Basic concepts and research activities at Italian forest sites of the Long Term Ecological Research network

doi:10.3832/ifor0576-004

Basic concepts and research activities at Italian forest sites of the Long Term Ecological Research network

C Cocciufa⁽¹⁾ , P Cerretti⁽²⁾, G Matteucci^(3-4), GM Carpaneto⁽⁵⁾

iForest - Biogeosciences and Forestry, Volume 4, Issue 5, Pages 233-241 (2011)
doi: https://doi.org/10.3832/ifor0576-004
Published: Nov 04, 2011 - Copyright © 2011 SISEF

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Italy entered the International Long Term Ecological Research Network (ILTER) in 2006, contributing a group of research sites in marine, freshwater and terrestrial ecosystems to the global network. Five forest sites are included in the Italian Network. They are representative of the main forest ecosystems in Italy and integrate 15 research stations managed by different institutes. Starting from LTER rationale and basic concepts, the first part of the paper reviews the status of LTER Italy forest sites, the strengths resulting from multidisciplinary expertise and site management, current activities and available datasets. Long term data series on key environmental parameters show the high scientific value of these sites, where monitoring and/or research is still ongoing. But two main LTER issues are currently arising in the international context: (1) overall consistency of datasets; (2) harmonization of sampling methods. For this reason, the second part of the paper investigates the suitability of Italian forest sites to address recommended long term research topics and ecological issues of global concern and to investigate the shift from in-site monitoring to cross-site cooperation and inter-site research.

Keywords

Long term ecological research, Forest ecosystems, Research site, Datasets, Methodology, Biodiversity

Authors’ address

(1)

CFS, Monitoraggio Ambientale e CONECOFOR, v. G. Carducci 5, I-00186 Rome (Italy)

(2)

CFS-CNBF, Centro Nazionale per lo Studio e la Conservazione della Biodiversità Forestale Bosco della Fontana, v. C. Ederle 16/a, I-37100 Verona (Italy)

(3)

CNR, Istituto per i Sistemi Agricoli e Forestali del Mediterraneo (ISAFOM), Rende (CS -Italy)

(4)

Istituto di Biologia Agro-Ambientale e Forestale (IBAF), v. Salaria km 29.300, I-00015 Monterotondo Scalo (Roma - Italy)

(5)

Dipartimento di Biologia Ambientale, Università degli Studi Roma Tre, v.le G Marconi 446, I-00146 Roma (Italy)

Corresponding author

C Cocciufa
cristianacocciufa@gmail.com

Citation

Cocciufa C, Cerretti P, Matteucci G, Carpaneto GM (2011). Basic concepts and research activities at Italian forest sites of the Long Term Ecological Research network. iForest 4: 233-241. - doi: 10.3832/ifor0576-004

Academic Editor

Roberto Tognetti

Paper history

Received: Sep 27, 2010
Accepted: Apr 08, 2011

First online: Nov 04, 2011
Publication Date: Nov 03, 2011
Publication Time: 7.00 months

Open Access

This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.

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