The LTSER Zone Atelier Brest Iroise, created in 2012, is located in Brittany, NW-France. It aims at understanding the functioning and the long-term dynamics of the social-ecological system located along the land-ocean continuum. It combines work along different gradients and at different interfaces: between Earth compartments (sediment-water-atmosphere, land-ocean), tools (observation, experimentation, modeling), disciplines (especially between natural and human and social sciences) and between science and society. About half of the area (3000 km2) is terrestrial, including the watersheds of the Elorn (280 km2, 285,000 inhabitants mostly in the Brest area) and the Aulne (1820 km2, 70,000 inhabitants) rivers which are characterized by intensive agricultural practices. The Bay of Brest is a semi-enclosed coastal Bay, with an area of 180 km2. Part of this Bay and of the Aulne estuary is a Natura 2000 site, operated by the “Parc Naturel Regional d’Armorique” (PNRA). The marine part (3550 km2) of this land-ocean continuum is the Iroise Sea, comprising beaches, the continental shelf, the Sein Island and the Molène-Ouessant archipelago. This area corresponds to the limits of the first marine natural protected area created in France in 2007 (the “Parc Naturel Marin d’Iroise”, PNMI). This area presents exceptional natural and human heritage, including a rich marine biodiversity, human traditions and emblematic activities (e.g. great Scallop fishing).

The Balaton LTSER Platform is dedicated to the study of the largest shallow lake in Eastern Europe, situated in the mid-western part of Hungary. The site, which is a popular holiday resort, consists of the lake and its watershed. Lake Balaton went through considerable changes in trophic state during the past decades. After a period of anthropogenic eutrophication from the late 1960s until the mid '90s, restoration measures aimed at reducing the nutrient load reaching the lake led to gradual reoligotrophication. The Balaton Limnological Institute of the MTA Centre for Ecological Research, situated on the Tihany peninsula, had an important role in improving the water quality and the ecological status of the lake by providing sound scientific knowledge for the decision-makers and the general public.

The LTSER Zone Atelier Seine belongs to LTER-France network and is located in Seine River Basin. The ZA Seine general aim is the study of a whole region. How its inhabitants construct the aquatic environment, as well as the quality of surface- and ground-waters may be seen as the dominant scientific question. The question is posed at various scales in space (from sub-catchments to the whole basin), and in time (from historical analysis starting in the Middle-Age to prospective studies for the next century).

The Inselberg camp was established in 1986. It owes its name to the 411-m asl granite hill overtopping it. This site is ca 8 km North of the Arataye river. The camp itself is an ensemble of traditional ’carbets’, including one for the laboratory and one for the kitchen. The maximum housing capacity is 20 people.

The LTSER Zone Atelier Armorique belongs to LTER-France network and is located in nord westen France. The ZA Armorique conducts an interdisciplinary exploration of landscapes from urban areas to rural countryside, integrating social and environmental dynamics.

Biological invasions are to date acknowledged as significant environmental and economic threats, yet the identification of key ecological traits determining species invasiveness has remained elusive. One unappreciated source of variation concerns dietary flexibility and the ability to shift trophic position within invaded food webs. Trophic plasticity may greatly influence invasion success as it negates resource availability as a functional constraint for introduced individuals; in addition, the impact of an invader might increase with its dietary plasticity since a greater proportion of the resident assemblage of species and multiple trophic levels are affected. The validation case will focus on two invasive crustaceans widely distributed in marine and freshwater European waters, i.e., the Atlantic blue crab Callinectes sapidus and the Louisiana crayfish Procambarus clarkii. Key questions that will be addressed are: a) does the trophic position of C. sapidus vary between invaded Mediterranean and native west Atlantic habitats, testifying the occurrence of significant post-invasion shifts in dietary habits? b) does the trophic position of P. clarkii vary in invaded habitats, and which are the main ecological factors involved? c) do bioclimatic drivers influence broad‐scale spatial patterns of variation in the trophic position of C. sapidus and P. clarkii?

This dataset provide a broad perspective and information on taxonomic and morphological (shape and size) structure of phytoplankton communities in maldivian lagoon ecosystems.

The dataset contains abundance and body size data of benthic macroinvertebrate community of the Acquatina lagoon (Apulia, Italy). Data refer to 50 taxa and 14735 individuals.

The dataset contains abundance and body size data of the benthic macroinvertebrates communities of 3 coastal lagoons located in south Italy: Lesina, Varano and Alimini. Data refer to 69 taxa and 52112 individuals.

The dataset contains abundance and body size data of benthic macroinvertebrates collected in the LTER site Alimini (Apulia, Italy). Data refer to 54 taxa and 71213 individuals.