grain and grass dominated catchment located in the south-eastern part of Norway, monitored by The Norwegian Agricultural Environmental Monitoring Programme (JOVA)

The site of the Boknis Eck Time Series (BE) is located at the entrance of the Eckernförde Bay (54°31.2' N, 10°02.5' E) in the southwestern Baltic Sea. It has a water depth of 28 m with muddy sediments. Riverine inputs into the Eckernförde Bay are negligible and thus the overall hydrographic setting at BE is dominated by the regular inflow of North Sea water through the Kattegat and the Great Belt. Seasonal stratification occurs usually from mid-March until mid-September and causes pronounced hypoxia which sporadically become anoxic.

Runoff and runoff chemistry at LTER Zöbelboden, Austria

To support the marine biodiversity and ecosystem dynamics research community in Belgium, the Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ) has set up a local marine biodiversity observatory.

Paired experimental watersheds in sub-humid tropical climate, plus nested watersheds, located in South India in the Kabini watershed. The experimental watersheds are: (1) Mule Hole (semi-deciduous dry forest), monitored since 2003, 4.3 km2; (2) Maddur (cultivated), monitored since 2005, 7.1 km2; (3) Berambadi (higher order of/including Maddur watershed), monitored since 2010, 80km2; for evaluating the influence of agriculture on water and biogeochemical cycle in sub-humid tropics, and the effect of the monsoon variability on these cycles

The site consists of a marine databuoy equipped with a suite of sensors that monitor water quality parameters and acoustic receivers for the detection of Porpoises and tagged fish. The buoy is moored near an offshore windmill farm, approx. 30km off the coast on the Belgian Continental Shelf.

S’Ena Arrubia Lagoon is located along the central western coast of Sardinia (39.83° N, 8.57° E); it is 1.2 km2 in area and has a mean depth of 40 cm. Freshwater input is supplied from the watershed by two rivers: Rio Sant’Anna (also called Diversivo), which drains an area of 78.4 km2 and showed no runoff from April 2001 to March 2002; and the Canale delle Acque Basse (also called Idrovora), which drains 50 km2 mostly originating from the drying up of a pond over 3000 ha wide and dedicated mainly to farming and cattle-breeding. This channel is below sea level and water is pumped from it into the lagoon. A large part of the catchment area is used for intensive arable farming and cattle breeding, and as a result, the freshwater in the Idrovora canal is very rich in nutrients. The water in the lagoon is exchanged with sea water by means of a sea-mouth canal built in the 1970s (length = 230m, width = 25m, depth = 1.3m). Engineering works were carried out in 2000 to widen the sea mouth of the lagoon in order to improve tidal flushing and thus reduce its high trophic levels and improve its hydrodynamics. The dimensions of the new inlet vary in different places. It is 30 m wide and 0.70 m deep near the lagoon, 60 m wide and 2 m deep in the central part and 32 m wide and 1.30 m deep at the sea mouth. Climate is Mediterranean with long hot summer and short mild rainy winter, generally precipitation and consequent water inflows are low, the year average is 650 mm. S’Ena Arrubia Lagoon is very eutrophic because of the intense arable and stock-rearing activities in its watershed and dystrophic crises and fish kills occur occasionally. Anoxia and dystrophic crises were observed as early as the 1960s. The principal human activities in this wetland are fishing, outdoor recreation, education and scientific research. From 1990, a long-term series of data is available and derives from high-frequency measurements and samplings to assess environmental and biological parameters. In particular the data concern the main trophic descriptors (Secchi depth, temperature, pH, conductivity, dissolved oxygen and saturation, alkalinity, NH4-N, NO2-N, NO3-N, total nitrogen, soluble reactive phosphorus, total phosphorus, dissolved silica) and phytoplankton abundances, as chlorophyll a, cell densities and biomass, class and species composition. The collection of data was interrupted in 2003.

grain dominated catchment located in the south-eastern part of Norway, monitored by The Norwegian Agricultural Environmental Monitoring Programme

The Bohemian Forest in Central Europe is among the most acidified lake districts in the world. Deposition of sulphur and nitrogen compounds in the area rapidly increased between 1950 and 1980, and reached a maximum in mid the 1980s. Owing to long-term occasional hydrobiological research and palaeolimnological studies, we are able to document the significant changes in the lake water chemistry and biodiversity (in particular the conspicuous reduction in crustacean and/or insect species in some lakes, as well as the extinction of fish). During the 1990s, acidic deposition decreased substantially, and its current levels are comparable to the early 20th century for SO42– and NH4+, and to the mid 1960s for NO3–. The decline in acidic deposition has resulted in a partial recovery of the Bohemian Forest lakes, as well as in an improvement of the Norway spruce physiology in their catchments. Therefore, the Bohemian Forest lakes represent excellent LTER sites. Available historical data (biota since 1871) and regular monitoring (biota and chemistry since 1984) provide a valuable background for long-term ecological research of the catchment–lake ecosystems that currently focuses on (i) chemical reversal and biological recovery of the lakes, (ii) acidification effects on in-lake nutrient cycling, (iii) climatic effects on water chemistry, and (iv) catchment processes, including soil biogeochemistry and acidification impacts on vegetation (mountain spruce forests). Two of the lakes, the most acidified Čertovo Lake and the mesotrophic (phosphorus rich) Plešné Lake, have been selected for detail mass-budget studies since 1998. Hydrology, water and precipitation chemistry, soil and sediment biochemistry, litter composition, and climatic variables have been regularly monitored with the aim to evaluate cycling of nutrients (C, N, P, Si) and ecologically important metals (Al, Fe) within the catchment–lake ecosystems.

UK ECN site. The River Lathkill is located in the Peak District National Park and is designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). The site is part of a the Peak District Dales SAC under the Habitats Directive. It is the only river in Britain which rises in, as well as flows through limestone for its entire length. The upper parts are a winterbourne, and in summer the stream issues from bubble springs lower down the valley. Downstream there are alternately moderately flowing gravelly sections and silted pools, some formed by natural tufa dams, others artificially. In the pools there are abundant submerged plants including species of Veronica, Ranunculus, Potamogeton and Callitriche, while faster sections are carpeted with bryophytes, some of which are nationally rare (eg. Cratoneuron commutatum). There are no direct discharges to the river. There are two licensed abstractions for fish rearing purposes and there are concerns over low flows which may affect water quality and the biota.