LTER Portugal Network - FAPESP · 2010. 11. 24. · 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200 < 0.1 million 0.1-1 million 1-10 million >10 million Economic density in Euro / km2 ites ‘natural’

ILTER Conference (Slovakia, August 2008)

LTER Portugal Network:implementation strategy and future perspectives

Sociedade Portuguesa de Ecologia

Portugal

International Workshop on Long Term Studies on Biodiversity (São Paulo – Brasil)


OUTLINE

• Brief history of LTER-Portugal Initiative

• Strategy for site selection

• Selected sites

• Current challenges and next steps

Portugal



Mission

• Create a plataform for interaction

between ecologists and to

encourage interdisciplinary research

Founded in December 1995


Portuguese Ecological Society


Objectives


• Promote ecological knowledge

• Incorporate ecological principles in the

development, use and conservation of

natural resources and implement solutions

to environmental problems

• Enforce citizens awareness regarding

ecology and contribute to a more

participative society


Millenium Ecosystem Assessment (2005)

THE NEED

Biodiversity Crisis

LTER-Portugal Initiative



Global changeIntergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (2002)


THE NEED



THEINTEREST

Biodiversity hotspots




THE COMMITTEMENT



ILTER Conference (Slovakia, August 2008)International Workshop on Long Term Studies on Biodiversity (São Paulo – Brasil)

Metzger e tal., 2005. Global Ecology and Biogeography, 14:549-563

THEOPPORTUNITY


Objectives

Partition environmental and socio-economic variation to produce relatively homogenous strata

used to

• explore European coverage sites

– identify underrepresented regions

• help comparison between sites

– similarities and differences drivers, impacts etc.



Socio-ecological stratification

• Minimum personal judgment

• Balance between complexity and

functionality

Socio-economy

Environm

ent

classes in a two-dimensional matrix based on primary gradients



Environmental Zones of Europe

Metzger et al. 2005 GEB 14:549-563Jongman et al. 2006 LE 21: 409-419

Alpine North

Atlantic North

Atlantic Central

Med. South

Non-agriculture

Permanent crops

Grassland & meadows

Arable

climate species land use env. pressures …



Socio-economic zones

• Screening socio-economic variables:

– GDP

– population density

– accessibility

Principal Component Plot

PCL296N3

ALL296N3

UFL296N3

ArSg96N3

ArSc96N3

ArSu96N3

PopC9

500N3PopC9095N3

PopC9000N3

smwh04

TMRRP297N3TMRaP297N3

TMRoP297N3AcME01N3

AcRoE01N3AcRaE01N3

AcAiE01N3

DPC99N3

CM01N3LRo01N3

GDPeh02N3GDPph02N3

PopdensN302

AvgfPopN303

AvgmPopN303

AvgPopN303

BOR03N3

COA03N3

URTypN3

Settyp99N3

DevGDPeh98-02N3

DevGDPph98-02N3

-10

-9

-8

-7

-6

-5

-4

-3

-2

-1

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

-10 -9 -8 -7 -6 -5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

PCA 1 (31.2%)

PC

A 2

(12.2

%)

Economic densityGDP/km2

Resolution

regional statistics (NUTS) 1km grid

Sevilla

Malaga

Murcia



• Full map gdp/km2 and over lay regions of

change

4

12 48



Site per economic density zone

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

180

200

< 0.1 million 0.1-1 million 1-10 million >10 million

Economic density in Euro / km2

# s

ite

s

‘natural’ ‘semi-natural’

‘disturbed’

‘urban’



LTER-Portugal importance at the global scale


Site per environmental zone


Representation based on coverage of strata

< 0.1 million

0.1 – 1 million

1 – 10 million

> 10 million

ALN BOR NEM ATN ALS CON ATC PAN LUS ANA MDM MDN MDS

Economic Density

(Euro / km2)

under represented over represented

100%

50%

200%

50%

50%

200%

50%

50%

50%

50%

50%

50%

50%

100%

100%

50%

50%

50%

50%

200%

50%

50%

50%

50%

50%

50%

50%

50%

50%

200%

200%

50%

200%

200%

200%



Relevance of LTER-Portugal


Transition zone between Atlantic and Mediterranean bioclimatic domains

Mediterranenan region – world hotspot for biodiversity

Ecological unbalanced human interventions interacting with climatic change (desertification process)



Relevance of LTER-Portugal


High cover of unique systems(montado)

High diversity of wetlands including estuaries and coastal habitats



• Create a database of ecological research

and researchers

• Identify areas with ecological data time-series

• Promote discussion about criteria to select

potential LTER sites

• Promote cooperative research

• Promote institutional collaboration

• Promote data sharing and transfer

Objectives of LTER Initiative

History of LTER in Portugal


ILTER Conference (Slovakia, August 2008)International Workshop on Long Term Studies on Biodiversity (São Paulo – Brasil)

Building a Strategy (2003 to 2009)

History of LTER-Portugal Initiative

Portugal

Nov. 2003 - 1st LTER Meeting, Évora

Jul. 2006 – 2nd LTER Meeting, Lisbon

Jan. 2008 – 1st LTER Workshop, Lisbon

Jun. 2008 – 2nd LTER Workshop, Lisbon

Aug. 2008 – ILTER Application, Slovakia

Jan. 2009 – SPECO/FCT Meeting, Lisbon

Jun. 2009 – FCT Call for LTER Proposals

Oct. 2009 – Visit to LTER-USA office and sites

Dec. 2009 – Sites selected

Aug, 2010 – ILTER Acceptance, Israel


• Embracing the human dimension

Strategy for site selection

LTER LTSER

Long Term Socio-Ecologic Research


Building a Strategy


Inquiry to scientifc community (2006)

Types of ecosystems

Ecological descriptors

Duration of time series

Infrastructures

Funding sources

Perspectives for long-term monitoring

Core questionsCONCLUSIONS

• Balanced distribution of data in terms of key habitats

• Few long term time-series

• Irregular funding (short-term research projects)

• High potential for long-term monitoring and research



Portugal



Meetings with Scientists


Lisbon, January and June 2008

Discussion of

LTER network

implementation

and strategy for

site selection



Lisbon, January and June 2008

Meetings with stakeholders




Expected role of key stakeholders


Research infrastructures and link with B & B initiative

Researchers mobility and training of young ecologists

Link with enterprises for funding opportunities for long-term monitoring and research activities

Baseline funding for LTER-Portugal sites & network

Portugal

ILTER Annual Meeting (Israel, Auust 2010)International Workshop on Long Term Studies on Biodiversity (São Paulo – Brasil)



Portugal

CONCLUSIONS

• High interest in the initiative

• Few interactions among research teams

• No consensus on potential sites

• Concerns about sites long-term sustainability





ILTER Conference

(Slovakia, August 2008)


Site selection process

• Call for project-driven proposals promoted by Science & Technology Foundation (FCT – June 2009)

• Peer-review of proposals by an international pannel (Coord. R.B. Waide LTER USA and M. Mirtl LTER Europe in the pannel together with other scientists)

• Criteria for selection:

Strategy for site selection

Portugal

① Ecological relevance and social dimension (network logo)

② Amount of data accumulated along time

③ Potential for cooperation between public and private sectors

④ Capacity for gaining complementary funds



Sites Selected

Portugal16 site applications - 4 selected

Start-up Funding

2 coastal habitats (estuaries)

1 freshwater habitat (mountain river)

1 forest habitat (agro-sylvo-pastoral system)

Site-based funding (6 years)

Intermediate evaluation (3rd year)

200 000 € / first 3 years / site

Next 3 years increased funding under

negotiation



Sites Selected

Portugal

LTER Estuaries (complex site)

LTER Sabor

LTER Ria de Aveiro

LTER Montado (complex site/LTSER platform)

LTER PORTUGAL Network



Sites Selected

PortugalLTER Sabor

Sabor Fragmentation Experiment: understanding long-term

ecological consequences of infrastructure development and

compensatory mitigation. (large hydroelectric dam)



Sites Selected

Portugal

Long-term monitoring in the Ria de Aveiro: towards a deeper

understanding of ecological, environmental and economic processes.

LTER Ria de Aveiro



LTER ESTUARIES(complex site)

Sites Selected

Portugal

Minho, Mondego and Mira

Observatory: long-term

variation of ecological status

as a response to natural and

human induced changes.

Implications for management

and restoration.

Minho

Mira

Mondego

Core

node



Sites Selected

Portugal

Core

nodeLong-term socio-ecological research andmonitoring in a Mediterranean culturallandscape (Montado or Dehesa in spanish)

LTER Montado(complex site / LTSER platform)



LTER Montado

Sites Selected

Portugal

Cork oak

woodland

Q. suber

Holm oak

woodland

Q. ilex



LTER Montado

Sites Selected

Portugal

Node Main Activity



Current challenges

• Establishing a consortium between the Sites

Coordination Committees, the main funding entity

(FCT) and the LTER National Representative

(SPECO) to discuss the network management,

common approaches and data sharing policy

• Lobying near other govnermental bodies (e.g.

Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries) and other

national funding agencies for networking funding

• Creating LTER Portugal dabase and website (SPECO)

Current challenges

Portugal



Current steps

• Official launching of LTER Portugal Network

• Search for complementary funding opportunities

(Sites/FCT)

• Foster integration within LTER Europe / ILTER

and mediate efforts for an Iberian LTER Network

Current challenges and next steps

Portugal

IAN-LTSER Ibero American Network for Long Term Socio Ecological Research (submitted in May)

Mexico, Chile, Venezuela, Argentina, Spain and Portugal

CYTED – Ibero American Program of Science and Technology for Development



Next steps:

• Standardization of monitoring protocols

• Develop common research projects

• Building a Mediterranean ‘sub-network’

• LTER Workshops & Training

programmes

• LTER ‘summer schools’

Current challenges and next steps

Portugal



earn from others

hink before acting

xchange experiences

einforce partnerships

Thanks for your attention!

LTER-Portugal Vision Portugal

L

T

E

R


Documents

LTER Portugal Network - FAPESP · 2010. 11. 24. · 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200 < 0.1 million 0.1-1 million 1-10 million >10 million Economic density in Euro / km2 ites ‘natural’