Program of LTER-D
The consequences of global change affect not only ecological systems but also human society, its economic and social systems, and natural resource use strategies. The individual components of this development interact at different spatial and temporal scales. For the scientific analysis of these problems, often only data from short time series are available, although long-term observation and corresponding action are implicit components of the sustainability principle. The short-term nature of many research projects inevitably results from the typical funding periods (2-5 years) of projects by research funding agencies.
In contrast, the goal of LTER-D is to generate unique long-term datasets, often already going back several decades, covering different species groups and environmental variables. It is this that allows for a sufficient understanding of the ongoing changes in our ecosystems.
LTER-D is designed to be strongly embedded in international activities. This results in many advantages for all participants, such as access to international datasets, cooperation with foreign colleagues, the implementation of joint projects, and the development of cross-regional comparative studies. The work aims at an integration into the continental network LTER-Europe, the global ILTER network as well as into the corresponding European research networks.