The site is divided into two different types of environments: 1. Coastal marine environments. Marine coastal areas of Sardinia, in particular, the Gulf of Asinara in the north and the Gulf of Olbia in the north-east, affected by different types and intensities of human impact and by the resulting presence of different environmental conditions from the point of view of water quality. 2. Lagoons and coastal ponds. Lagoons and coastal ponds located along the west-central coast of Sardinia, in the Gulf of Oristano. These sites are all important wetlands included in the Ramsar Convention, are IBA (Important Birds Area) and SIC and ZPS. The ownership of the sites is the Regional Government of Sardinia. Fisheries and aquaculture are generally the most important human activities, and there are also educational and recreational activities. They are affected by various environmental issues, mostly related to the process eutrophic.

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.

Black Sea site includes three areas: cape Kaliakra, cape Galata and Varna Bay, and Koketrays Sand bank (only for macrozoobenthos). They were chosen on the base of historical data availability and eutrophication/pollution impact. Kaliakra marine area is influenced by eutrophication due to mainly the Danube river inflow. The local anthropogenic impact in the region is insignificant. It is a nature reserve. Cape Galata and Varna Bay sites are under the indirect impact of Varna Bay current and the system Beloslav lake-Varna lake - a cascade introducing nutrients and pollutants of industrial (chemical industry), agricultural, sewage origin and nearby ports. Koketrays Sand bank is an unique benthic habitat. The coordinates of the selected areas are as follow: c. Kaliakra: 28.416667 43.366667 c. Galata: 27.933889 43.186111 Varna Bay: 28.166667 43.166667 Koketrays bank: 27.888889 42.635556

Lake Garda has the largest volume (49 billions of cubic meters) and the most extensive area (368 km2) of Italian lakes. Along with lakes Orta, Maggiore, Lugano, Como, Iseo and Idro, it forms part of the group of deep lakes located south of the Alps in one of the most densely populated and highly productive area of Italy. With a total volume of over 124 billions of cubic meters, these lakes constitute one of the largest freshwater supplies in Europe. Their waters are used for agriculture, industry, fishery and drinking. Moreover, they are an important resource for recreation and tourism thanks to both attractive landscape and water quality. In Lake Garda, sporadic studies were carried out irregularly by various Institutions up to the end of the 1980s. Since the beginning of the 1990s, continuous monthly samplings and measurements were carried out by the Department of Biology of the Padova University (Responsible, Nico Salmaso), with the collaboration of ARPAV. Since 2005 the whole limnological research is performed by the Limnological research group of the Agrarian Institute of S. Michele all’Adige – E. Mach Foundation (S. Michele all’Adige, Trento; coordinator, Nico Salmaso). Since the 1970s, Lake Garda showed an increase in the trophic status, with mean annual concentrations of total phosphorus in the whole water column increasing from ca. 10 µg P/L to 20 µg P/L. In the last 4-5 years of observations, TP showed a stabilisation of the concentrations, around 18 µg P/L. At the community level, annual phytoplankton cycles underwent a unidirectional and slow shift mainly due to changes in the species more affected by the nutrient enrichment of the lake. After a first and long period of dominance by conjugatophytes (Mougeotia) and diatoms (Fragilaria), phytoplankton biomass in recent years was sustained by cyanobacteria (Planktothrix). Other important modifications in the development of phytoplankton were superimposed on this pattern due to the effects of annual climate fluctuations principally mediated by the deep mixing events at spring overturn. Main specific research objectives in this LTER station include: -Changes in the physical, chemical and biological variables at different temporal scales, from months to decades and centuries (paleoecology). Update of the time series of hydrological, climatological and limnological data, whith special attention to lake evolution and effects on biotic communities in relation to ongoing climatic changes. Definition of predictive models. - Identification of the environmental and biotic mechanisms favouring the development of cyanobacteria (including the recent appearence of blooms and new species). Identification of the factors selecting for the development of toxic strains, the production and concentrations of epato- and neurotoxins, and their impact on trophic webs and water usability. The limnological field facilities of the limnological research group include 2 rubber dinghies, 2 multi-parameter probes, a fluoroprobe, a FlowTracker Handheld ADV Sonntek, underwater Quantum sensors, a Kajak corer and an Eckman dredge for sediment sampling. The unit also has several laboratories. These include the hydrobiology and microscopy laboratory, equipped for analyses of basic limnological variables (photosynthetic pigments, dry weight, dissolved oxygen, water turbidity, macrophytes) and of phytoplankton, picoplankton and periphyton samples (microscopes, invertoscopes, fluorescent microscopy, image analysis). The analytical and environmental chemistry laboratory is equipped for analysis of the major ions and nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen and silica), as well as organic molecules (with focus on cyanotoxins) by means of spectrophotometry, ion chromatography and Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (LC-MS). We have access to genetic laboratories equipped with the principal analytical tools, i.e. PCR, electrophoresis, and sequencing. The data collected at monthly frequency since 1991 includes water temperature and oxygen. Phytoplankton was collected since 1993, while complete data recording (including chemistry and zooplankton) begun in 1995.

In Sardinia, the second largest Mediterranean island, about 90% of the drinking water derives from ~40 artificial lakes. Data collected on a multidecadal scale have shown that these lakes are largely eutrophic and dominated by cyanobacteria. Since the late 1980s, the management of Sardinian artificial lakes has been oriented toward a multiannual approach to address prolonged droughts and to limit, as much as possible, water level fluctuation and its adverse ecological consequences. The water management strategy carried out by the Regional Agency Ente Acque della Sardegna (ENAS) aims to store water from the wet to the dry season at intrannual and interannual scales and to move waters from one basin to another for different needs. The parent site consists of six artificial lakes and is part of the LTER-Italy since its inception. The site has always been managed by the Department of Architecture, Design and Urban Planning of University of Sassari, in close collaboration with the Sardinian Water Authority for lakes (ENAS - ENte Acque della Sardegna). The six lakes are located in north-central part of the island and are being studied for over thirty years. Those are: • Lake Bidighinzu (IT10-001-A) • Lake Cedrino (IT10-002-A) • Lake Cuga (IT10-003-A) • Lake Monte Lerno (IT10-004-A) • Lake Sos Canales (IT10-005-A) • Lake Temo (IT10-006-A) Since 2006, in all the six LTER Sardinian reservoirs, is operating a Real Time Remote Monitoring System. The project aims to provide a tool to optimize the management of the resource, giving the chance to chose the water layer along the vertical profile with the best quality for the potabilization. The data are acquired by mean of a probe equipped with sensors to measure temperature, pH, conductivity, dissolved oxygen and chlorophyll a. These data are verified and combined with those obtained using traditional survey methods. A long-term data series is available for each lake, with high-frequency of measurements and samplings regarding the most important environmental and biological variables.

Lake Maggiore was studied since the beginning of last century although not systematically. Regular research started by the foundation in 1938 of the Italian Institute of Hydrobiology "Dr. Marco De Marchi" located in Verbania Pallanza. A limnographic (level and temperature profile) and weather station came into operation in 1952. Studies on plankton and on hydrochemistry of Lake Maggiore continued between the 1950s and the 1970s, showing the progressive eutrophication of the lake. Thanks also to the research of the institute, in the 1980s effective actions to control the eutrophication were undertaken, with the large-scale activation of waste water treatment plants. In the same period a program, still active, of systematic monitoring and research sponsored by the CIPAIS (International Commission for the Protection of the Italian Swiss Waters) started: it allowed collecting an uninterrupted and long-time series, with high sampling frequency, of data related to meteorology, hydrology, physic and chemistry of the lake, organic carbon and bacterial populations, phyto-and zooplankton. The analysis of these time series highlighted an oligotrophication process leading to the current state of oligotrophy of Lake Maggiore. Recent studies also showed the effects of global warming on Lake Maggiore, which went towards the gradual warming of deep hypolimnion as well as the raising of the average temperature of the surface layers.

The coastal marine observatory site Gulf of Trieste lies within the Marine Protected Area (MPA) of Miramare and includes the biological time-series station “C1”, part of the Italian Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) network, and the in situ continuous MAMBO meteo-oceanographic buoy. Marine Protected Areas represent one of the most effective systems for marine biodiversity preservation and management. Since 1986, the time-series station “C1” in the Gulf of Trieste (GoTTs, Gulf of Trieste Time series) represents a crucial site for marine ecological research, as it is subject to the interaction among several natural forcing (river, groundwater discharge, tides, general circulation, intense meteorological) and numerous anthropogenic activities (maritime transport, harbours of Trieste and Monfalcone, urban waste discharge, mussel- and fish-farming, fishing and recreational activities). In 1999, the ecological research site has been equipped with a meteo oceanographic buoy (MAMBO) in order to acquire continuous data on meteorological conditions at sea and on seawater physical and biogeochemical properties. Due to the high temporal dynamics of ecological processes in coastal ecosystems, continuous and real-time data of the main meteorological, physical and biogeochemical properties are fundamental for a better understanding of marine ecosystem functioning.

Lake Orta is a deep subalpine lake, located in Northern Italy, at a mean altitude of 290 m a.s.l. Its perimeter is 33,8 km, surface area 18,14 km2, volume 1,29 km3. Lake Orta has a maximum depth of 143 m and a mean depth of 71 m. Lake Orta is well known for being polluted by industrial discharges (copper sulphate and ammonia) since the late 1920: as a consequence, the pH of the lake water dropped down till 4 and the food web was almost completely destroyed, except for some few, strongly adapted species. The pollution stopped around mid 1980s and a liming intervention was carried out in 1989-1990, to neutralize the acidic waters of the lake. The recovery was very fast, new species started to colonise the lake just after the liming. The lake, however, is still at risk, due to the large amount of heavy metals stored in the sediments.

The Kinneret Limnological Laboratory (KLL) is situated at the ‘Sapir’ Site (Tabha) on the shores of Lake Kinneret (Sea of Galilee). The Lake Kinneret monitoring program conducted by KLL has been operating since Jan. 1969. The program has provided a unique database and information, due to the sampling resolution, accuracy of the measurements, and their continuity, it is used to make operational decisions and environmental policy. The monitoring program includes several stations around the lake and from numerous depths and includes fixed on-lake, high-resolution, and manual sampling of water samples analyzed in the laboratory. The Kinneret monitoring program has expanded in recent years and currently has four fixed on-lake and online sampling platforms, strategically placed, each with thermistor chains and multi-probe sensor systems including one that is a profiling system. Also, the program includes collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture to carry out monitoring of fish and fisheries in the lake. As the lake suffers typically from two seasonal cyanobacteria blooms, (i.e., a winter Microcystis bloom and a summer N-fixing cyanobacteria bloom) routing monitoring of cyanobacteria biomass and toxins is conducted and adaptive to the extent of the bloom. This is carried out simultaneously with satellite imaging over the lake.

Historically, the role of the Galapagos Islands has been considered critical due to the evolutionary diversification induced by natural and historical isolation. The Galapagos National Park was established in 1959, based on its historical importance associated with Charles Darwin's voyage and its rare and endemic biodiversity, composed of unique vertebrate and plant communities (Rozzi et al. 2010). In 1978, the Galapagos Islands were declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site, a critical factor associated with this national park (Rozzi et al. 2010). The Galapagos Islands are a pristine area with local and regional climates influenced by the interaction of ocean currents and winds driven by the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone; ITCZ (Conroy et al. 2008, Trueman and d'Ozouville 2010). The long-term programme includes forty natural aquatic ecosystems (lakes, ponds, lagoons and swamps) that will be sampled on the islands of San Cristobal, Santa Cruz, Isabela and Floreana, where possible along a lowland-highland gradient. The number of sampling points will vary according to environmental heterogeneity and the presence of a littoral region, among other factors.