In the NGA study area, the biological community is highly productive. The lower levels of the food chain (phytoplankton and zooplankton) support the iconic fish, crabs, seabirds, and marine mammals of Alaska. Large increases in phytoplankton during the spring and sustained production during the summer support zooplankton that transfer energy up the food chain. Substantial amounts of this organic matter also sink to feed animals on the sea bottom.

Large marine site located in the Kvarnerić area, around the sheltered coast and waters of the eastern part of the Lošinj and Cres archipelago. It is one of the most important feeding and breeding areas for bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) in the Eastern Adriatic. Lithostratigraphic units represented on the coast are dolomites and post sedimentary diagenetic breccia (upper albian, lower cenomanian - K16, K12), rudist limestones (cenomanianmaastricht - K21-6). Soils on the coast are rockyground, anthropogenic soil on karst. The area was created after the transgression of the sea after the last glaciation; marine shelf; highly indented coastline. In July 2006 of preventive protection of a part of the Kvarnerić region for 3 years as a Special Marine Reserve (Cres-Lošinj Special Marine Reserve – CLSMR has been declared.

The site is equipped with two fixed stations: a meteo-oceanographic buoy (E1 buoy) and an elastic beacon equipped with meteo-oceanographic sensors (S1-GB beacon). The fixed stations were deployed in the framework of a multidisciplinary research project that uses automated stations to study the marine environment, in cooperation between the Insitute of Marine Science (ISMAR) in Bologna (CNR) and other public and governmental Research Institutes. The S1 buoy was installed in 2004 at the Po river Delta and recently (2015) implemented being now an elastic beacon. The E1 buoy is off the coast of Rimini town measuring in near real-time meteo and physico-chemical oceanographic parameters at different depths in the water column. It records every 5-10-15-30 minutes atmospheric pressure, air temperature, relative humidity, wind speed , wind gust, wind direction, net solar radiation, water temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen, fluorescence, turbidity, speed and direction of the currents, height, direction and period of the wawes . The data are transmitted via GSM and downloaded (on average every 2-4 hours) at the Data Center of the Institute of ISMAR in Bologna. Data are daily validated and analysed, in order to be used for different studies.

The National Institute of Oceanography (IOLR) is located in Haifa (Tel Shikmona) on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea. The institute engages in research and development in marine sciences and provides information and professional advice to the government and the public sector in the context of the sustainable utilization and conservation of Israel’s marine and coastal resources. The oceanographic studies at the institute are engaged in research, monitoring, and collecting environmental data in the Mediterranean Sea, and in studying natural and unnatural processes. The research topics at the institute include subjects such as; flow and mixing processes; oceanographic models; material cycles; sediment transportation and geological processes; the structure of the seabed; physiology, immunology, and ecology of marine organisms and the populations’ dynamics; the biological diversity in offshore waters and deep seas; effects of human activity on the open sea and coastal environment. IOLR operates advanced instruments and national infrastructures for marine research and monitoring, such as; the national research vessel “Bat Galim”, small ships, and autonomous underwater gliders. A variety of mapping, sampling, data collection, and independent systems are placed at sea for continuous monitoring of environmental variables. In addition, ecological monitoring (community structure, biological diversity, etc.) is carried out in several habitats at a monthly to yearly frequency as follows: • Seasonal ecological monitoring of the Benthos community of the vegetation tables in four sites from north to south since 2009 (also includes a monthly sampling of the water - chlorophyll, nutrients, alkalinity, DIC, temp., pH). • Seasonal ecological monitoring of the benthos community (fish, and biotic cover) of the shallow reefs in the Shekmona/Rash Carmel area. • Annual ecological monitoring of the mesophotic reefs (90-100 meters) at the top of Carmel and the shallow reef. • Monthly zooplankton monitoring at the Hadera station • Monitoring the fish society and the invertebrate community in sandy bottoms • Deep sea monitoring IOLR operates the National Marine Information Center - ISRAMAR, which collects, records, and distributes data and information regarding Israel’s marine environment.

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 Neusiedler See - Seewinkel National Park is the first cross-border National Park in Austria and the first Austrian National Park recognised by the IUCN. It covers in total about 90km² on Austrian territory. About 50% of the area (about 4500 ha) is a Nature Reserve Zone, which remains untouched by humans. This zone is dominated by the southernmost Austrian part of the reed belt from Lake Neusiedl. The Conservation Zones are mainly cultural landscapes and require landscape conservation measures and habitat management like pasturing, mowing, cutting reed or water retention. These measures are taken to preserve the cultural landscape and its biodiversity that has developed over centuries. Important habitats like 160 km² of reed belt and around 40 periodically dry soda lakes, as well as sand habitats, dry and wet meadows can be found closely associated with vineyards, cropland, touristic infrastructure and rural settlements. Long-term monitoring programs regarding bird populations, fish ecology or the grazing management enable the cross-border National Park Neusiedler See - Seewinkel to provide biological data from flora and fauna. Furthermore, all soda lakes are monitored frequently regarding salinity, oxygen, temperature, color etc. and biological parameters such as species diversity and quantity of macrozoobenthos. Due to the mosaique of protected and non-protected areas, the boundaries of the National Park area are difficult to define on the shown map.

Lake Stechlin is a a deep clear-water lake located in a nature reserve approximately 80 km north of Berlin, Germany (53°10°N, 13°02° E), at 59 m elevation.The lake basin was formed during the last continental glaciation some 12,000 years ago and today is situated at the transition between temperate/maritime and temperate-continental climates.The drainage basin is almost completely covered by forest (95%), with the exception of the area of a former nuclear power plant and a small village, which diverts its wastewater into a different drainage basin. The shoreline of Lake Stechlin is largely undeveloped with no notable infrastructure. The seepage lake is essentially fed by precipitation and groundwater, resulting in a theoretical water retention time of greater than 40 years.

The Transetto Senigallia-Susak is a transect of sampling stations located in the Northern Adriatic Sea. The IRBIM-CNR in Ancona and the Politechnical University of Marche collects from the end of years 80s physical, chemical and biological data. This is an excellent observing site to analyze the characteristics of water masses entering and leaving the North Adriatic Sea and their possible modification. In the site is also located the TeleSenigallia pylon.

The Gulf of Venice is a gulf that borders modern-day Italy, Slovenia and Croatia, and is at the north of the Adriatic Sea between the delta of the Po river in northern Italy and the Istria peninsula in Croatia. The site is under a heavy antropic impact (nutrient loads, coastal towns, fishery, tourism maritime routes). In the past eutrophic events struck the ecosystem and, more recently, frequent mucus macro-aggregates extended in the whole basin. Study of long term historical time series of the biotic community in the Gulf of Venice in relation with the biogeochemical cycles and physical properties of sea-water have been conducted since the '70s.

Lake Bohinj is of tectonic-glacial origin and was transformed by the Bohinj glacier. Its surface area is 3.28 km 2 , its volumeWeather conditions and chlorophyll concentrations determine long-term macrophyte community dynamics of Lake...92.5 × 10 6 m 3 and its maximum depth 45 m. It is located at an altitude of 525 m a.s.l. and issurrounded by mountains that are up to 2000 m high. Lake Bohinj is conditioned by the main inflow from River Savica and by several karst springs from the base of Mount Komarča and has a single outflow, River Sava Bohinjka. The residence time of the water in Lake Bohinj is about 4 months, which means that the total volume of the water in Lake Bohinj changes three times a year. The surrounding watershed comprises around 94.3 km2 and is mostly uninhabited, with a large portion extending above the tree line; therefore, the input of nutrients into Lake Bohinj is moderate. This watershed receives about 3300 mm of rainfall a year. Long-term temper-atures show a tendency to a rise. In winter, usually in January, the surface water cools and the lake can be frozen over. From 1961 to 1990, Lake Bohinj was frozen over for a mean of > 50 days/year, while in the decade from 1991 to 2000, the mean number of days with ice cover was reduced to 31 days/year. Since 1990, the lake did not freeze completely in individual years. The majority of the lake catchment area consists of carbon-ate rock, and therefore, the main lake sediment fraction is carbonate, while quartz and feldspar represent a minor part.