Modeled with Mohid

Coastal sand dune

Desert grassland, shrubland, woodland, forest and riparian habitats in central New Mexico, USA

Tönnersjöheden and Skarhult experimental forests are situated in the nemoral/nemo-boreal zone closed to the Atlantic sea in South Sweden. Tönnersjöheden (1143 ha) was established as an experimental forest in 1923 with the original aim of studying ecosystems in transition from low productive broad-leaved forests and open Calluna heath-lands to conifer dominated forests. Skarhult (180 ha) was opened as an experimental forest in 1989 with a main focus on management and ecology of broad-leaved forest stands. Forests at Tönnersjöheden are dominated by old growth broad-leaved stands with long continuity, first and second rotations of planted coniferous stands and a number of planted stands with exotic tree species. Forests at Skarhult are dominated by naturally regenerated and planted pure and mixed broad-leaved forest stands of European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.), common oak (Quercus robur L.) and ash (Fraxinus excelsior L.). Research and monitoring activities cover a broad range of basic and applied subjects in the field of forest and forest related environmental sciences. The experimental forests are well-documented and well-described concerning history, climate, soils, vegetation and forest stands.

Las Tablas de Daimiel National Park (TDNP) is a floodplain wetland located at Central Spain in the core of La Mancha Húmeda Biosphere Reserve. Until the 1970s, wetland inundation was due to natural flooding of both the Gigüela and the Guadiana Rivers, and to the aquifer discharge (Llanura Manchega Occidental aquifer) as the groundwater table was close to the surface. Historically, the wetland´s inundation was also promoted by small water-mill dams which helped to increase the water-level. TDNP is the typical example of wetland degradation in the Mediterranean Europe, including dessication, agriculture conversion, groundwater overexplotitation and water quality impairing. Most importantly, aquifer overexploitation resulting from excessive agricultural irrigation strongly changed the ecosystem hydrology from a semi-permanent wetland to a highly fluctuating ecosystem with long periods (several years) of almost complete dryness. From the 1870s until the 1950s, the area was a private hunting park. It then became a National Hunting Reserve and later, in 1973, a National Park. It was included in the Ramsar convention in 1982. Its main environmental values are the large waterfowl populations, the European cut-sedge and the reed, and the plasticity of the ecosystem to absorb different threats.

Shennongjia Station is located in Xingshan County, Hubei Province, China. It is located in the southern slope of Mount Shennongjia. The altitude is 1290m above sea level. The typical forest types are the northern subtropical mixed evergreen and deciduous broadleaved forest. Shennongjia Station was established in 1994, it became a station of National Field Research Station network running by the Ministry of Science and Technology of the People’s Republic of China in 2005, and became a member of Chinese Ecosystem Research Network (CERN), CAS in 2008.

UK Environmental Change Network (ECN) site. The Cairngorms site is located high in the Cairngorms, near Aviemore in Speyside, Scotland. The site lies on the North-Western flank of the Cairngorms encompassing the catchment of the Allt a' Mharcaidh (a site in the ECN freshwater network). It is part of the Invereshie and Inshriach National Nature Reserve, within the Cairngorms National Park, and covers some 10 km2. This is the first ECN site in the UK's sub-arctic zone and is an important link not only to other upland ECN sites but to alpine site in Europe and globally through the GLORIA network, and also to networks across the Arctic (SCANNET and INTERACT). The Cairngorms site has been used intensively for research since the 1970s. An Automatic Weather Station (AWS) has been operating at the site since 1984 and was used in the Surface Water Acidification Programme from 1984 to 1994. CEH and MI have used the site for long-term hydrological and snow studies for about 15 years. From 1997-1999 it was one of the ECOMONT (land use change in mountain areas of Europe) sites. Researchers at several universities and institutes use the site for vegetation, soils and nutrient cycling studies. The site forms part of the larger Feshie catchment in the NICHE programme (National Infrastructure for Catchment Hydrology Experiments). This site is nested within the Cairngorms National Park LTSER site (https://deims.org/1b94503d-285c-4028-a3db-bc78e31dea07).

The Balaton LTSER Platform is dedicated to the study of the largest shallow lake in Eastern Europe, situated in the mid-western part of Hungary. The site, which is a popular holiday resort, consists of the lake and its watershed. Lake Balaton went through considerable changes in trophic state during the past decades. After a period of anthropogenic eutrophication from the late 1960s until the mid '90s, restoration measures aimed at reducing the nutrient load reaching the lake led to gradual reoligotrophication. The Balaton Limnological Institute of the MTA Centre for Ecological Research, situated on the Tihany peninsula, had an important role in improving the water quality and the ecological status of the lake by providing sound scientific knowledge for the decision-makers and the general public.

The Balaton LTSER Platform is dedicated to the study of the largest shallow lake in Eastern Europe, situated in the mid-western part of Hungary. The site, which is a popular holiday resort, consists of the lake and its watershed. Lake Balaton went through considerable changes in trophic state during the past decades. After a period of anthropogenic eutrophication from the late 1960s until the mid '90s, restoration measures aimed at reducing the nutrient load reaching the lake led to gradual reoligotrophication. The Balaton Limnological Research Institute, situated on the Tihany peninsula, had an important role in improving the water quality and the ecological status of the lake by providing sound scientific knowledge for the decision-makers and the general public.

The tidal flats between Den Helder in the Netherlands and Esbjerg in Denmark are the largest continuous tidal flats in the world and one of the last areas in Europe where nature can still develop to a great extent without human influence. So that this can continue, the German coastal states declared it as National Parks: in 1985 the Schleswig- Holstein Wadden Sea, in 1986 Lower Saxony Wadden Sea and in 1990 the Hamburg Wadden Sea. The Wadden Sea in Schleswig-Holstein, Niedersachsen and the Netherlands was placed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2009.