The study site, located in southwest of Toulouse (France) is a typical agricultural landscape (agricultural mosaic + forest remnants) with mixed production systems. This region is considered as an “intermediate zone”, without any particular conservation value, any agricultural potential, and any social challenge. The total study site area is around 15 000 hectares. Agriculture remains the predominant activity, but it is encountering difficulties in marginal areas that do not have particularly high agricultural potential.

PPBio provides a sound basis for standardised biodiversity assessment and monitoring.  IT allows the integration of research activities for a wide range of taxa and provides a database that is accessible to managers and stakeholders.  PPBio methodology can be integrated into wetland, marine, aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems with grids established in Brazil, Australia and Nepal, and proposed in Malaysia.

Further information can be obtained from Jean-Marc Hero, m.hero@griffith.edu.au and www.griffith.edu.au/centre/cics/ppbio

The Warra Long-Term Ecological Research site in southern Tasmania was created to reflect the commitment of eight site partners to understanding the ecology of wet eucalypt forests as a necessary part of their management. The 15,900-ha site is adjacent to a major tourist facility (the Tahune airwalk) and contains both State Forest, managed for multiple use including timber production, and relatively inaccessible World Heritage Area.

Malawi is a land of farmers and facing rampant environmental problems whose capability for restoration is made dimmer by the looming shadow of climate change and variability. The Malawi Environmental Observatory Network is a small candle flickering with light for identification of prioritized environmental problems and setting of the road map of how such monumental problems could efficiently be tackled with the available meager resources.

Japan Long Term Ecological Research (JaLTER) Network was established in 2006, currently consisting of 18 core sites and 38 associated sites that represent forest, grassland, lake, and marine ecosystems.
JaLTER is an official member of International LTER (ILTER) Network since 2007.

The outcomes of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (2004), Global Environmental Outlook (2007) and reports of EEA (2007, 2005) on the state of European environment clearly showed that the future of nature management depends on changing the way individuals think about the environment and its impact on human well-being, decision makers consider and treat environmental values, scientists communicate their findings, and financial resources are mobilized and allocated to solve environmental problems.

Cities are specific environments for testing paradigms related to water, biodiversity and resource management. Permanent interaction of a number of factors: anthropogenic, natural, social and economic, imposing pressures on environment and raising quality expectations, makes development and effective implementation of new theories and foundings a real challenge. Another challenge is general lack of paradigm linking water management and biodiversity management in urban areas.

LTER-Europe is a network of national networks established in 2007 through a merger of existing smaller regional and new national LTER networks in Europe. It represents the European contribution to the global International Long Term Ecological Research (ILTER); 16 of the 44 ILTER members belong to LTER-Europe.

The experimental research in Salatín (Western Tatra Mts., Slovakia) address the impact of nitrogen (N) deposition on ecosystem of alpine grasslands. The site was exposed during last 50 years to high acid deposition with maximum rates of wet deposition at least 15–20 kg N ha-1 yr-1 and 20–25 kg S ha-1 yr-1. The experiment consists of 5 replicated treatments: 20, 60, and 150 Kg N ha-1 yr-1, 50 Kg P ha-1 yr-1 and the control, 25 plots in total.

The International Long-Term Ecosystem Research network (ILTER) includes national networks of scientists and their stakeholders engaged in long-term, site-based ecological, social and economic research. The LTER-Italy network, established in 2006, joined ILTER in 2007. The “Apennines (high elevation)” site joined LTER-Italy in 2007. It consists of “orographic islands” of alpine tundra along the Apennines chain, where many endemic and rare taxa occur that are critically endangered by climate warming.