Mt. Jirisan is located in the southern region of South Korea. It is largest in its size, second highest and dedicated as the first national park in South Korea. It is at the southern end of Backdudaegan mountain ranges. Mt. Jirisan site in Gurae County is located in the very vicinity of the national park and is the second KLTER(Korea Long Term Ecological Research) station by Ministry of Environment and National Institute of Ecology. The site suffered natural forest fire in 1999 and 2000 in a row that combusted vegetation about 13 and 7 hectares respectively. Since that time, some tree species were planted in some of the area. In 2010, the county designated the forest area of 155 ha including the KLTER site as the Gurae Ecoforest and has managed the forest for ecological stability. The area is composed of a variety of ecosystems like secondary pine forest as major vegetation, naturally rehabilitated area, thinning area, reforested area.

The Mira estuary is a small system (2 km2) located at the Southwestern coast of Portugal that extends between Vila Nova de Milfontes at the mouth and Odemira at its upper limit. It is a narrow entrenched system, with a length of more than 40 km and a mean depth of about 6 m. Saline variability is higher in the middle estuary and sediments are usually dominated by mud and/or fine sand, except in both ends of the system where coarse sediment particles predominate. Near the river mouth presents ecologically important seagrass beds of Zostera marina and Zostera noltii in the subtidal and intertidal areas, respectively. Given the knowledge already available for fishes, benthic macroinvertebrates and saltmarshes communities in the Mira estuary, these are the biologic groups that will be studied with more detail in order to monitor their evolution and assess the hypothetic influence of climatic change and human activities in such evolution. In addition, zooplankton studies will be performed to investigate the impact of the hydromedusae exotic invader Blackfordia virginica in the different compartments of the Mira estuary ecosystem. It is usually considered a well preserved system due to reduced human population and industry. It has high conservation status because the entire estuary is included in a nature protected area (Parque Natural do Sudoeste Alentejano e Costa Vicentina) limiting fishing activities that currently are not allowed. The major threat to this ecosystem is the increasing touristic pressure in all the southwestern coast of Portugal, which may have serious implications to the estuarine water quality. Moreover, several fish farms were installed and agriculture (mainly rice fields) and forestry activities (mainly eucalyptus plantations) occupy an important extension of the water margins. The upstream estuarine areas show a slight contamination by heavy metals due to previous mineral extraction activities in the river basin. Several studies have been conducted in the estuary since the 1980’s. Little information is available for phytoplankton and macroalgae but data about saltmarshes and seagrass beds are much more abundant. Zooplankton data is also scarce but has increased in recent years, particularly with studies on the exotic invasive species Blackfordia virginica. Meiofauna was only studied in Zostera beds but benthic macroinvertebrates and fishes have been studied in more detail along the entire estuarine gradient. Nevertheless, investigation of modifications in these communities related with climate change, human activities and introduction of exotic species must proceed.

The Vindelfjällen Research Society was created to enhance research and education in the Vindelfjällen area.

O Peld Sitio 17 conta com uma boa infraestrutura, embora haja necessidade de ampliação da mesma para o amplo aproveitamento da estrutura montada. No local contamos com um bom apoio do Parna Serra do Cipó, que possui uma área construída de mais 2000m2. O parque conta atualmente com duas casas que tem sido utilizadas com certa freqüência por pesquisadores. Estas estão localizadas a 800 e 1500 metros de altitude facilitando os estudos no gradiente altitudinal. Não há problemas com água, eletricidade e telefone, embora o acesso a internet seja ainda precário. Atualmente, há necessidade de maior entendimento por parte daquela instituição para com a pesquisa, uma das funções que foram o pilar para a criação das UCs no país. Esperamos poder ampliar esta colaboração através de reunião com os dirigentes locais e federais pois tanto o ICMBio quanto pesquisadores se beneficiam com a pesquisa. Embora o ICMBio possua veículos os mesmo não podem ser utilizados por terceiros, o que representa um enorme problema. Todavia, neste edital foi propiciado a aquisição de veículos o que é importante para este e qualquer outro projeto, visto que as Universidades e institutos geralmente não fornecem este apoio sem o pagamento de diárias para os motoristas (além do número limitado de veículos e motoristas). Na e APA Morro da Pedreira há mais de 100 pousadas e três bons hotéis. A região dista apenas 60 km do Aeroporto Internacional de Confins e 100 km de B. Horizonte. A realização do projeto na fase I foi, por outro lado, garantida através da parceria estabelecida com os moradores do local, os quais estão acostumados com a figura do cientista. Assim, contamos com o apoio total de pousadas (Serra Morena, Pouso do Elefante), empresas (Cedro) e ainda da Reserva Vellozia, a qual forneceu apoio logístico, alojamento e laboratório para o desenvolvimento das atividades o projeto.

The TataChia is located at the northwest of Yushan National Park. It is an alpine site that is dominated by evergreen coniferous forests.

Subtropical forest

Shirahama is situated in the southern part of the west coast of the Kii Peninsula, and in the bay mouth of Tanaba Bay, which is situated at the point where Kii Strait meets the Pacific Ocean. The habitat around Shirahama includes rocky shore, sandy beach and mud flat.

The site is the parent site of three research sites, performing long-term research and monitoring in Mediterranean forests and meadows located within those forests.

The National Park covers ca. 70 000 hectares and was founded in 1971. It is located at a climatic transition zone (the climate is Temperate/Atlantic Sub-Mediterranean), with 1-2 dry months in summer. Annual rainfall is usually above 2000 mm, reaching 3500 mm in summits. Granite is by far the dominant bedrock type. The main ecosystem/land cover types are deciduous oak forests, heathland and scrub, meadows and rock outcrops (in highlands), and forest plantations, scrub, urban and agriculture (in lowlands). This site is the only national park in the country, with over 40 years of experience in conservation and management, and since 1997 also part of a transnational park and of a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve (Gerês-Xurés). Also a Natura site (both SCI and SPA). It holds one of the highest diversity of Annex I habitat types in the country. The Park hosts several plant and animal species of high conservation value, including the Iberian wolf (EU priority species) and many other Iberian endemic species of fauna and flora. Also important for several European plant species having their only national occurrence in the National Park. High potential for rewilding in the highest elevations where human activities and only occasional. Available measurements include: updated land cover and Annex I habitat maps (1:10 000 and 1:25 000 scales; for multiple dates); many data available on plant and animal diversity; several PhD projects developed in the Park over the last 15 years; reasonable coverage of climatic stations; geological maps and soil maps available at various scales; low and medium resolution satellite imagery available, and a few HR and VHR satellite images available from previous projects. Main drivers of change (and potential threats) in highlands are farmland and pastoral abandonment, infrastructures (wind farms), changes in wildfire regimes. In lowlands, the key drivers/threats are intensive forestry, expansion of non-native invasive plants, urban development, tourism and infrastructures. Climate change may become an important driver throughout the Park due to its elevation range and climatic transitional situation.

Here we describe the characteristics of an observation plot within Mediterranean Forests LTER Italy site. The name of the plot is SIC1 Ficuzza. It belongs to the Italian branch of the ICP Forests Network (CONECOFOR) but it is managed by the Sicily Agency