Steffen Zacharias from UFZ, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, explains the process towards the eLTER's framework of standard observations.

Michael Mirtl, eLTER ESFRI coordinator, UFZ and EAA, gives a presentation on eLTER in a nutshell: Towards a distributed in-situ research infrastructure.

John Watkins, head of Environmental Informatics at the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, presents The new framework for developing the eLTER RI Service Portfolio during the eLTER Mars meeting (20-22.10.2021)

Michael Mirtl, eLTER ESFRI coordinator, speaks at the 2nd ESFRI Open Session (22.09.2021) as part of the 77th ESFRI Plenary Meeting.

Dr. Jan Dick, UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, UK provides a background on the need for standardised socio-ecological variable within the eLTER research infrastructure. She reports on the process followed to date and on initial testing involving 46 variables in six long term socio-ecological research (LTSER) platforms.  She concludes by outlining the future steps to finalise a set of standard socio-ecological observations that aim to describe the socio-ecological systems of Europe. 

Daniel Orenstein, socio-ecology theme lead at eLTER RI, Israel Institute of Technology, gives a presentation on how and why eLTER RI advances social ecological research.

Nikos Nikolaidis from the Technical University of Crete gives a presentation on soil aggregation and why eLTER measures it. 

Dr. Jennifer M. Holzer, Brock University, Canada, provides background on transdisciplinary science and how socio-ecological science is understood in the context of European LTSER. She reports on the results of a participatory program evaluation of European socio-ecological research completed in 2019, and how these results led to key recommendations that have shaped the current eLTER infrastructure. She concludes with the caveat that transdisciplinary science is not easy to do, but that it is a necessity of our time to address the urgent environmental and sustainability challenges of our day.

Will Bolton from UKCEH gives a presentation on what to do when third party data does not match the boundary of your site, aka How I learned to stop worrying and love the data cookie-cutter.

Sarah Venier from the Environment Agency Austria presents the eLTER PLUS call for data during the Sites and Platforms Forum (28-29.09.2021).

Susannah Rennie and John Watkins from the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology present the eLTER information management overview during the Sites and Platforms Forum (28-29.09.2021).

Mike Hollaway and Will Bolton from the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology present the eLTER data analytics during the Sites and Platforms Forum (28-29.09.2021).

Paul Bodesheim, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, presents the Automated, visual monitoring of biodiversity in the AMMOD-project during the eLTER Mars meeting (20-22.10.2021).

Mike Brown and Phil Trembath from the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, and Cristoph Wohner from the Environment Agency Austria present the Documentation of eLTER assets during the Sites and Platforms Forum (28-29.09.2021).

Ute Weber, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ), presents the Modular observation solutions for earth systems (MOSES) during the eLTER Mars meeting (20-22.10.2021)  

This video provides a light introduction to the functionality and philosophy behind the datalabs platform (https://datalab.datalabs.ceh.ac.uk/). It demonstrates how to register, log-in, interact with the interface, and utilize the data labs service.

Ulrike Obertegger (FEM-CRI, Italy) introduces the challenges of time series data and demonstrate different analysis methods through her R-script. This is not a technical course but a practical demonstration of what can be done to solve certain ecological questions. The presentation was recorded on 24th January 2022. Disclaimer: be aware that Ulrike Obertegger is not a statistician, and in specific cases ask the statistician of your trust for advice.

This follow-up workshop by Ulrike Obertegger (FEM-CRI, Italy) uses the article by Wauchope et al. 2021 "Evaluating Impact using time-series data" (Trend in Ecology & Evolution 36: 196-205) as a starting point and goes deeper into the specific analysis of time series data. 

The workshop covers change point analysis, linear modelling and interpretation of a three-way interaction. This free online workshop is aimed at students and researchers, independently of involvement in eLTER projects. It is easiest to follow if you are working with R (link is below). The workshop is a demonstration of ways of analyzing time series data, not a technical R-course. 

The site is located between two bio -geographical zones arid and hyper-arid, the research is carried out by both sides. The arid side is characterized by remains of terraces from the Nabatean agriculture runoff. The main research topics that being studied in the site are: biodiversity, climate change, runoff hydrology. The arid zone is a geo hydrological ecological system which is depended on a combination of rainfall and runoff that creates water enriched parches that support relatively high biodiversity. The hyper arid zone is runoff depended system the source of runoff are stipe, slope consist on bare bedrock, biological activities are constructed in the dry riverbeds that functions as sinks for the runoff generated from the slopes. 

The Station for Measuring Ecosystem-Atmosphere Relations is situated in the Hyytiälä Forestry Field Station of the University of Helsinki. The site consists of a managed, 60-yr old Scots pine forest stand, two open oligotrophic fen sites and a humic lake with forested catchment. The main idea of SMEAR type infrastructures is continuous, comprehensive measurements of fluxes, storages and concentrations in the land ecosystem–atmosphere continuum. The forest measurements are operated continuously since 1996, and include e.g. leaf, stand and ecosystem scale measurements of greenhouse gases, volatile organic compounds, pollutants (e.g. O3, SO2, NOx) and aerosols, in addition to full suite of meteorological measurements. The biogeochemical cycles and vegetation–soil–atmosphere interactions are studied both experimentally and with long-term observations. The site has full carbon, water and nitrogen budgets made over 10 years, and it is a full ICOS ecosystem and atmospheric station. 

Oulanka Research Station is part of the Thule Institute and is situated in Kuusamo as a regional unit of the University of Oulu. The area lies within the boreal coniferous forest-zone (Taiga), where Norway spruce and Scots pine prevail. In the Oulanka river valley there are, also many alluvial meadows, stream mouths and crags supporting luxurious plant communities. The bedrock is calcium-rich in places. Bogs and marshes as well as numerous springs, ponds and lakes, brooks and rivers characterize the landscapes. All these factors together create a diverse and exceptional rich environment with rich flora and fauna. 

The Negev Highlands LTSER platform is located in the southern desert of Israel. This area is home to desert wineries, military territory used to train officers in orienteering skills, traditional grazing of goats and sheep, and several tourism operators. Har Negev Reserve (HNR) is a part of the central Negev Highlands. Having an annual rainfall of 80-100 mm; about 200 nights of dew and mean annual temperature 170-190C. HNR is characterized by high degree of geo-diversity induced by geological and geomorphological long term processes. Vegetation is mostly in a diffused spot pattern on the slopes and at higher cover in riverbeds. HNR cover an area of about 1700 km2 that is colonized by 500 documented species of plants and an additional of 150 undocumented species are estimated to live in the area.

The Zöbelboden was established in 1992 as the only Integrated Monitoring station in Austria under the UN Convention on long-range transboundary air pollution (CLRTAP). In 2006 it became part of LTER Austria. The Zöbelboden covers a small forested catchment (90 ha) of a karstic mountain range (500 to 950 m above sea level) in the Kalkalpen National Park. Monitoring and research is focussing on climate change effects on forest ecosystems, the forest carbon and nitrogen cycle, biodiversity, and air pollution effects on forested catchments. The Zöbelboden represents one of the best known karst catchments in Europe with long-term data series of the major components of its ecosystems. The site is part of many national and international monitoring and research networks (ICP Integrated Monitoring, EMEP, LTER, forestREplot, SoilTemp, LifePlan, IG-L, EU NEC-D, etc.). The Zöbelboden is managed by the Environment Agency Austria with technical support of the Kalkalpen National Park and the Austrian Federal Forests.