Central Europe maintains a considerable diversity of dry-mesic oak forests as the main representatives of zonal forest vegetation types in Hungary, covering the major part of foothills of the middle-range mountain, Inner Western Carpathians. The 669 m high, Triassic limestone hill called ‘Vár-hegy’ belongs to the Bükk Mountains. The annual mean temperature is about 8◦C and the annual precipitation is about 650 mm. The core area of the reserve (94 ha) is covered mainly by close-to-nature. long untouched oak dominated forests stands: Pannonic woods with Quercus petraea and Carpinus betulus; Pannonian-Balkanic Turkey oak-sessile oak forests; Pannonian woods with Quercus pubescens. It has been set aside for preservation in 1991, though several previous conservation acts had already secured almost spontaneous natural development of the stands. Most of the area was cut around 1880, however, several over-mature trees were retained. The intensive use in the previous centuries and during the world wars left a sessile oak dominated, 120-130-year-old, mostly coppice forest. The abandonment and the precedent severe oak decline contributed to generate a more diverse forest composition and structure developing towards a mixed forest with pronounced ‘old-growth’ characteristics.

Western part of the Gulf of Riga (the Baltic Sea) littoral and sublitoral zone. The marine site is located on the west coast of the Gulf, in the Engure Nature protected area. The monitoring activities are based on three transects which represent an open area of very similar substrate type. These transects are located on the tip of Mersrags, 2.5 km northwards from the port of Mersrags. Long-term studies of the Gulf of Riga coastal zone communities and macrophytes as the key component of littoral zone under natural and anthropogenic impact and possible threats to the littoral zone biological resources. The SCUBA diving is used in marine site assessment.

The site corresponds to the territory of Gran Paradiso National Park. This includes different ecosystems, present along the altitudinal gradient (ca. 800 – 4000 m asl): the woody areas of the montane belt, the ecotonal habitats of the subalpine belt and the meadows of the alpine one. The nival belt is widely represented inside the Park. The habitats with poor or no vegetation (rocks, screes, glaciers) cover about 60% of the territory, meadows and pastures 17%, about 20.2% is characterised by woods and shrubs, while 0.8% by cultivated lands and urban areas. The aquatic ecosystems, beyond the streams, comprise almost 15 lakes, bigger than 10,000 m2 and located at an altitude higher than 2000 m asl. The area is directly managed by the Park Authority; research and monitoring activities are coordinated by the Sanitary and Scientific Office of the Park.

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Studies on ecological successions have a long tradition and strongly contributed to the understanding of community assembly, niche theory and ecosystem structure and functionality. Reports on ecological successions are however mostly restricted to one or two taxonomical groups, neglecting the mutual influences and dependencies between multiple taxonomic groups that are the building blocks of multidiverse communities. We introduce the Alpine research platform Ödenwinkel to promote observational and experimental research on the emergence of multidiversity and ecosystem complexity. We established n = 140 permanent plots along the successional gradient of the forefield of the Ödenwinkelkees glacier at the end of Stubachvalley in the Hohe Tauern range (National Park Hohe Tauern, Land Salzburg, Austria). In summer 2019 we completed a first full inventory of biotic and abiotic characteristics of these plots covering the diversity and composition of vascular plants, bryophytes, arthropods and other animals, bacteria and fungi as well as some geomorphologic properties. In this paper we introduce the design of the research platform and show first results on the diversity and composition of vascular plants along the successional gradient. The Ödenwinkel platform will be available as long-term ecological research site where researchers from various disciplines can contribute to accumulate knowledge on ecological successions and on how interactions between various taxonomical groups structure ecological complexity in this alpine environment.

The site consists of “orographic islands” with high elevation vegetation in central Mediterranean basin, along the Apennines mountain range, within the Appennino Tosco-Emiliano National park and partially in the Appennino Modenese Regional park. It includes 64 permanent plots for plant species monitoring, distributed from timberline zone to the subalpine/alpine belt (1722-2000 m), that belong to the GLORIA project’s world network (GLobal Observation Research Initiative in Alpine ecosystems); The plots lie at the top of four summits, displayed along an altitudinal gradient, chosen following the GLORIA Target Region selection criteria. Furthermore, other 26 permanent plots, detached from the GLORIA project, have been settled on mount Prado. The observation and the long-term monitoring of vegetation and alpine plant species population started in 1999. The collection of soil temperature and osmotic potential started in 2001 and 2013, respectively. The site is resurveyed regularly to collect vegetation data (in term of presence/absence and coverage) and climatic data (temperature and osmotic potential data series recorded every 30 minutes by data loggers) in order to assess impacts of climate change on plant communities and single plant species of interest.

The LTER IAFA site has been running since 1999 and was the first long-term ecological research site in the Amazon. It is situated north of Manaus, central Amazon and includes three sub-sites, with undisturbed terra-firme forest (Reserva Ducke), selective logging (ZF-2 Forest Management Station), and forest fragmentation (Biological Dynamics of forest fragments – BDFFP sites) spread over around 30 x 30 km landscape. Both logging and fragmentation were carried out as controlled experiments to test their effects on biodiversity and ecosystem processes, and thus to outline recommendations for management. The 3 research areas together have 156 permanent monitoring plots, both terrestrial and aquatic, as well as grids of trails for large-scale process monitoring. The information produced has been stored on a public website (https://ppbio.inpa.gov.br/repositorio/dados) where anyone can search data and metadata about the research, as well as the list of publications and all the educational material ( books, identification guides, training course materials) for download.

The site, located along the Tyrrhenian coast, north of Rome city, is a Special Protection Area (SPA) for migratory and nesting birds (Anatidae, Ardeidae). The wetland area is one of the last stretches of the Lazio wetlands which have been progressively reclaimed and cultivated during the last century. The flora and the fauna of the site is not only highly specialized but also highly endangered, with a relevant ecological value evidenced in previous studies. The site includes coastal dune habitats of European interest, as the annual vegetation of drift lines, the embryonic shifting dunes, the mobile dunes with Ammophila arenaria and the dune grasslands. There are also habitats related to wet and mud soils, as Mediterranean salt meadows and reed beds dominated by Phragmites australis.

The Algoa Bay Sentinel Site is a coastal observatory comprising four programmes and a geographical footprint spanning >300 km of coastline on the warm-temperate south-east coast of South Africa. The Continuous Monitoring Programme (CMP) comprise 37 permanently moored in situ observatories measuring a series of physical properties of the coastal ocean between Port Alfred and Oyster Bay. The Pelagic Ecosystem LTER Programme (PELTER) perform long-term observations selected Essential Biodiversity Variables (EBV), including phytoplankton and zooplankton. The Sandy Beaches LTER Programme (SBLTER) entail observations of short- and long-term changes in surfzone diatoms among other variables at 10 sandy beach stations in Algoa Bay. The Rocky Shores LTER Programme (RSLTER) conducts repeat observations of benthic communities associated with 7 stations on Algoa Bay island complexes and surrounding shores. The Benthic Ecosystem LTER Programme employs remote imagery technologies (sBRUV, ROV, jump cameras) to monitor long-term change in the community structure of fishes and invertebrates. First observations commenced in 2008 and is ongoing. In situ moorings record water temperature and current velocity at hourly intervals and are serviced every 3 to 6 months. PELTER and SBLTER stations are sampled monthly, while BELTER and RSLTER stations are visited quarterly and biannually respectively. The majority of moorings and stations are situated within the Addo Elephant National Park Marine Protected Area, home to the largest remaining African Penguin colony in the world. ABSS data serve conservation, research and resource management efforts.

The Gulf of Naples has an extension of ca 870 kmq and an average depth of 170 m. The coastal area, which is inhabited since pre-Roman age, is densely populated and small factories are actively growing. In the Gulf, polluted areas (Sarno river mouth, harbours) coexist with pristine areas, including some Protected Marine Areas. Research on marine organisms has started before since the beginning of 1800, but first ecological studies date back to the 70ies of the last century. The long-term monitoring station (LTER-MC, 40°49’N, 14°15’E) is located 2 nm off Naples city (depth ca 75 m) at the boundary between eutrophied coastal waters and oligotrophic Tyrrhenian waters. Larger areas of the Gulf have been sampled occasionally in several cruises. The MC data set represents one of the few plankton time series available in the Mediterranean Sea, and it is certainly one of the longest.