Regional Mountain Conference

Addressing complex and interlinked environmental challenges such as climate change, biodiversity loss, and socio-ecological transformations requires a collaborative, transdisciplinary, and data-driven approach. In response, the European Long-Term Ecosystem, Critical Zone and Socio-Ecological Research Infrastructure (eLTER RI) takes a whole system approach at continental scale. A central component of this approach is the eLTER Standard Observations framework, which standardises the collection of data across 65 variables relating to the five ecosystem spheres (geosphere,  hydrosphere, biosphere, sociosphere, and atmosphere), as well as major abiotic, biotic, and socio-ecological characteristics and fluxes (matter, energy, and water). This framework ensures the consistency and comparability of data across sites, thereby facilitating the development of large-scale data products and cross-site comparisons. The Austrian eLTER site network is currently implementing novel monitoring methods for understudied taxonomic groups, such as insects and soil biota. Here, we demonstrate how this new data is integrated with traditional monitoring of plants, lichens, bryophytes and birds to provide a more comprehensive understanding of ongoing biodiversity changes. Here we use the long-term research and monitoring site at Zöbelboden in the National Park Kalkalpen as an example. Our data shows how airborne nitrogen pollution and climate change have impacted plant, lichen, bryophyte, and bird species composition and diversity of the near-natural mixed mountain forests over the past three decades. Based on these results, we will discuss the potential and challenges of integrating DNA metabarcoding and bioacoustics for additional taxa.