Long-Term Ecosystem Research Between Theory and Application – An Introduction

Abstract

Ecosystems are dynamic entities. Triggered by external and internal factors, ecosystems change on a multitude of spatial and temporal scales. Nevertheless, in the past, the analysis of ecosystem dynamics has had top priority with reference to short time spans. The exploration of ecological interrelations usually has been carried out within a time period of 3 years, due to the typical funding and qualification duration of environmental research projects. As a consequence, to a great extent, the impacts of changes in the long-term have been neglected. This tendency has provoked a lack of information and methodological know how in this area. That strategy of course is not consistent with the long-term, precautionary way of thinking and acting expressed in political manifestations like the 2010 biodiversity target of the CBD or the EU Habitats Directive, which is an essential component of the sustainability principle. Additionally, real life has demonstrated the general significance of long-term processes: global climate change with its multiple consequences has fostered the awareness that there is an essential lack of scientific knowledge to build the ground for answers to the urgent long-term problems of mankind and the biosphere per se arising from these issues.