Leveraging LTER Sites for Sustainable Management: A Stakeholder Perspective

The KKL-JNF (Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael – Jewish National Fund) Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) network was established approximately 30 years ago, beginning with its first research site, Park Shaked. The network's goal was to develop methods for managing dryland ecosystems and to study management interventions in arid regions under changing climate conditions. Over the years, the network has expanded, adding additional long-term research sites across diverse ecosystems managed by KKL, including forests and various types of open lands. Furthermore, long-term monitoring plots have been incorporated. Today, the KKL-JNF LTER network includes five long-term research sites and approximately 80 long-term monitoring plots. These plots measure parameters such as rainfall amounts, rainfall infiltration depth, soil moisture content, plant species composition, and material and energy fluxes (e.g., carbon fixation and biomass production). The purpose of the KKL-JNF LTER network is to enhance understanding of ecological processes (e.g., desertification) and their impacts on ecosystem structure (such as landscape changes and species composition shifts), as well as to monitor ecosystem functioning and stability in the face of climate change. The knowledge gained from these studies helps explain how the system operate and reconstruct processes occurring within it, such as surface runoff in desert ecosystems. The data collected also aids in assessing the health and vitality of forests, quantifying ecosystem services, and managing forests and open lands sustainably. The link between long-term research findings, monitoring, and land management is a key element of KKL's land management practices. The uniqueness of the KKL-JNF LTER network lies in its measurement of uniform parameters across diverse ecosystems, including extreme arid, semi-arid, and Mediterranean environments. This diversity has enabled the implementation of two network-wide studies, involving over 15 researchers: The implementation of uniform research protocols; A study of the relationship between climate change and ecological systems, focusing on rainfall patterns, temperature changes, heatwaves, and primary production processes. The implementation of uniform research protocols; A study of the relationship between climate change and ecological systems, focusing on rainfall patterns, temperature changes, heatwaves, and primary production processes. We will present an overview of the network, highlight the uniqueness of the sites, and discuss the process of developing a successful network study. The long-term ecological research network provides a comprehensive database to support Israel's response to climate change and its ability to address key challenges related to this issue. The findings serve as a foundation for implementing management strategies aimed at mitigating the impacts of droughts and floods.