Long-term ecological research

Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) offers the opportunity to interpret ecosystem variations within the context of long time series. This allows researchers to highlight natural trends and variability in relation to specific events and to capture changes in the direction and intensity of those trends. These studies are therefore a fundamental tool for interpreting ecological processes. They have led to the creation of ad hoc programs in individual countries to foster cooperation among researchers studying these processes across different temporal and spatial scales. The growing need for global communication among researchers has also led to the foundation of international networks, including ILTER. The University of Sassari, through researchers in its Ecology group, contributed to the creation of the LTER-Italia Network in 2006 with the sites Sardinian Marine Ecosystems and Sardinian Lacustrine Ecosystems (lteritalia.it; deims.org). More recently, the university joined the eLTER Joint Research Unit as a partner, with the goal of participating in the creation of the European infrastructure for long-term ecological research.