The LTSER Zone Atelier Seine belongs to LTER-France network and is located in Seine River Basin. The ZA Seine general aim is the study of a whole region. How its inhabitants construct the aquatic environment, as well as the quality of surface- and ground-waters may be seen as the dominant scientific question. The question is posed at various scales in space (from sub-catchments to the whole basin), and in time (from historical analysis starting in the Middle-Age to prospective studies for the next century).

This is a Sphagnum dominated bog, which is part of a mire complex.

The Intensive Monitoring of Forest Ecosystems (ICP-Forests Level II network) consists currently in 14 monitoring plots representing important Spanish Forest Ecosystems distributed throughout the Spanish mainland showing the most common forest situations of each country and representing rare or endemic situations. The plot 05 Ps represents an Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) forest located in Guadarrama mountain range in the center of the Iberian peninsula. It is a 80-100 years old monospecific regular high forest. Under a canopy of mature trees, there is an understory made of pines of about 6 meters high. There is low layer with shrubs and grasses under high cattle pressure. Climatic gradient is Oromediterranean. It is situated in a flat area, with soil temporary swamped in some points. Soil is made up of gneiss

Mukhrino Field Station is owned and run by the UNESCO Chair on Environmental Dynamics and Climate Change at the Yugra State University, Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia. The Mukhrino Field Station is located at the east bank of the Irtysh River near the confluence with the Ob River in the central taiga area of Western Siberia (60°54’ N, 68°42’ E), 30 km south-west of the town of Khanty-Mansiysk (60 000 inhabitants). Due to the severe continental climate, the environmental conditions in the region are comparable with the sub-arctic zone of Northern Europe. The research site is representative for the Western Siberian pristine carbon accumulating peatland ecosystem (“plain mires”). The mires cover c. 60 % of the land surface and can be regarded as important sources/sinks of greenhouse gases and aerosols. The main mire type of the site is raised bogs of the type Pine-dwarf shrubs-bogs (Ryam) characterized by pine trees, Ledum palustre and dwarf shrubs, with areas of Sphagnum fuscum. Interspersed are mires of the type Poor fens (partly drained in the summer) dominated by Carex lasiocarpa and other graminoids, and Sphagnum balticum. Also ridge-hollow complexes, consisting of bog ridges and poor fen hollows are present.

The Yatsugatake-Kawakami Forest of Mountain Science Center, University of Tsukuba, consists of three forest areas: the Yatsugatake Forest (80 ha) located in Minamimaki, Nagano Prefecture, Japan, the "Megumi-no-Mori" (14 ha) on the campus where the administration building is located, and the Kawakami Forest (189 ha) located in Kawakami, Nagano Prefecture, Japan. The Yatsugatake Forest is 1400-1450 m above sea level, and the Megumi-no-Mori is 1350 m above sea level. The forest is characterized by gentle slopes without remarkably topographic change and a mosaic of secondary deciduous broad-leaved forest dominated by oak (Quercus crispula) and Asian black birch (Betula davurica）, and intermediate moor characterized by thatch herb (Moliniopsis japonica) and Japanese alder (Alnus japonica). Rare plants such as primrose (Primula sieboldii) and drosera (Drosera rotundifolia) are also found here. Black soil is distributed throughout the Yatsugatake Forest and Megumi-no-Mori. The Kawakami Forest is located between 1360 and 1700 m above sea level. 70% of the forest area is planted with Japanese larch (Larix kaempferi). The rest is a secondary deciduous broadleaf forest dominated by oak and birch. Some of the forests are dominated by a beech (Fagus crenata) stand, a natural Sawara cypress (Chamaecyparis pisifera) stand, and spruce (Picea alcokiana) stand. The forest is covered with brown and black soils, and the topography of the forest is more varied than that of the Yatsugatake Forest, including ridges and valleys. In the Kawakami Forest, an ecological survey of forest mammals is also being conducted. At these three forests, education and research are conducted on ecological surveys of trees, rare plants, and wildlife (population dynamics and conservation ecology), forest meteorological observations, and artificial forest management and operation.

The Intensive Monitoring of Forest Ecosystems (ICP-Forests Level II network) consists currently in 134 monitoring plots representing important Spanish Forest Ecosystems distributed throughout the Spanish mainland showing the most common forest situations of each country and representing rare or endemic situations. The plot 102 Ppr represents a Pinus pinaster pine forest located in Galicia region (Northwest of the Iberian Peninsula). It is an 81 to 100 years old monoespecific regular forest. The stand is not very dense, with several Quercus robur trees. Under the pine canopy there is an understory of chestnut and oak (almost 20% of area coverage) and grassland with ferns (almost 40% of area coverage). Climate gradient is colline, in the Eurosiberian region. The topography is flat and the soil is made up of granite.

The LTSER Zone Atelier Environnementale Urbaine belongs to LTER-France network and is located in eastern France.The Zone Atelier Environnementale Urbaine ZAEU was created in 2010. It focuses on urban area and urban socioecosystem research questions. The main objective is to define how to facilite an harmonious development according to the city needs without badly impacting the natural system around. The Eurometropole of Strasbourg is a close partner of the ZAEU: local authorities participate to the research experimentations and observation campains. Six working groups are dealing with natural systems in order to better understand the urban ecosystem (biodiversity, hydrology, air and climate, urban metabolism) and the socio system (social and economic dimensions of the society and the individuals, groups behavior and values, politics strategies). In the working groups, we study issues like hydrological system processes in the urban area, population health, energy consomption and production at the city scale, pollutions and contaminations of the various spheres, refusal management with regards to the context of global changes, sustainable development and transitions (economy, ecology, energy).

From 1970 to 1974, the Pasoh FRIM Research Station (Pasoh FRS) has been a site for intensive research of lowland rain forest ecology and dynamics under a joint research project between University of Malaya and the International Biological Programme (IBM). Pasoh forest was also the main study site for the Reproductive Biology of Forest Trees Project, a joint research project between University of Aberdeen and University of Malaya from 1974 to 1978. Since then, various research projects on biodiversity, forest productivity, flora, fauna, micrometeorology, soils, hydrology and nutrient cycling were conducted in collaboration with local universities.. In December 1977, Forest Research Institute Malaysia (FRIM) took over the management of the research station from University of Malaya. This was made possible through the collaboration with the Negeri Sembilan State Forestry Department. The Pasoh forest station has since become a leading tropical forest field research station. This could not have been possible without the commitment from the state forestry department to gazette 1,840 ha of the Pasoh reserve as a Research Forest. All research activities are monitored by the Pasoh Research Committee (PRC) in FRIM since 1999. The Director of the Negeri Sembilan Forestry Department is also a Committee member. The main attraction of the Pasoh Reserve is its floristically rich forest. A total of 335,256 stems 1 cm dbh (diameter at breast height) and above belonging to 814 species, 294 genera and 78 families has been recorded within an area of 50 ha. The most common plant families are the Euphorbiaceae and Annonaceae among the smaller trees, and the Dipterocarpaceae, Leguminosae and Burseraceae. The most common species is Xerospermum noronhianum (Sapindaceae) locally known as ‘rambutan pacat,/em>’, which accounts for 2.5% of the total number of plants. For trees above 30 cm dbh, the most abundant species is Shorea leprosula (meranti tembaga), a member of the Diptrerocarpaceae family. Being an isolated forest surrounded by oil palm estates and other land uses, forest gaps, formed by windthrow of a large tree or a group of trees, are a fairly common feature at Pasoh. Within these gaps, one can find many regenerating seedlings and saplings. Although Pasoh lacks charismatic animals such as tigers and elephants, it still harbours a good composition of small mammals, primates and birds Today Pasoh is not only the site of many research studies by both local scientists and scientists from abroad but is also an educational centre for school children, college and university students as well as the general public.

Suburban Kyoto

The total NPHK is currently (since 2020) about 12,000 ha, but the eLTER site corresponds to the former perimeter of the NPHK and represents an urbanised protected area of about 60km2 (or 6,000ha) located in the Province of Limburg in the East of Belgium. The NPHK (inaugurated in 2006 and extended from 6000ha to its current 12000ha in 2020), located in a former coal mining area is surrounded by 10 municipalities with more than 200,000 inhabitants, equivalent to a population density of 450/km2 . The park covers a rich variety of habitats, including heathlands, deciduous forest, coniferous forest and fens and evidently the corresponding diversity of fauna and flora. Several research groups from universities and institutes are monitoring and measuring abiotic and biotic parameters throughout the different ecosystems. Research on ecosystem services are also playing a major role, including tourism and mobility.