Author(s): MAGNUSSON, W. E.; LAWSON, B.; BACCARO, F.; CASTILHO, C. V. de; CASTLEY, J. G.; COSTA, F.; DRUCKER, D. P.; FRANKLIN, E.; LIMA, A. P.; LUIZÃO, R.; MENDONÇA, F.; PEZZINI, F.; SCHIETTI, J.; TOLEDO, J. J.; TOURINHO, A.; VERDADE, L. M.; HERO, J-M.

Summary: Globally, natural resource management agencies are increasingly recognizing the importance of long-term ecological research (LTER) for monitoring biodiversity, ranging from relatively simple, known, local-level issues, such as managing tourist impacts in a conservation park, to more complex, multifaceted, pervasive, and far-reaching impacts, such as global climate change. Much previous literature has confused protocols for LTER projects to answer current research questions, with developing a system for long-term ecological monitoring. Contrary to perceptions that these LTER systems are not driven by well-defined objectives, we argue that LTER systems can be designed and implemented with the specific objective of providing a basis for both LTER projects and long-term monitoring. We present an overview of RAPELD, an LTER system developed in Brazil, with comparable infrastructure established in Australia and Nepal. The standardized biodiversity infrastructure and research platform provides a long-term basis for powerful multi-disciplinary, multi-scale analyses.

Publication year: 2014

Types of publication: Book sections

Unit: Embrapa Territorial

Keywords: Monitoring biodiversity, Natural resources