest is more varied than that of the Yatsugatake Forest, including ridges and valleys. In the Kawakami Forest, an ecological survey of forest mammals is also being conducted. At these three forests, education and research are conducted on ecological surveys of trees, rare plants, and wildlife (population dynamics and conservation ecology), forest meteorological observations, and artificial forest management and operation.

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.

The Mareau-aux-Prés islands, along the Loire river, are characterized by a multiple channel pattern, where natural limestone riffles influence the morphology and spatial distribution of vegetated islands, secondary channels and alluvial bars. Within these islands, in september 2012, fluvial management operations (FMO) were launched. The vegetation of the central sandy-gravelly bar (3 ha area) was uprooted and the bar level lowered in order to maintain the flow capacity of the river. A new sandy-gravelly bar appeared in spring 2013, ideal field support for studying long-term ecological issues. A multidisciplinary research program (‘BioMareau’ project) is currently being conducted from 2012 to 2019, focusing on biodiversity recolonization and on interactions and feedbacks between biotic and abiotic compartments.

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 site is located next to Wettingen in the canton of Aargau, within a natural, mixed forest stand which mainly consists of 150 year-old beech (Fagus sylvatica) and 120-170 year-old spruce (Picea abies) trees. Among others, the site is equipped with two meteorological measurement stations; one is located within the forest stand, the second is co-located in the nearby open-field, allowing to measure the forest stand effect on micro-climate. The following parameters are being measured since 2013: Soil solution chemistry (lysimeters), TREENET, atmospheric deposition (throughfall and bulk deposition), circular vegetation plots, crown condition assessment, diameter and height measurements, foliar analyses, leaf area index (LAI), litterfall, manual circumference band measurements, Ozone visible injury assessment, permanent vegetation quadrats, phenological observations, sapflow measurements, soil matrix chemistry, tree core sampling, automated point dendrometer measurements, automatic circumference band measurements.

As the largest contiguous pine forest in Switzerland, the Pfyn forest in Canton Valais (46° 18' N, 7° 36' E, 615 m ASL) offers the best conditions for such measurements. In light of this, a WSL research team installed a long-term experiment of 20 years duration in the Pfyn forest. The average temperature here is 9.2°C, the yearly accumulated precipitation is 657 mm (average 1961-1990). The pines in the middle of the forest are about 100 years old and 10.8 m high. The test area has 876 trees covering 1.2 ha divided into 8 plots of 1'000 m2 each (Image 4). Between the months of April and October four of these plots are irrigated by a sprinkler system providing an additional 700 mm of water, annually. In the other four plots, the trees grow under natural, hence relatively dry conditions.

Mountain site, alpine forests Sierra Nevada (Andalusia, SE Spain), is a mountainous region with an altitudinal range between 860 m and 3482 m a.s.l. covering more than 2000 km2. The climate is Mediterranean, characterized by cold winters and hot summers, with pronounced summer drought (July-August). The annual average temperature decreases in altitude from 12-16ºC below 1500 m to 0ºC above 3000 m a.s.l., and the annual average precipitation is about 600 mm. Additionally, the complex orography of the mountains causes strong climatic contrasts between the sunny, dry south-facing slopes and the shaded, wetter north-facing slopes. Annual precipitation ranges from less than 250 mm in the lowest parts of the mountain range to more than 700 mm in the summit areas. Winter precipitation is mainly in the form of snow above 2000 m of altitude. The Sierra Nevada mountain range hosts a high number of endemic plant species (c. 80; Lorite et al. 2007) for a total of 2,100 species of vascular plants (25% and 20% of Spanish and European flora, respectively), being considered one of the most important biodiversity hotspots in the Mediterranean region. This mountain range has several legal protections: Biosphere Reserve MAB Committee UNESCO; Special Protection Area and Site of Community Importance (Natura 2000 network); and National Park. The area includes 61 municipalities with more than 90,000 inhabitants. The main economic activities are agriculture, tourism, cattle raising, beekeeping, mining, and skiing.