Long-term Research in Mountain Areas

Long-term research programs steadily gained in importance over the last decades, monitoring worldwide issues such as climate change, land use changes, deposition and accumulation of pollutants, acceleration of socio- economic evolution, and analyzing their influences on ecosystems. Ecological and socio-ecological questions in mountain areas can hardly be answered by short funding cycles such as 3-years-projects. Thus, long-term research involving different disciplines and scales is a promising way for gaining comprehensive knowledge to develop amendatory strategies. Long-term research means standardization of methods, long-term data storing and handling, and well-defined evaluation procedures.