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Preface<br />
Since the beginning of the last century, in Italy as in many other<br />
Countries, institutions have been founded to develop ecological<br />
research. Among other advantages, this also meant in many cases the<br />
beginning of a regular collection of environmental data. In more<br />
recent times, new institutions were created to ensure the effective<br />
monitoring of the environment at a national level, in compliance with<br />
European and national regulations.<br />
In this context, and in tune with European and global trends, the<br />
Italian network for Long-Term Ecosystem Research (<strong>LTER</strong>-Italy) was<br />
created to bring together scientists and Italian institutions carrying out<br />
research on the structure and functioning of ecosystems, in a frame of<br />
long-term observation of ecological processes and of key variables<br />
influencing them.<br />
As the name suggests, the <strong>LTER</strong>-Italy is a network of terrestrial,<br />
freshwater and marine ecosystems for which decades of ecological<br />
data are available. Within the network ecological research is<br />
conducted to ensure the continuity of the long-term data acquisition<br />
and satisfy the requirements of high scientific quality. In this way, a<br />
wealth of knowledge is built up and maintained, despite institutional<br />
difficulties and shortages of financial support specifically addressed to<br />
long-term ecological research.<br />
<strong>LTER</strong>-Italy promotes the collaboration among its members,<br />
encouraging interdisciplinary activities, cross-ecosystem research, and<br />
the enhancement of ecological data of historical interest, offering, for<br />
some sites and some variables, a century-long archive. In this way, the<br />
network becomes a tool for ecological research open to all, which<br />
makes the comparison of results and the storage of standardized data<br />
possible. Thus, the vast collection of knowledge and observations<br />
gathered will be accessible and usable for future generations.<br />
The <strong>LTER</strong>-Italy network may also be the place where to coordinate<br />
the management of financial resources, the infrastructure for<br />
ecological research, and the training of human resources to respond
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