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 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.

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 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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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.

Lake Tovel has a long history of limnological research and over 300 publications since the late 1800s, including an intensive study by E. Baldi in the 1930s, document the continued interest in this lake. Tovel is famous for its clear waters and past red dinoflagellate blooms (Flaim et al. 2004. Phycologia 43:737–743) that no longer occur due to changes in land use (Borghi et al. 2006. Studi Trent. Sci. Nat., Acta Biol. 81:1-472). Besides its intrinsic biological value, Lake Tovel provides irrigation water and electrical energy to the local population, and its location in the heart of the Adamello Brenta Natural Park makes it an important tourist attraction. Following several sporadic surveys, since 1995 the lake is part of an ongoing long-term limnological study conducted by the Fondazione E. Mach (FEM) at S. Michele all’Adige TN, that includes temperature profiling, chemical and biological data taken at monthly intervals during the ice-free period and occasional winter sampling. FEM is well equipped for limnological field work with dinghy with electrical motor, multi-parameter probe, fluoroprobe, underwater quantum sensor, Eckman dredge, plankton nets, water sampling bottles, etc. Laboratory facilities include microscopy (bright field, phase contrast, interferential, fluorescent, inverted microscopes and stereoscopes) with image analysing software, a wet lab and a fine chemistry lab for nutrients and major ions in water as well as organics by ion chromatography and liquid chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (LC-MS). Also available are molecular laboratories equipped with basic (PCR, electrophoresis) and advanced techniques (Sanger and NG sequencing). Limnological data are supported by meteorological data provided by a meteorological station situated in the lake and active since 1976. Recently, sensors for high frequency data (HFD) for temperature, dissolved oxygen, light (at various depths) and water level have been installed on a central lake platform. Notwithstanding its modest altitude (1178 m asl), Tovel has characteristics similar to a 'high altitude' lake because its waters are particularly cold and transparent. The lake is oligotrophic (PT <10 µg/L) with a high biodiversity of plankton, especially of flagellates (Hansen & Flaim 2007J Limnol 66:107-141)and rotifers (Obertegger et al. 2008 J Plank Res 30:633–643). Cold-water dinoflagellates from the lake have been studied for their life cycles (Flaim et al. 2009 Hydrobiologia 639:85–98), lipid profiles (Flaim et al. 2012 Hydrobiologia 698: 285-293) and their response to stressors such as UVR (Obertegger et al. 2011 J. Phycol. 47:811–820). Furthermore, marked water level fluctuations due to the input of snowmelt water are influential in structuring the plankton community (Obertegger et al. 2007. Aquat. Sci. 69:575 – 583). Lake Tovel is an ideal ‘natural laboratory’ where we study the biotic and abiotic parameters tied to climate change and verify ecological theories.

How do freshwater ecosystems react to changing environmental conditions and to what extent can these changes be captured in the dynamics of eco-evolutionary processes? The project REES ('Rhine Eco-Evolutionary System') aims at the long-term assessment of eco-evolutionary interactions in the Rhine as a limnic habitat under consideration of diverse associated water bodies. The study area includes the main flow channel of the Rhine (km 845, North Rhine-Westphalia), as well as Rhine oxbows, Rhine water-fed gravel pit lakes in ecological succession and the surrounding floodplain (Rees, district of Kleve). The Ecological Research Station Rees-Grietherbusch of the Institute of Zoology (University of Cologne) and the Nature Conservation Center District Kleve e.V. form the central infrastructure of the study area. In addition, the Ecological Rhine Station of the University under the direction of Prof. Dr. Arndt is also associated to the project, which enables direct sampling and experimental recording of the main Rhine flow channel. The extensive system of standing and flowing freshwater bodies covered in the REES study site allows the investigation of dynamic variations in biodiversity composition at all levels, from species diversity of communities to genomic diversity at the molecular level of individuals and populations. Along a selected trophic cascade, representative species will be long-term observed and analyzed ecologically and especially also (population-)genomically. The incorporation of ecological genomics is the core aspect of this LTER-D project, which is intended to capture the feedback of evolutionary changes on the ecological system. Population genomic approaches can be used to infer both evolutionary and ecological processes from genomic data. To cope with the dimension of this project, REES is designed as an interdisciplinary collaboration project and currently counts seven project partners with corresponding subordinate projects.

A Long Term Ecological Research Program -GUADALQUIVIR_LTER 1997-2022- has been maintained since 1997 at the Guadalquivir estuary. The temporal and spatial evolution of abundances and biomasses of the aquatic community species -plankton, fish, and crustacean- is monitored monthly since 26 years ago (1997 to present). Community data is resolved at different levels of the ecosystem -individuals, populations, and communities- and completed with their corresponding water environmental data -salinity, temperature, turbidity, dissolved oxygen, nutrients, pH, among others- as well as detailed information on trophic structure and biology of the main species. Since 2021 a new Spanish Science Agency project is working together with Guadalquivir-LTER on the socio-ecology of the region, management, and cooperation among different stakeholders.

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.