Nature Conservation 5/2008 — 21. 10. 2008 — International Nature Conservation
Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER)
Ecosystem research needs long-term data for studying life cycles, e.g., of forest trees or many vertebrates...
Ecosystem research needs long-term data for studying life cycles, e.g., of forest trees or many vertebrates, as well as for detecting environmental changes than cannot be sustainably funded by tree- to five-year grants.
The LTER concept represents a unique worldwide network of long-term, site-based ecological and socioeconomic research (known as LTSER). The LTER idea emerged in the U.S. more than 20 years ago and has been expanded globally since the 1990s. Recently, the International LTER Network (ILTER) has become a global network of research sites located in a wide array of ecosystems worldwide that can help understand environmental change across the globe. The ILTER currently has got 40 national members (networks). ALTERnet, an EC Network of Excellence, has recently contributed to a durable regional integration by sharing LTER site criteria and data management, establishing LTSER platforms, etc. The Czech LTER Network was declared already in 1996; however, its recent consolidation is of absolute necessity due to both administrative reasons and so far lack of national funding. Czech LTER sites are all six UNESCO Biosphere Reserves (BR) in the country (i.e. Bílé Karpaty, Dolní Morava, Křivoklátsko, Krkonoše, Šumava, and Třeboňsko) and one aquatic site (reservoirs in the Vltava River catchment).