Region: Central/Europe
Eva Jelinkova1,
Viera Straskrabova2
1National MAB Committee CR, 2Hydrobiological Institute CAS
Network History
Ecological research as well as nature protection have a long-standing tradition in the CR. Long-term data on biotic and abiotic parameters were gathered both by research institutions and universities dealing with specific topics, and by governmental and regional organizations during their routine monitoring. However, most of these data were neither freely available nor computerized. These data were in scattered locations and, especially the information from routine monitoring, had not been fully utilized in ecosystems evaluation. Scientists from the US LTER program (led by Dr. James R. Gosz) together with the Czech National Committee for Man and the Biosphere Program (MAB) (led by Prof. J. Jenik) promoted the establishment of a Czech LTER, organizing a network based on existing sites with a long-standing history of research, and with institutions capable of continuing the investigations. The CZ-LTER Committee and network of sites was established by the Czech National MAB Committee in 1996. It consists of 7 sites (6 of them are UNESCO Biosphere Reserves (BR)).Network Management
The Czech network is managed by the CZ-LTER Committee and the Czech National MAB Committee. Chair of the CZ-LTER: Viera Straskrabova, Hydrobiological Institute, Czech Academy of Sciences (CAS), Na sadkach 7, CZ 37005 Ceske Budejovice, Tel +420 38 7775819, fax +420 38 5300248, <verastr@hbu.cas.cz>. Secretary: Eva Jelinkova, CZ-MAB Secretariat, CAS, Narodni 3, 117 20 Prague 1, Tel +420 2 21403420, fax +420 2 24240531, <mab@kav.cas.cz>. There are no financial sponsors of the CZ-LTER network. Some monitoring activities in UNESCO Biosphere Reserves (6 sites) are supported by the Ministry of Environment of CR, other activities are financed from various projects (1 - 3 years duration), which are awarded by the Grant Agency of CR, Grant Agency of CAS, and others (Ministry of Environment CR, Ministry of Education CR).
Partnerships
Institutions responsible at particular sites are Hydrobiological Institute CAS (1 site), National Park Administrations (2 sites) and the Administration of Protected Landscape Areas (4 sites). Those institutions themselves are partly involved in the research at the respective sites and, besides, they cooperate in various research projects with the Institutes of CAS, mainly Institute of Botany, Institute of Entomology, Institute of Landscape Ecology and Institute of Soil Biology, and also with the universities, primarily with the faculties of sciences of Charles University, Prague, the University of South Bohemia, Ceske Budejovice, the Masaryk University, Brno, and the Mendel Agricultural University, Brno, and with other institutions such as Czech Geological Survey, Czech Agency of Nature Conservation.
Special activities
All CZ-LTER sites are important as teaching grounds for university students in ecological disciplines. Many scientists engaged in LTER are university professors, and students participate in inventories, monitoring, surveys and in solving specific research problems (often also supported by short-term grants of Ministry of Education CR) elaborating their BC, MS and PhD theses.
In all the Biosphere Reserves, dissemination of ecological knowledge and education of the public in environmental issues connected with nature protection and long-term changes of ecosystems is one of the obligatory activities.
Site-level information on research, cross-site and international collaboration and infrastructure
The CZ-LTER sites include: 1) Reservoir series in the upper and middle Vltava River watershed, 2) National Parks (NP) and UNESCO / MAB Biosphere Reserves (BRs) Krkonose and Sumava, 3) Protected Landscape Areas (PLAs) and BRs Krivoklatsko, Trebonsko, Palava and Bile Karpaty.
The geographic location of the Czech Republic (CR) between the Hercynian Platform, Alpine Carpathian System and Fenno-Sarmathian Platform has produced a high diversity of ecosystems, both their abiotic (geology, microclimate) and biotic components. Moravia in the eastern part of the country is an important divide between the Bohemian Massif to the west and Western Carpathians to the east. Moravia opens southwards to the Panonian lowlands thus providing an important migration route. The intensification of industrial and agricultural activities in densely populated middle Europe has resulted in rapid ecosystem changes due to eutrophication and acidification. Since the 1990s, both industry and agriculture have been reduced because of political and subsequent economic changes. Reduced emissions of S and N oxides and decreased fertilizer doses, together with relatively large areas of abandoned agricultural land (meadows and fields) are recent factors causing ecosystem changes.
The present effort at CZ-LTER sites focuses on: 1) inventorying, computerizing and evaluating existing data at individual sites, 2) monitoring existing experimental plots, 3) identifying research problems specific to each site and 4) mutual cooperation. It is recognized that public relations efforts are important to demonstrate the usefulness of LTER to policy and decision-makers in the CR and to ensure continued funding. A joint project - “Evaluation and prognosis of ecosystem changes based on analysis of long-term data series” - for all the sites for a period of three years (1998 - 2000) was funded by the Grant Agency of CR (reg. No. 206/1998/0727) and is on- going . In meeting the goals of the project, available long-term data series have been used to: a) assess the extent and causes of deterioration of the ecosystem functions, b) identify any impacting of recent environmental changes connected with the political and economic transition in Central Europe and (c) establish a prognosis of the future development of these ecosystems. Methods include: assessment of the present status, elaboration of historical and contemporary data and their incorporation into the electronic network. Biomes evaluated across the sites are as follows: aquatic ecosystems (reservoirs, lakes, streams, brooks), at three sites —REV, KRI, SUM; wetlands (ponds, mires, peat bogs), at four sites—KRK, SUM, TRE, PAL; grasslands (mountain and alluvial meadows, steppes), at five sites—KRK, KRI, SUM, PAL, BIK); and forests (mountain, flood plain, dry), at five sites—KRK, SUM, KRI, PAL, BIK. Main human impacts to be considered include nutrient loading (fertilization, emissions, eutrophication), S and N oxide emissions (trans-boundary pollution and acidification), land-use and management changes, resultant micro- and meso-climate changes, and biodiversity changes.
Each site has international connections and non-formalized collaboration. Collaboration on environmental problems common for middle and Eastern European postcommunist countries is coordinated with the LTER networks and individual institutions of Slovakia, Poland, Hungary and Romania in the CEE-LTER regional group. In the 5th framework of European Commission Research and Development Program, Czech, Slovak, Polish, Slovenian, Romanian and Bulgarian researchers cooperate in a project on long term changes in oligotrophic and acidified mountain lakes (EMERGE No. EVK1-CT-1999-00032). Two other proposals were prepared and submitted to the EC 5th framework RTD Program: one on terrestrial NPP with the participation of Hungarian and Czech LTER sites, and one on reservoirs with the participation of Czech, Polish and Romanian sites.
The BR sites of the CZ-LTER are connected with the Worldwide Network of Biosphere Reserves. The CZ-LTER network also joined No_limits network and GTOS network.
All sites are connected to the Internet and have World Wide Web sites. Series of various long-term data (several decades) are available at all the sites. Each site elaborates its databases separately. The state of databases varies, depending on the topics and history of the particular research, and has been improving. Each institution responsible for a particular site has laboratory facilities for their basic monitoring and has one or more field facilities (stations) and a limited capacity of lodging.