The ILTER (International Long Term Ecological Research Network) was founded in 1993. The mission of ILTER is to facilitate long-term ecological research all over the world. Long-term monitoring / research is essential to understand processes that govern ecosystem dynamics and biodiversity. From 1993 to 2018, ILTER becomes a unique globe network comprising of hundreds of research sites from 40 formal ILTER members across several continents, including America, Europe, Asia, Oceania and Africa. The annual meetings have been the platform of communications. The ILTER-EAP (ILTER-East Asia and Pacific Regional Network) was established in 1995 to convene scientists in the region to foster collaborative research and capacity building in long-term ecological research, and the biennial conferences have been the platform of communications. With efforts over a quarter century, the ILTER network connects research sites located in a wide array of ecosystems to help understand environmental changes across multiple spatial and temporal scales. With such extensive long-term studies, ecologists were able to connect ecological processes occurring at small areas to global patterns and to link annual patterns to decadal dynamics. In this joint conference, more than 200 ecologists from at least 25 nations will present their studies and exchange their idea. The JaLTER (Japan LTER Network) closed meeting and TERN (Taiwan Ecological Research Network) annual meeting are also to join in this conference.
Long-term ecological data are especially important when we are facing a changing environment where climate change is a happening at an alarming rate and extreme weather events are becoming more frequent. With the progress of long-term ecological research, ILTER’s vision is to develop international ecological and socio-economic solutions through question-driven research, and also with a unique ability to design collaborative, site-based projects, ILTER is able to compare data from a global network of sites, monitor and detect global trends. This vision is incorporated into the theme of this conference.
