Mt Halla San is in Jeju Island, the only volcanic subtropical island, in South Korea. Every year the island is hit by several typhoons. It has shaped unique environmental characteristics and biodiversity. In addition the mountain is one of the most popular vacation sites with growing ecological concern.

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 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 site consists of high elevation vegetation in central Mediterranean basin, along the Apennines mountain range: xerophitic primary grassland (Pediculari elegantis-Seslerietum tenuifoliae) and mesophitic primary grassland (Luzulo italiacae-Festucetum macratherae), with important resident and migratory bird communities. Six plots, each one 100 m2 large, grouped in two cluster-plots including each one three plots, representative of a larger area of 0,5 km2 ca., ranging from 2100 to 2300 m a.s.l. (alpic and Mediterranean high-mountain belts.

S.C.I IT7228221 Foce Trigno-Marina di Petacciato (Campobasso) S.C.I. IT7140108 Punta Aderci-Punta della Penna S.C.I. IT7140109 Marina di Vasto The site includes 3 Natura 2000 sites along the central Adriatic coast, where the last fragments of natural vegetation zonation on sand coastal dunes occur (shore vegetation, embryo and mobile dune vegetation, annual Mediterranean grasses and wet dune slacks).

'Tyrolean Mountain Grassland and -Forest' currently consits of 'Stubai - combination of Neustift meadows and Kaserstattalm' (DEIMS.iD: https://deims.org/324f92a3-5940-4790-9738-5aa21992511c). Additional forested research locations may be added in the future.

The Aelmoeseneie Forest is a 28.5 ha mixed deciduous forest in the community of Gontrode, just southeast of Ghent. The largest part of the forest is ‘ancient forest’, i.e. it is permanently forested since before 1775, while the forest is surrounded by agricultural land (mostly pastures). The soil consists of a silt loam to loam soil (Planosol), overlaying a mosaic of tertiary clayey and sandy deposits with high base saturation starting at 50 cm depth. Forest management is designed to obtain a more natural tree species composition and to conserve biodiversity. More info can be found at www.aelmoeseneiebos.ugent.be.

For over 20 years as a team of Long Term Sites in Serra do Cipó PELD-CRSC has been working to answer crucial questions of evolutionary ecology and provide a basis for understanding the spatio-temporal ecosystem functioning and it is future challenges with changes in climate and land use.

This LTER-site corresponds with a 0.25 ha intensive forest monitoring plot (ICP Forests Level II) including a 0.25 ha buffer zone. The site is located in a homogeneous stand of Corsican pine (Pinus nigra ssp. laricio var. Corsicana Loud.) planted in 1930 on former heathland and is part of Gewestbos Ravels, a landscape (about 1000 ha) with deciduous and coniferous forests, heathland, bogs and pastures in the northern part of the Campine ecoregion of Flanders. The terrain is gently sloping (1-2 %) and the soil is a well-drained sandy soil (Endogleyic Folic Brunic Albic Arenosol (Dystric)). Ground vegetation is dominated by ferns (Dryopteris dilatata and D. carthusiana) and Vaccinium myrtillus. After a storm in February 2007 felled several trees an understorey of Betula pubescens started to develop. Intensive monitoring was started in 1987 with the main objective to study the effects of air pollution on biogeochemical cycling and forest performance (growth, vitality). This yielded a number of long-term data series including on atmospheric deposition, air quality, soil and soil solution chemistry, tree mineral nutrition, ground vegetation and growth. Monitoring will be continued in the future as a statutory task of INBO.

The LTER-site of Wijnendale Forest is a 90 ha scientific zone located in a larger mixed atlantic beech-oak-woodland (300 ha), in the North-West of Belgium, 20 km south of Bruges. The site is located on moderately wet to dry sandy soils. The site is an ancient woodland that used to be managed as coppice with standards. Over the last 100 years it was gradually transformed to a mixed high forest, mainly of oak and beech. The site contains - an ICP Forests Level II plot (0.25 ha), in which effects of air pollution on the forest ecosystem are monitored, according to standard protocols. - a strict forest reserve of 65 ha: here, natural dynamics of forest structure and ground vegetation are monitored, and its effects on biological diversity. - a 25 ha buffer zone, containing both forest and open grassland (extensively managed for nature conservation), where 'open field' measurements are performed. The sampling network in the strict reserve includes >100 sampling plots (0.1 ha) combined with a 1 ha core area. In these plots, full dendrometric surveys (tree position, species, DBH, height, ...) and ground vegetation relevees are performed every 10 years. Additionally, standardised sampling of saproxylic beetles, mosses and fungi were performed and high-resolution air-borne LIDAR and hyperspectral data were recorded in 2012-2014. Main aims for the future are the continuation of the observational networks to provide longer robust time-series that allow more thorough analysis and investigation.