Soil type classification of the Gesäuse-Johnsbachtal site.

The main object of the project was to quantify the basic parameters of ecosystem water balance of agricultural areas managed with varying intensity starting at the valley bottom and going up to the alpine zone in the Stubai Valley (Tirol)to analyse the influence of land use and possible climate changes on the water balance of alpine grassland ecosystems. The dataset provides data values about evapotranspiration and related paramters of microclimate, soil water balance and plant physiology. In addition soil characterization and physical soil analysis were performed. The dataset also contains a shapefile representing the sampling points within the LTER Research Site Stubai Valley.

The Experimental Research Station in Bad Lauchstädt allows scale-dependent experimental investigations of different ecological systems in climatic chambers, heated and unheated greenhouses as well as in field sites on an area of 40 ha. The experiments contribute to a better understanding of the complex relationships in the soil-plant-atmosphere system. In particular, factors arising from the changes in land use, climate and species pool system are investigated. Thus, the experimental station Bad Lauchstädt is the experimental basis for numerous departments of the UFZ.

Since the mid-1990s a series of subalpine grassland sites have been established at the Kaserstattalm, Stubai Valley. They include hay meadows, pastures and abandoned grassland which have partley been reforested. The overarching aim of all studies is to assess effects of global changes on ecological processes and related functional relationships in mountain grasslands. Therefor basic shapefiles and maps were created. This dataset includes only shapefiles representing: historical land use map,soil maps (soil type, soil depth, and organic soil layer ) and vegetation cover.

LTER Zöbelboden Station Data includes habitat type, parent material, topographical variables, physical and hydrological soil properties, epiphytic lichen host trees, etc. The STATION codes refer to https://deims.org/dataset/956b3718-53fe-4e00-9455-c4132b1195c7; See also the methods section for detail

The ENGAGE working group (Geomorphological Systems and Risk Research at the Institute for Geography and Regional Research) has been running a long-term monitoring project to investigate landslides in Lower Austria. Landslides (translational and rotational failures, debris flows, rock avalanches, rock falls, etc.) number among the most abundant natural hazards in Lower Austria. Resulting from sporadic phases of activity it is essential to generate specific long-term measurement series, enabling the analysis of changes in surface movements as well as underground in connection with triggering factors. Therefore, in 2014 the project “NoeSLIDE – Monitoring diverse types of landslides in Lower Austria” was initiated. The research sites are compiled under the parent site "LTER NoeSLIDE" which has three subsites, of which one is the Salcher Landslide Observatory. The Salcher landslide is located in the municipality of Gresten, Scheibbs district, Province of Lower Austria. It is located on an unwooded hillside area that slopes from west to east (at around 435 to 470 m above sea level / slope between 5 ° and max. 20 °) and is enclosed on three sides by anthropogenic features (streets / houses). The processes at the Salcher landslide are to be classified as rotational landslide, with more than one sliding surface being assumed. The currently active area is ~ 4,000 m², the area to be potentially activated is ~ 20,000 m². In addition to traditional methods such as the installation of a weather station, piezometers, inclinometers, TDR (time-domain reflectometry) probes, GNSS (global navigation satellite system), Tachymeters, methods such as continuous terrestrial laser scanning, UAV applications and permanent geoelectric are used.

Hohe Tauern NP was established more than 40 years ago as one of the biggest protected areas in Central Europe to protect at long-term wide areas of the Austrian main-ridge of the Alps. The 1.856 square kilometre Hohe Tauern National Park is split into a 1.213 square kilometre core zone and a 643 square kilometre buffer zone and stretches over three provinces. Until the first and largest national park in Austria was actually created, the three provinces of Carinthia, Salzburg and Tyrol had to establish the corresponding legal framework. The Provincial Parliament of Carinthia passed the legislation to create the Hohe Tauern National Park in 1981. Salzburg followed with its national park legislation in 1984, followed by Tyrol in 1992. In this 40 years Hohe Tauern NP established the Nationalpark idea in its region working together with all stakeholders (land owners, tourism, majors, hunting organisations, governmental departments…). The International Union for the Conservation of Nature IUCN awarded Carinthia in 2001 and Salzburg and Tyrol in 2006 with the international recognition of a national park with its "Category II" listing. The distinction that the national park has with a core zone, where nature can develop without human influence and a buffer zone, where traditional cultivation could be continued was key for gaining this international recognition. Contractual agreements between landowners, hunters and the national park paved the way and were pioneering for many protected areas. Hohe Tauern NP contains 3 main zones: - core zone (km²): 1.078 - buffer zone (km²): 643 - special protected areas (km²): 135 About 845 km² of the area is nature zone, which remains untouched by humans (no land use based on IUCN criteria, i.e. no hunting, no grazing). The altitudinal belts from the valleys to the summits of the three-thousand-metre-tall mountains represent an exceptional biodiversity. This is home to many plants and wildlife species originating from the Central Asian tundra, the Arctic and even Southern Europe. The preservation of all significant Alpine ecosystems across large areas of the Hohe Tauern National Park has been unimpaired. More than one third of all plant species recorded in Austria can be found in the national park. For mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians, this figure is at around 50%. Even those animals that were nearly extinct in almost all of Europe at the beginning of the 19th century are now provided a safe habitat in the Hohe Tauern National Park. This impressive biodiversity is a result of the different prevailing climatic, geological, geomorphological and hydrological conditions in the high mountains and the differing adaptation strategies of the plants and animals. The Tauern Window – a unique tectonic window in terms of shape and size – provides insight into the deepest tectonic layer of the Alps and is thus key for understanding the geological structure of the Alps. Rocks of differing ages, different origins and different chemical composition harbour a genuine hoard of up to 200 different minerals. Nature protection (ecosystems/Natura2000 habitats) and species conservation projects play a big role in the work and history of Hohe Tauern NP (e.g. bearded vulture, ibex, golden eagle, …). The NP and its work do not stop at the protected areas borders and for a lot of species it is important that the whole region is aware of its impacts on biodiversity. According to the altitude gradation of the Hohe Tauern National Park "high mountain habitat types" are typical. Based on the aerial photo interpretation of the National Park montane to alpine grassland and pastures dominate with a third. This also reflects the zoning with the outer zone in the sense of an Alpine cultural landscape zone with alpine pastures – and the transition to the high alpine core zone. The core zone is formed by the "eternal ice" of the glaciers around the highest mountains of Austria as well as scree slopes with and without pioneer vegetation dominate. CORINE Land Cover L3 (2018): 35 % bare rocks, 24 % natural grasslands, 20 % sparsely vegetated areas, 9 % coniferous forest, 7 % glaciers and perpetual snow, 2 % moors and heathland, 1 % pastures.

The Gesäuse Nationalpark and the Johnsbach valley belong to the Ennstal Alps, a part of the Northern Limestone Alps. They are situated in the province of Styria in the center of Austria. Together, they form the joint test site named Gesäuse-Johnsbachtal. This region is characterized by a mountainous landscape which is cut by the river “Enns”. In the north, it borders Eisenwurzen Nature Park and is only 6 km away from the Kalkalpen, a National Park in Upper Austria. In the south, the borders are the Eisenerzer Alps. The total area of the site is about 155 km². The terrain shows a great elevation range from 600-700 m in the Johnsbach valley to over 2300 m in the summit region of the Gesäuse, with Hochtor (2369 m) being the highest mountain. Due to the great range of altitude differences within small areas the Gesäuse-Johnsbachtal shows extremely diverse habitats and, consequently, species of animals and plants. In general, the landscape is dominated by mountain forests along with high Alpine rock formations and meadows. These complex topographic, hydrological, geological, geomorphological and meteorological conditions pose a scientific challenge for all kinds of environmental monitoring and modeling.

The site includes a large mountainous area in the Central Apennines, almost in the centre of the Italian peninsula and about 70 km west of Rome. It represents an “orographic island” in the Central Mediterranean basin, along the Apennines mountain range. Since 1993, the vegetation has been surveyed at six permanent high elevation plots (Mount Sevice research station, Mount Velino, 2125-2225 m a.s.l.) and (since 2005) at an additional 55 plots along two elevation transects (SW slope of Mount Velino and Mount Morrone), including primary and secondary grasslands, beech forests and alpine tundra. Since 2014, micro-climate data (GLORIA method) have been continuously recorded at the high elevation plots. Vegetation is surveyed yearly in the 6 high elevation plots (each 100 m2 in size) grouped in two cluster-plots (each of 3 plots). Structure and composition changes are studied in two ecologically opposite primary plant communities, both above the timberline: snow-bed grassland and alpine tundra, both characterized by extreme below zero temperatures all year round and frozen soil for 8 months per year, but with very different snow cover duration. Based on the first 30 years of observation, a clear trend toward a decrease of snow dependant species and a parallel increase in drought- and stress-tolerant species has been recognized, linked to a general process of climate change, more accelerated in Southern Europe.

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.