International cooperation in the service of ecological research – participation of the HUN-REN Centre for Ecological Research in the eLTER closing consortium meeting

The closing international consortium meeting of the eLTER PLUS and eLTER PPP research projects was held recently, marking an important milestone in the development of long-term ecological research infrastructure in Europe. Staff from the HUN-REN Centre for Ecological Research (CER) also took part in the meeting. The three-day event was held in Athens. The meeting provided an opportunity for representatives of European research institutes to review the results achieved so far and to jointly discuss the future of continent-wide ecological observations.

The LTER (Long-Term Ecological Research) network brings together research sites and institutions around the world that aim to study ecosystems over the long term using uniform principles. LTER research is particularly important for understanding slow, decade-long processes such as climate change, biodiversity loss, and land use change, which cannot be captured, or can only be captured to a limited extent, by short-term studies. The aim of the European LTER network (eLTER) is to support scientific research and environmental decision-making through coordinated data collection and common methodologies.

It is particularly important for Hungary to be part of this international cooperation, as the specific natural conditions and ecological processes of the Carpathian Basin can only be truly understood in a European context. Although Hungary does not currently have full membership of the eLTER research infrastructure – as its membership has not yet got enough support by the Hungarian decision makers – Hungarian researchers are still actively contributing to the operation and development of the network through their professional work and data.

One outstanding example of this is the Kiskun LTER site, where ÖK researchers are studying the functioning of dry grasslands, wetlands, and mosaic landscapes based on time series spanning several decades. The research covers, among other things, the effects of climate change, the ecological consequences of grazing and other forms of land use, and the possibilities for preserving biodiversity. These results are not only valuable in international comparison, but can also be directly applied to nature conservation and landscape management in Hungary.

For the CER, participation in the LTER network—as well as events such as the eLTER closing consortium meeting—is of paramount importance in several respects. It enables the exchange of international methodological experience, increases the visibility of domestic research, and contributes to the integration of Hungarian ecological data into European-level analyses. It also strengthens the role of CER in international research infrastructures and consortium tenders, and promotes the competitiveness of domestic ecological research in the long term.

Through such collaborations and professional meetings, the HUN-REN Centre for Ecological Research continues to actively contribute to the development of well-founded, long-term scientific responses to the challenges affecting our natural environment.