Environmental research networks

Our society needs to respond to environmental changes more and more quickly at the local, regional and global level. It is therefore important to know the causes and effects of such changes. This is the task of monitoring and long-term ecosystem research.

In order to understand environmental problems, it is necessary to examine ecosystems in their entire complexity. The whole range of potential factors and impacts must be considered. With long-term ecosystem monitoring significant trends can be identified. The purpose of ecosystem research and long-term ecosystem research is to explore mechanisms and causal relationships.

Human use has left an impact on the state of the environment in central Europe for centuries. Monitoring and research should not focus on near-natural or protected single landscape segments alone. Instead, entire regions need to be investigated as a whole. Apart from land use, aspects of natural science, economy and society are examined. These regions form Austria’s contribution to several international monitoring and research networks.