12/07/2017
LTER site Ria de Aveiro (LTER-RAVE) is part of the Portuguese Roadmap of Research Infrastructures of Strategic Interest
In alignment with the European Strategic Forum on Research Infrastructures (ESFRI), set up in 2002, the national Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) launched a call for the Portuguese Roadmap of Research Infrastructures of strategic interest. LTER Portugal network was one of the selected RIs for Environmental Sciences (2014-2020), as part of a consortium termed PORBIOTA that includes PORBIOTA, LTER Portugal, ICOS Portugal and Azores BIOPORTAL.
The LTER network is a Long-Term Ecological Research network of sites, on a large spatial scale, where long-term ecological investigation is practiced, with the main objectives of monitoring and storing relevant data in ecology, establishing links among institutions and researchers and promote the exchange of data and knowledge. This organized network of LTER sites first appeared in the United States of America in the 1980's. In 1993 an international network was developed (ILTER) and, more recently, the European network of LTER sites was created.
The main objective of LTER-RAVE site is to contribute to the improvement of integrated management of coastal areas, from catchment to coast, involving the concepts of Science-policy-stakeholders interface. To achieve this objective research has been addressing a clear practical focus on: engagement of stakeholders at different levels; mapping and assessment of ecosystem processes and services using data and indicators available at national and European level; assessment of the impacts and emerging drivers of change; common frameworks and tools for the conservation and sustainable management of biodiversity and ecosystem services.
Home Page ILTER : https://www.ilternet.edu/