Long-Term Ecological Research Felix Müller · Cornelia Baessler · Hendrik Schubert · Stefan Klotz Editors Long-Term Ecological Research Between Theory and Application 123 Editors Felix Müller Cornelia Baessler University of Kiel Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Ecology Centre Research UFZ Olshausenstraße 75 Department of Community Ecology D-24118 Kiel Theodor-Lieser-Straße 4 Germany 06120 Halle [email protected] Germany [email protected] Hendrik Schubert University of Rostock, Stefan Klotz Institute of Biosciences Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Albert-Einstein-Straße 3 Research UFZ D-18055 Rostock Department of Community Ecology Germany Theodor-Lieser-Straße 4 [email protected] 06120 Halle Germany [email protected] ISBN 978-90-481-8781-2 e-ISBN 978-90-481-8782-9 DOI 10.1007/978-90-481-8782-9 Springer Dordrecht Heidelberg London New York Library of Congress Control Number: 2010925420 © Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2010 No part of this work may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, microfilming, recording or otherwise, without written permission from the Publisher, with the exception of any material supplied specifically for the purpose of being entered and executed on a computer system, for exclusive use by the purchaser of the work. Cover Images: Bavarian Forest National Park. Photos courtesy of Heinrich Rall. Printed on acid-free paper Springer is part of Springer Science+Business Media (www.springer.com) Preface The components of global change operate on different spatial and temporal scales. Scientific analyses of this issue, however, often deal with shorter time scales, due to the typical funding duration of research projects. In spite of this practice, long-term observation is indispensable for the detection of long-term processes and changes and thus is the foundation needed to develop sustainable strategies. Long-term obser- vation and monitoring imply that data are saved and documented and that they stay accessible for a long time after individual research or projects have been completed. This is in line with the long-term horizon of large-scale strategies for environmental protection and the sustainable use of nature, such as the EU Habitats Directive and the EU Water Framework Directive, which consider time periods of over 20 years for planning and observation. Long-term approaches are particularly important in investigations of environ- mental change, because the respective modifications usually occur only gradually, accompanied by larger temporal fluctuations garbling the trend. Under such circum- stances, only an adequately long observation period can be a sound basis to secure significant results and to support predictions. These long-dated phenomena are the subjects of the Long-Term Ecosystem Research Initiative (LTER). LTER is organized into networks ranging from the global to national scale. Networking is essential for the development of and tuning into common standards and research strategies. The national networks are especially important, as they provide the contacts to the scientific base, i.e., and the investigation sites. For example, the German network for long-term ecological research, LTER-D, is intended to be a platform for communication, documentation, and collaboration of scientists in long-term, system-oriented, and interdisciplinary environmental research in Germany. Actually it covers 17 sites and platforms all over Germany that are performing long-term ecological research in all relevant ecosystem types from the high mountains to the Wadden Sea. LTER-D is a member of the international LTER umbrella organization, ILTER, and the European regional network LTER-Europe. Both networks are exclusively defined by the commitment of the members to their shared goals. Founded in 2004, the German LTER is still in its developing and growing phase. The further development of LTER is closely tuned to recommendations of and cooperation with LTER-Europe and ILTER in order to make the networks powerful. LTER-D enables and advocates the collaboration between the main long- term environmental research projects and infrastructures such as The Terrestrial Environmental Observatories – TERENO, funded by the Helmholtz Association of v vi Preface German Research Centres and the Biodiversity Exploratories funded by the German Research Foundation. Additionally, universities and other research institutes, as well as the biosphere reserves and national parks of Germany, are the backbones of LTER-D. This publication is an initiative of the German network but is not a book focusing on the activities of LTER-D only. We tried to bring together theoretical ecological questions of long-term processes, as well as an international dimension of long- term monitoring, observations, and research. By doing so we produced an overview on different aspects of long-term ecological research. Aquatic as well as terrestrial ecosystems are represented, as concepts and results of case studies in both are dis- cussed. The different time dimensions, as well as scales from the community and ecosystems up to the landscape scale are included. Finally we tried to link research with application in different fields of ecology and to describe urgent infrastructural, methodological, and research demands and challenges for the future. This work was only possible by the joint effort of all authors from different countries and networks worldwide. We are also grateful to the publisher for the encouragement and support to complete the book. Kiel, Germany Felix Müller Halle, Germany Cornelia Baessler Rostock, Germany Hendrik Schubert Halle, Germany Stefan Klotz Contents Part I Introduction ............................. 1 1 Long-Term Ecosystem Research Between Theory and Application – An Introduction ................... 3 Felix Müller, Cornelia Baessler, Mark Frenzel, Stefan Klotz, and Hendrik Schubert Part II The Significance of Ecological Long-Term Processes ...... 9 2 Theoretical Demands for Long-Term Ecological Research and the Management of Long-Term Data Sets ............. 11 Felix Müller, Albrecht Gnauck, Karl-Otto Wenkel, Hendrik Schubert, and Michael Bredemeier 3 Long-Term Ecosystem Dynamics: Theoretical Concepts of Environmental Change ................... 27 Brian D. Fath and Felix Müller 4 The Scientific Potential of Environmental Monitoring ......... 39 Claus-G. Schimming, Sabine Augustin, and Rolf Karez Part III Exploring Long-Term Processes: International Experience ... 57 5 Twenty-Eight Years of the US-LTER Program: Experience, Results, and Research Questions ............. 59 James R. Gosz, Robert B. Waide, and John J. Magnuson 6 Introducing the Next Generation of Ecosystem Research in Europe: LTER-Europe’s Multi-Functional and Multi-Scale Approach ........................ 75 Michael Mirtl 7 The Role of Ecosystem Modelling for Long-Term Ecological Research 95 Albrecht Gnauck, Sven E. Jørgensen, and Bernhard Luther 8 The Role of Statistics for Long-Term Ecological Research ...... 107 Albrecht Gnauck, Bai-Lian Larry Li, Jean Duclos Alegue Feugo, and Bernhard Luther 9 The Role of Remote Sensing in LTER Projects ............. 131 Patrick Hostert, Frederick Swayne, Warren B. Cohen, and Jonathan Chipman vii viii Contents Part IV Concepts and Results: Presenting and Interpreting Long-Term Ecological Processes: Aquatic Ecosystem Research ........................ 143 10 Long-Term Ecological Change in the Northern Wadden Sea ..... 145 Justus E.E. van Beusekom, Christian Buschbaum, Martina Loebl, Peter Martens, and Karsten Reise 11 Long-Term Model Simulation of Environmental Conditions to Identify Externally Forced Signals in Biological Time Series ... 155 Karina Stockmann, Ulrich Callies, Bryan F.J. Manly, and Karen H. Wiltshire 12 Long-Term Investigations in Brackish Ecosystems .......... 163 Hendrik Schubert, Norbert Wasmund, and Kevin G. Sellner 13 Long-Term Ecological Research in Freshwater Ecosystems ..... 179 Jan Köhler 14 Long-Term Monitoring in Rivers of South Germany Since the 1970s – Macrophytes as Indicators for the Assessment of Water Quality and Its Implications for the Conservation of Rivers . 189 Peter Poschlod, Martijn Kos, Stephanie Roauer, Andreas Seemann, Oliver Wiesmann, Georg H. Zeltner, and Alexander Kohler Part V Concepts and Results: Presenting and Interpreting Long-Term Ecological Processes: Terrestrial Ecosystem Research ........................ 201 15 Long-Term Observations of Soil Mesofauna .............. 203 Hartmut Koehler and Viesturs Melecis 16 Tracing Biogeochemical Processes in Small Catchments Using Non-linear Methods ........................ 221 Gunnar Lischeid, Pavel Krám, and Christina Weyer 17 Long-Term Measurements to Quantify the Impact of Arable Management Practices on Deep Seepage and Nitrate Leaching ... 243 Uwe Schindler, Lothar Müller, Ralf Dannowski, Dietmar Barkusky, and Glyn Francis 18 Long-Term Ecosystem Research in a Beech Forest of Northern Germany .......................... 253 Filipa Tavares, Otto Fränzle, Felix Müller, and Claus-G. Schimming 19 A Conceptual Framework for Integrated Functional Landscape Monitoring in the Wider Countryside of Central Europe ............................ 263 Ralf-Uwe Syrbe, Wilfried Hierold, Olaf Bastian, and Matthias Röder 20 Temporal Changes and Spatial Determinants of Plant Species Diversity and Genetic Variation ................ 279 Cornelia Baessler, Stefan Klotz, and Walter Durka Contents ix 21 Integration of Long-Term Environmental Data