ILTER-EAP

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Hideaki Shibata: Field Science Center for Northern Biosphere, Hokkaido ..... David Blanckman .... the ILTER thorough various joint activities (Shibata and.
The International Long-Term Ecological Research–East Asia-Pacific Regional Network (ILTER-EAP): History, development, and perspectives Ecological Research Eun-Shik Kim: Department of Forestry, Environment, and Systems, Kookmin University, Seoul 02707, Korea ([email protected]) Yongyut Trisurat: Department of Forest Biology, Faculty of Forestry, Kasetsart University Bangkok 10900, Thailand ([email protected]) Hiroyuki Muraoka*: River Basin Research Center, Gifu University, Gifu, 501-1193 Japan ([email protected]) Hideaki Shibata: Field Science Center for Northern Biosphere, Hokkaido University, N9 W9, Kita-ku, Sapporo 060-0809, Japan ([email protected]) Victor Amoroso: Center for Biodiversity Research and Extension in Mindanao (CEBREM), Central Mindanao University (CMU), Musuan, Bukidnon, Philippines ([email protected]) Bazartseren Boldgiv: Ecology Group, Department of Biology, School of Arts and Sciences, National University of Mongolia, Ulaanbaatar 14201, Mongolia ([email protected]), Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA 19103, USA. Kazuhiko Hoshizaki: Department of Biological Environment, Akita Prefectural University, Akita, 010-0195 Japan ([email protected]) Abd Rahman Kassim: Forest Research Institute Malaysia (FRIM), 52109 Kepong, Selangor, Malaysia ([email protected]) Young-Sun Kim: Department of Forestry, Environment, and Systems, Kookmin University, Seoul 02707, Korea ([email protected]) Hong Quan Nguyen: Center of Water Management and Climate Change, Vietnam National University - Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam ([email protected]) Nobuhito Ohte: Biosphere Informatics Laboratory, Department of Social Informatics, Kyoto University, Kyoto, 606-8501 Japan ([email protected]) Perry S. Ong: Biodiversity Research Laboratory, Institute of Biology, College of Science, University of the Philippines Diliman, Diliman, Quezon City, Philippines 1101 ([email protected]) Chiao-Ping Wang: Division of Silviculture, Taiwan Forest Research Institute, Taipei, 100., Taiwan ([email protected]) * Corresponding author: Hiroyuki Muraoka: [email protected]



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ESM 1 Background of ILTER and ILTER-EAP: its history and goals GOALS AND MAJOR FOCAL TOPICS OF ILTER In September 1993, International Long-Term Ecological Research (ILTER) Network was established as an outcome of the international meeting on long-term ecological research networking convened by the U.S. Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) in Estes Park, Colorado, USA. In the meeting, the representatives of 16 countries/territories identified five issues of common concern for the ILTER community such as 1) communication and information access for LTER researchers worldwide; 2) developing a global directory of LTER sites; 3) developing LTER programs worldwide; 4) scaling, sampling and standardization of some design issues; and 5) education, public relations and relationships with decision makers and, in addition, adopted six action items for further development of ILTER Network (Nottrott et al. 1994). Since its establishment in 1993, ILTER Network has grown to 44 member networks, as of July 2017, and four sub-committees, including the Science and Program Sub-committee, Information Management Sub-committee, Education Sub-committee and Public Relations Sub-committee. ILTER sites, datasets and personnel are documented in the meta-data portal DEIMS (Dynamic Ecological Information System), for details see [https://data.lter-europe.net/deims/]. Once a year, the major governing body of ILTER has held its Coordinating Committee (ILTER-CC), in which scientific exchange, business issues and field excursion were included to exchange knowledge, to share experiences and research results, and to discuss the most recent developments and applications on the environment as well as on prospective research. In August 2006, ILTER Strategic Plans were endorsed at the ILTER-CC Meeting held in Namibia. In the strategic plan, the vision of ILTER Network is defined as “a world in which science helps prevent and solve environmental and socio-ecological problems”, with the mission “to improve understanding of global ecosystems and inform solutions to current and future environmental problems”. Four goals were adopted to make the mission statement more tangible, which include: 1) fostering collaboration and coordination among ecological researchers and research networks at local, regional and global scales; 2) improving comparability of long-term ecological data from sites around the world, and facilitating exchange and preservation of these data; 3) delivering scientific information to scientists, policymakers, and the public to meet the needs of decision-makers at multiple levels; and 4) facilitating education of the next generation of long-term scientists (ILTER 2006, https://www.ilternet.edu/mission). Major focal topics and questions to be addressed by ILTER Network The research activities of ILTER Networks at local, national/territorial, regional and global levels are focused on many questions that can be addressed by long-term research not only on basic ecological topics (e.g., population and community dynamics, evolutionary ecology, productivity, hydrology and nutrient cycles), but also on applied/integrated ecological and/or socio-ecological themes (e.g., climate changes, pollutions, plant and animal invasion, human land-use, ecosystem resilience and sustainability, and ecosystem services). The US LTER Network identified the fundamental questions related to the services that society receives from ecosystems, which are central to understanding the sustainability of ecosystems on which society depends. The US LTER Network also identified LTER as a unique mechanism to address such questions as: 1) how these services are perceived; 2) how perceptions affect behavior; and 3) how behavioral change affects ecosystem form and function in three

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thematic areas of land and water use change; climate change, variability and extreme events; and nutrient mobilization and species introductions. This was introduced under the initiative of the Integrative Science for Society and the Environment (ISSE) as the basic framework for the research (US LTER 2007). The ISSE framework provides the six framework questions of such network-level research as LTER including 1) how do long-term press disturbances and short-term pulse disturbances interact to alter ecosystem structure and function; 2) how can biotic structure be both a cause and consequence of ecological fluxes of energy and matter; 3) how do altered ecosystem dynamics affect ecosystem services; 4) how do changes in vital ecosystem services alter human outcomes; 5) how do perceptions and outcomes affect human behavior; and 6) which human actions influence the frequency, magnitude, or form of press and pulse disturbance regimes across ecosystems, and what determines these human actions (US LTER 2007). The ILTER strategic plan recognizes these challenges of ecological studies and suggested to address following research trends to be tackled by the communities; climate changes, sustainable development, biodiversity loss and sustainable use of biodiversity, sustainable use of resources and ecosystem management and environmental hazards and disasters (ILTER 2006). ILTER has started to host Open Science Meeting every three years since 2016. In the first OSM in 2016, Kruger National Park, South Africa, the sessions covered various topics: Nitrogen impacts on ecosystems; Carbon and water cycles under climate change; Sustainable usage of ecosystem services; Drivers of biodiversity across scales; Data integration and interoperability; Linking local, regional and global observations and models. ILTER-EAP REGIONAL NETWORK ILTER-EAP Regional Member Networks The International Long-Term Ecological Research East Asia-Pacific Regional Network (ILTER-EAP) was establised as an outcome of the First East Asia-Pacific Regional Conference on Long-Term Ecological Research held in April 1995, Fushan Forest Experiment Station, Taiwan (King et al. 1997). Attended by representatives of 10 countries/territories, ILTER-EAP has started its research site-based networking as those USLTER and ILTER have conducted. Since its establishment in 1995, ILTER-EAP has has subsequently evolved to encompass nine ILTER member networks (as of July 2017; Table 1) and two associate networks (Lao PDRs and Vietnam), as well as three committees, Science, Education and Outreach, and Information Management committees, in the track of ILTER. The Chinese Ecosystem Research Network (CERN) was established in 1988 under the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) to facilitate research on long-term ecosystems across large spatial and temporary scales. With the 26-year’s development, CERN has been a leading member network in terms of not only the number of sits but also of ecosystem coverage; there are 42 sites at present in the CERN, including 15 agricultural, 10 forest, 8 aquatic (lake, coastal and wetland), 6 desert, 2 grassland, and 1 urban ecosystems (Li et al. 2015). The Japan Long-Term Ecological Research network (JaLTER, established in 2006) involves 57 sites (21 core and 36 associate sites), managed by various research institutes and universities. Thirty-two sites of the JaLTER are located in forest, 12 in marine/coastal, six for lake, and one in agricultural ecosystems (see also Enoki et al. 2014 for detailed history of networks in Japan). The Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network of Australia (TERNAustralia) was created in 2009. It was designated for national observatory for Australian ecosystems by combining various methodologies and platforms, delivering data streams that enable environmental research and management. TERN-Australia (http://www.tern.org.au/)



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consists of several networks such as LTERN (Long Term Ecological Research Network) and “SuperSite” network, and also has intensive linkage between in-situ and satellite observations. Currently, there are 28 sites across the country. The remaining member networks have moderate number of sites or only one site. Philippines’ ILTER has 14 sites. Only one site (Apo Island Marine Sanctuary) is classified for coastal and marine ecosystems and the remaining are located in forest ecosystems. The Taiwan’s Ecological Research Network (TERN-Taiwan) was established in 1992. With continuous efforts, TERN-Taiwan includes more sites and as of July 2017, there are nine sites covering coastal, lacustrine and urban ecosystems. The first LTER site in Korea is Kwangeung Experimental Forest, which represents intact forest. Currently, there are 13 sites and mainly located in mountain forest ecosystems. Two sites are associated with coastal and marine ecosystems. Thailand became an official ILTER-EAP member in 2006 (same as Japan and the Philippines), with two forest sites. Mongolia and Malaysia has only one LTER site affiliated with ILTER-EAP. The principle biome of Lake Hövsgöl MLTER Site in Mongolia is freshwater ecosystem located on the background of ecotonal shift from taiga forest to steppe biome, while Pasoh Research Forest Reserve managed by Forestry Research Institute of Malaysia (FRIM) is classified as lowland dipterocarp forest. Overall, 167 sites are currently located in the nine official ILTER member networks (Table 1), of which 153 sites are “accredited” under the ILTER Dynamic Ecological Information Management System (DEIMS) database (ILTER-DEIMS, http:// data.ltereurope.net/deims/). Organization of ILTE-EAP to foster collaborations ILTER-EAP consists of various member networks in the region that involves large gradient of climate, geographical features and cultural diversity. Various bottom-up and voluntary efforts have been made to obtain opportunities of collaborations and capacity building in local and regional levels. ILTER-EAP organizes its regional conference every two years to share the information and knowledge on the updated findings in various ecosystems in the EAP region, as well as to discuss further research collaboration among the member networks and participating researchers. The first regional meeting was held in Taiwan in 1995 and the last meeting (11th biennial conference) was recently organized in October 2016 in Vietnam (Table S1-a). Coordinating Committee of ILTER-EAP, which consists of the representatives of member networks in the region, facilitates the exchange among the member networks. The Coordinating Committee meetings have been held every two years during the Regional Conferences to discuss the issues of concern for the member networks and the Committees of the ILTER-EAP Regional Network. More recently, the Coordinating Committee has held video conferences through the internet to prepare better the biannual conferences of ILTEREAP and facilitated discussions between member networks on a variety of topics. Besides the biennial conference of ILTER-EAP, three committees were established to facilitate the activities of ILTER-EAP. Science Committee of ILTER-EAP was established in 2012, at the 9th biennial conference held in Malaysia. The role of the science committee was to facilitate the communications among the member networks to seek the collaborative research, review and update the environmental issues that LTER may tackle, and to help organize the biannual conference with the local organizing committee of hosting member networks (2014 in the Philippines, 2016 in Vietnam). Through the conferences and communications, and also by learning the global and regional needs of environmental science, the Science Committee of ILTER-EAP is going to facilitate research collaborations particularly on biodiversity, carbon cycle, nitrogen cycle, and ecohydrology under climate change and various anthropogenic disturbances. Efforts to reflect these scientific activities to education and public outreach are also expected.

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In order to foster the data sharing and capacity building of long-term ecological research data and analyses, Information Management (IM) Committee was established in 2006 at the 6th biennial conference held in Kyoto, Japan. In these activities TERN-Taiwan has been playing the central role in development of ecoinformatics by collaborating with USLTER since 1995 (Lin et al. 2006, 2011). Until now, there were five information management workshops held in the EAP region. The outline of the regional workshops with specific information on the names, dates and organizers is summarized in Table S1-b. In addition to these regional workshops, a number of training courses, workshops and database management workshops have been organized to build the capacity of scientists of the ILTEREAP member networks (Table 1), in consistent with the US-LTER IM system (Vanderbilt et al. 2010, 2015, 2017). The other events related to the Information Management Committee in the EAP region are summarized in Table S1-c. In addition, currently the ILTER-EAP has closely linked to the ecoinformatics groups in ILTER, Pacific Rim Experience for Undergraduates (PRIME, http://prime.ucsd.edu/index.php), Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF, http://www.gbif.org/), Asia-Pacific Biodiversity Observation Network (APBON) and GEO BON (Group on Earth Observations, Biodiversity Observation Network), and DataOne communities (https://www.dataone.org/). The IM committee keeps the step to seek collaboration with US LTER and regional partners to expand ecoinformatics to support science supported by data archiving, using and sharing under the global needs of environmental information. As with ILTER, ILTER-EAP is facing local and regional needs to reach out their scientific efforts to the broader scientific community, natural resource managers, decision makers, and the general public by providing decision support information, recommendations, and the knowledge and capability to address complex environmental challenges. As a result, it is worth to notice that the Education and Outreach Committee has been launched as an outcome of the Coordinating Committee Meeting of ILTER-EAP held in Vietnam in 2016. References Enoki T, Nakashhizuka T, Nakano S-I, Miki T, Lin Y-P, Nakaoka M, Mizumachi E, Shibata H (2014). Progress in the 21st century: a roadmap for the Ecological Society of Japan. Ecol Res 29: 357-368. doi: 10.1007/s128-014-1140-7 ILTER (2006) ILTER Strategic Plan. International Long-Term Ecological Research Network. https://www.ilternet.edu/sites/default/files/FINAL_DRAFT_STRATEGIC_PLAN_Aug2 006.pdf. Accessed 20 January 2017 King H-b, Hamburg SP, Hsia Y-j (eds.) 1997. Long-term ecological research: East Asia-Pacific Region: Proceedings of the First East Asia-Pacific Regional Conference on Long-Term Ecological Research. Taiwan Forestry Research Institute, Taipei, Taiwan, China. April 7-13, 1995. Li S, Yi G, Yu X, He H, Guo X (2015) A Brief Introduction to Chinese Ecosystem Research Network (CERN). J Resour Ecol 6(3):192-196 Lin CC, Porter JH, Lu SS (2006) A metadata-based framework for multilingual ecological information management. Taiwan J For Sci 21(3): 377-82. Lin CC, Kassim AR, Vanderbilt K, Henshaw D, Melendez-Colom EC, Porter JH, Niiyama K, Yagihashi T, Tan SA, Lu SS, Hsiao CW, Chang LW, Jeng MR (2011) An ecoinformatics application for forest dynamics plot data management and sharing. Taiwan J For Sci 26(4): 357-69 Nottrott RW, Franklin JR, Vande Castle JR. (eds.) (1994) International Networking in LongTerm Ecological Research, Proceedings of an International Summit, 23–24 September, 1993, Estes Park, Colorado. LTER Network Office, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA.

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U.S. Long Term Ecological Research Network (LTER) (2007) The decadal plan for LTER: integrative science for society and the environment. LTER Network Office Publication Series No. 24, Albuquerque, New Mexico. 154 pages.http://intranet2.lternet.edu/sites/intranet2.lternet.edu/files/documents/Scientific_R eports/Network_Office_Numbered_Publications/TheDecadalPlanReformattedForBook _with_citation.pdf. Accessed 20 January 2017 Vanderbilt KL, Blankman D, Guo X, He H, Lin CC, Lu SS, Ogawa A, O. Tuama EO, Schentz H, Su W (2010) A multilingual metadata catalog for the ILTER: issues and approaches. Ecol Informatics 5: 153–230. Vanderbilt KL, Lin CC, Lu SS, Kassim AR, He H, Guo X, San Gil I, Blankman D, Porter JH (2015) Fostering ecological data sharing: collaborations in the International Long Term Ecological Research Network. Ecosphere 6(10): 204. Vanderbilt K, Porter JH, Lu SS, Bertrand N, Blankman D, Guo X, He H, Henshaw D, Jeong K, Kim ES, Lin CC, O’Brien M, Osawa T, Tuama ÈÒ, Su W, Yang H (2017) A prototype system for multilingual data discovery of International Lon-Term Ecological Research (ILTER) Network data. Ecol Informatics (in press) http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoinf.2016.11.011



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Table S1 Chronological Table describing activities of the International Long-Term Ecological Research Network – East Asia and Pacific Regional Network (ILTER-EAP) Table S1-a. Outline of the International Conferences of the International Long-Term Ecological Research Network – East Asia and Pacific Regional Network (ILTER-EAP). (LTER, Long-Term Ecological Research network) Sequence

Date

Organizing Member Network

Major Organizing Institute

Key Organizer

1

7-10 April 1995

Taiwan Forest Research Institute

Hen-biau King

2

4-7 March 1997

National Institute for Environmental Studies

Toshio Iwakuma

3

11-16 October 1999 2-10 July 2001

TERN-Taiwan (Taiwan Ecological Research Network) JaLTER (Japan LTER Network) KLTER (Korea LTER Network) Mongolian LTER

Kookmin University & Korea Forestry Research Institute Mongolian Academy of Sciences

Eun-Shik Kim

CERN (Chinese Ecosystem Resaerch Network) JaLTER

Chinese Academy of Sciences

Shidong Zhao

Japanese Ecosystem Research Network

Tohru Nakashizuka

Thailand LTER

Kasetsart University

Yongyut Trisurat

KLTER

Kookmin University

Eun-Shik Kim

Malaysia LTER

Forest Research Institute of Malaysia

Abd Rahman Kassim

PhiLTERnet (Philippines LTER Network) Vietnam LTER

University of the Philippines Diliman

Perry Ong

National University of Vietnam of Ho Chi Minh City

Nguyen Kim Loi

4 5

6-7 September 2004

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20-23 March 2006 20-23 November 2008 13-17 September 2010 2-5 July 2012

7 8 9



10

2-7 June 2014

11

26-28 October 2016

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T. Galbaatar

Table S1-b. Outline of the Information Management Workshops of the ILTER East AsiaPacific Regional Network (ILTER-EAP). (LTER, Long-Term Ecological Research network; ILTER, International Long-Term Ecological Research network)



Sequence

Date

Organizing Member Network and the Institute

Name of the Workshop

Key Organizer

1

20-22 July 2005

International Workshop on Information Management System of Ecological Networks

Shidong Zhao

2

20-24 February 2006

International Workshop on Ecological Information Management

Chau-chin Lin

3

16-21 October 2007 2-4 June 2014

3rd International Workshop on ILTER Ecological Information Management in the East Asia-Pacific Region 4th ILTER-EAP Information Management System Training Workshop

Eun-Shik Kim

4

5

26 October 2016

CERN (Chinese Ecosystem Research Network) at Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research TERN-Taiwan (Taiwan Ecological Research Network) at Taiwan Forest Research Institute KLTER (Korea LTER) Network at Kookmin University PhiLTERnet (Philippines LTER Netwrok) at University of the Philippines Diliman Vietnam LTER Network at National University of Vietnam of Ho Chi Minh City

5th Information Management Workshop of EAP-ILTER

Kim Loi Ngyuen David Blanckman

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Perry Ong Chau-chin Lin

Table S1-c. Outline of the additional events related to the Information Management Committee of the International Long-Term Ecological Research network East Asia and Pacific regional network (ILTER-EAP). Year

Activities

2007

2012

EAP-ILTER IM committee meeting in Taiwan [hosted by Taiwan Ecological Research Network: TERN-Taiwan]. IM Committee reciprocal visits among TERN-Australia (Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network of Australia), Malaysia LTER and Thailand LTER Networks (sponsored by each network) First ILTER IM data sharing workshop in China [hosted by CERN]. Participating DataOne project [invited by United States Long-Term Ecological Research Network (US LTER)] Participation in Asia Pacific Biodiversity Observation System (APBON). First Forest Dynamic Plot information application workshop in Taiwan [hosted by TERNTaiwan with participation of Networks of Malaysia LTER, JaLTER (Japan LTER network), US LTER, CTFS (the Center for Tropical Forest Science)] The Second Forest Dynamic Plot Data Application workshop in Malaysia [hosted by Malaysia LTER with participation of Networks of Malaysia LTER, KLTER (Korea LTER Network), Singapore DP, Vietnam Biodiversity Center, US LTER] Participation in the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) regional IM project. Participating in the Group on Earth Observations Biodiversity Observation Network (GEO BON) and APBON data management projects. Participation in the GBIF EAP regional IPT2 workshop

2013

ILTER Information Management Workshop (hosted by KLTER)

2017

International Symposium on Development of Integrated Network Management System on Ecological Information (hosted by KLTER)

2008 2009

2010 2011



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Table S2. Examples of the Center for Tropical Forest Science and Forest Global Earth Observatories (CTFS-ForestGEO) network in International Long-Term Ecological Research Network - East Asia and Pacific Regional Network (ILTER-EAP) using the same protocol of tagging, identifying and monitoring tree species > 1 cm dbh, inside a permanent forest dynamics plot. (PFDP, Permanent Forest Dynamics Plot) Latitude (N) Pasoh PFDP



Longitude (E)

Elevation (m)

Plot Size

Plot Dimensions (m x m)

Number of Species

Number of species/ha

Number of Trees

Number of trees/ha

Number of publication s

2.9820

102.3130

70-90

50 ha

1,000 x 500

814

16

335,400

6,708

141

Palanan PFDP

17.0402

122.3880

85-140

16 ha

400 x 400

335

21

66,000

4,125

10

Fushan PFDP

24.7614

121.5550

650-703

25 ha

500 x 500

110

4

144,500

5,780

13

Nanjenshan PFDP

22.0590

120.8540

300-340

3 ha

300 x 100

125

42

36,400

12,133

6

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Table S3. Brief sketches of the research organizations, programs and networks relating to the International Long-Term Ecological Research Network – East Asia and Pacific Regional Network (ILTER-EAP).



Name Asia-Pacific Biodiversity Observation Networks

Acronym AP-BON

International Nitrogen Management System

INMS

Brief description and relations to the ILTER-EAP Asia-Pacific Biodiversity Observation Network (APBON) was formulated in 2009 (Nakano et al. 2012), one year before the opening of the 10th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP 10) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). Before the establishment of APBON, GEO BON (Group on Earth Observations, Biodiversity Observation Network) was established (GEO BON 2015). Since the establishment of APBON in 2009, partnership for collaborative research and information sharing between ILTER-EAP and APBON have been discussed (Kim 2012; Ohte et al. 2012). ILTER-EAP is expected to provide data and knowledge on the status and changes of biodiversity and ecosystems in the region, in particular with regard to their consequences with environmental conditions over the geographical range, climate change, and human impacts. Long-term research on ecosystems functions (carbon, nutrient and water cycles) is also fundamental to the biodiversity observations as those functions are provided as ecosystem services. These activities are highly expected in GEO (Group on Earth Observations, http://www.earthobservations.org/index.php) in which “Biodiversity and Ecosystem Sustainability” is one of the eight Societal Benefit Areas (SBAs) in its “GEO Strategic Plan 2016-2025: Implementing GEOSS” (GEOSS stands for Global Earth Observation System of Systems). Further research collaborations at the LTER and APBON sites and knowledge/idea exchange at ‘GEOSS Asia Pacific symposium’, which has been organized annually, would foster to link the networks, and then enable us to provide data-knowledge-information chain to the broad users of science and societal communities. “Towards INMS” project aims to foster research for improving understanding of the global nitrogen cycle towards the establishment of an International Nitrogen Management System (INMS) as an activity of the International Nitrogen Initiative (INI, http://initrogen.org/). INMS is a science-policy support process that brings together people, information, approaches, indicators, costbenefit analysis, regional demonstration and others as a basis to support governments and others through international nitrogen policy processes (http://www.inms.international/). The ILTER-N Initiative (Shibata et al. 2015) has key roles in the Towards INMS project based on the research findings, database and new knowledge using the global network of site-based long-term 11

Global Land Programme

Future Earth



GLP

ecological research site. As described in the “Nitrogen” section, East Asia is very important region facing rapid increase of N pollution for next decades. One of the key activities of the Towards INMS project is to indicate the regional demonstration to analyze the regional status and issues on N cycle focusing various specific regions including East Asia, South Asia, Africa, East Europe and others. The significant contribution from the ILTER-EAP is highly expected for the East Asian regional demonstration in the Towards INMS project too. Land-use and land-cover is important attribute for ecosystem structure and functions. Development of human society needs to convert one land system to others, causing various alterations of ecosystem functions, biodiversity and various ecosystem services (Foley et al. 2005). Global Land Programme was global research network and originally named as the Global Land Project (GLP) (GLP 2005; Verburg et al. 2015) as a joint program of IGBP (International Geosphere-Biosphere Program) and IHDP (The International Human Dimension Programme on Global Environmental Change) funded by ICSU (International Council for Science). The GLP is current a core project of the Future Earth (http://www.futureearth.org/). GLP is an interdisciplinary community of science and practice fostering the study of land systems and the co-design of solutions for global sustainability (https://glp.earth/). The GLP Sapporo Nodal Office (currently the GLP Japan office since 2017), one of the thematic node of the GLP, based at Hokkaido University in Japan have being strongly linked to the ILTER thorough various joint activities (Shibata and Bourgeron 2011) such as co-organizing the ILTER annual meeting and workshops in 2011 (Sapporo, Japan) and some of the international training programs on Land-related sciences with socio-ecological topics for PhD students at the LTER sites in Japan. Number of relevant case studies on GLP has been going on in the various ILTER-EAP member networks (e.g., Trisurat and Duangkae 2011). The research and network activity of the GLP is growing under the Future Earth, international research platform providing the knowledge and support to accelerate transformations to a sustainable world (http://www.futureearth.org/), suggesting the further contributions and engagements of the ILTER would be valuable. It has been recognized in many countries that the needs of scientific knowledge and information to be utilized for establishment and/or reconstruction of solving systems for global and regional environmental problems. Multiple scientific communities and organizations have initiated the movement for establishing mutual linkages for executing research projects dealing with global and regional 12



East Asian Federation of Ecological Societies

EAFES

International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development

ICIMOD

environmental problems since early 2010s (Future Earth 2013). As a substantial movement for this trend, Future Earth was established as a major international research platform serving to provide the knowledge and information for accelerating transformations to a sustainable world. Future Earth Launched in 2015 is a 10-year initiative to advance Global Sustainability Science, build capacity in this rapidly expanding area of research and provide an international research agenda to guide natural and social scientists working inter-disciplinarily around the world. (http://www.futureearth.org/). As a novel and most challenging feature of Future Earth, its research communities are built up as a platform also for international and/or regional engagement to ensure that knowledge and information is produced through partnership with society and users of science (Cornell et al. 2013). This novel characteristic of Future Earth is called “trans-disciplinarity”. Since 2014 in Asian countries, Future Earth activities have been activated from multiple environmental aspects. It is expected that ecological information and research networks of ILTER-EAP will become increasingly important resources also for Future Earth in Asia, because Asian environments contains very high biological and geographical diversities. More active cooperation and partnership between two communities will provide novel methodologies and knowledge for global sustainability. ILTER-EAP has partnership with the East Asian Federation of Ecological Societies (EAFES). EAFES was initiated with the agreements from the presidents of three Ecological Societies of China, Japan and Korea at a meeting held in Beijing in February 2003 and meets biennially with academic conferences. The first conference was held in Mokpo, Korea in October 2004. At the EAFES Executive Committee Meeting held in March 2009, in Seoul, Korea, the decision to invite the ILTER-EAP as well as the Society of Subtropical Ecology (SSE) as members of EAFES was made. In October 2010, ILTER-EAP joined the 4th EAFES Congress as one of the sponsoring organizations of the Congress held in Sangju, Korea. Further participation of ILTER-EAP scientists in EAFES Conferences would enable them to foster the delivery of scientific findings based on the long-term ecological research, and then they may meet bi-lateral engagements for broader networks among the scientists in the region. ICIMOD (The International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development) is a regional intergovernmental learning and knowledge-sharing centre serving the eight regional member countries of the Hindu Kush Himalayas and the global mountain community for development action to secure a better future for the people and environment of the 13

extended Himalayan region (http://www.icimod.org/). In May 2014, in Chengdu, China, ICIMOD hosted an expert consultation meeting on long-term environmental and socioecological monitoring (LTESM), proposed two broad steps of assessment and understanding of the socio-ecological system followed by informed and inclusive decision making and identified key questions LTESM could address (Chettri et al. 2015), where the ILTER-EAP was invited to address the issue of network activities of ILTER-EAP and some implications to and challenges in monitoring ecosystems. At the Coordinating Committee Meeting of ILTER-EAP held in June 2014, in Quezon City, Philippines, ICIMOD was invited as an observer of ILTER-EAP. Further collaborative activities particularly for researches focusing on the altitudinal and latitudinal gradients including their mountain ecosystems should be developed under current climate change. References: Chettri N, Bubb P, Kotru R, Rawat G, Ghate R, Murthy MSR, Wallrapp C, Pauli H, Shrestha AB, Mool PK, Chaudhary D, Chaudhary RP, Mathur PK, Peili S, Wu Ning, Sharma E (2015) Long-term environmental and socio ecological monitoring in transboundary landscapes: An interdisciplinary implementation framework. ICIMOD Working Paper 2015/2. Kathmandu, Nepal Cornell S, Berkhout F, Tuinstra W, Tàbara JD, Jäger J, Chabay I, de Wit B, Langlais R, Mills D, Moll P, Otto IM, Petersen A, Pohl C, Kerkhoff L. van (2013) Opening up knowledge systems for better responses to global environmental change. Environ Sci Policy 28:6070 Foley JA, DeFries R, Asner GP, Barford C, Bonan G, Carpenter SR, Chapin FS, Coe MT, Daily GC, Gibbs HK, Helkowski JH, Holloway T, Howard EA, Kucharik CJ, Monfreda C, Patz JA, Prentice IC, Ramankutty N, Snyder PK (2005) Global Consequences of land use. Sci 309:570–574 GEO BON (2015) Bi-annual progress report 2014-2015. Group on Earth Observations Biodiversity Observation Network Secretariat. Leipzig. 68 pages. http://GEO BON.org/products/progress-reports/bi-annual-progress-report/. (Accessed on 2 February 2017) Global Land Project (GLP) (2005) Science plan and implementation strategy Global Land Project. IGBP Report No. 53/IHDP Report No. 19. IGBP Secretariat, Stockholm. Future Earth (2013) Future earth initial design: report of the transition team Paris. International Council for Science (ICSU), Paris, pp98 Kim E-S (2012) International Long-Term Ecological Research Network activities in the East Asia-Pacific Region and Biodiversity Monitoring, In: Nakano S, Yahara T, Nakashizuka T (eds.). The biodiversity observation network in the Asia-Pacific Region: toward further development of monitoring, ecological research monographs, Springer, Japan, pp 111-132 Nakano S, Yahara T, Nakashizuka T (eds.) (2012) The biodiversity observation network in the Asia-Pacific region: towards future development of monitoring. Springer, Tokyo. Ohte N, Nakaoka M, Shibata H (2012) ILTER and JaLTER: their missions and linkage to database development in the Asia–Pacific region. In: Nakano S, Yahara T, Nakashizuka

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T (eds) The biodiversity observation network in the Asia–Pacific region: toward further development of monitoring, Ecological Research Monographs, Springer Japan, Tokyo, pp 205–215 Shibata H, Branquinho C, McDowell WH, Mitchell MJ, Monteith DT, Tang J, Arvola L, Cruz C, Cusack D, Halada L, Kopáček J, Máguas C, Sajidu S, Schubert H, Tokuchi N, Záhora J (2015) Consequence of altered nitrogen cycles in the coupled human and ecological system under changing climate: The need for long-term and site-based research. AMBIO 44:178–193 Shibata H, Bourgeron P (2011) Challenge of international long-term ecological research network (ILTER) for socio-ecological land sciences. GLP News 7:13–14 Trisurat Y, Duengkae P (2011) Consequences of land use change on bird distribution at Sakaerat Environmental Research Station. J Ecol Field Biol 34(2): 203-214 Verburg PH, Crossman N, Erle C Ellis, Heinimann A, Hostert P,Mertz O, Nagendra H, Sikor T, Erb KH, Golubiewski N,Grau R, Grove M, Konaté S, Meyfroidt P, Parker PD Chowdhury RR, Shibata H, Thomson A, Zhen L (2015) Land system science and sustainable development of the earth system: a global land project perspective. Anthropoc 12:29–41



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