Multi-Site Research

With partners across Europe, Alternet is uniquely equipped to support international biodiversity and ecosystem research capacity. The MSR (Multi-Site Research) initiative, a flagship activity of Alternet, supports innovative projects that take full advantage of our pan-European range of research sites and diverse infrastructure.

The MSR initiative invites research projects on fundamental ecological questions and socio-ecological issues. Potential subjects range from ecosystem functioning to eco-political issues, and research techniques (from field surveys and lab analysis to interviews and citizen science) are welcome. With Alternet’s wide-spanning distribution of partners, MSR projects may include the majority of bio-geographical and socio-economic regions in Europe.

Lead Partner

• BC-CAS

Participating Alternet Partners

• BC-CAS, IGB, INRAE, NINA, SLU

Outputs

• Press Release – Alternet News
• Thematic Series, Movement Ecology
• Big-data approaches lead to an increased understanding of the ecology of animal movement, Science
• A role for lakes in revealing the nature of animal movement using high dimensional telemetry systems, Movement Ecology
• Positioning aquatic animals with acoustic transmitters, Methods in Ecology and Evolution
• The power and promise of interdisciplinary international research networks to advance movement ecology, Movement Ecology
• Lennox, R.J., Afonso, P., Birnie-Gauvin, K., Dahlmo, L.S., Nilsen, C.I., Arlinghaus, R., Cooke, S.J., Souza, A.T., Jarić, I., Prchalová, M., Říha, M., Westrelin, S., Twardek, W., Aspillaga, E.,Kraft, S., Šmejkal, M., Baktoft, H., Brodin, T., Hellström, G., Villegas-Ríos, D., Vollset, K.W., Adam, T., Sortland, L.K., Bertram, M.G., Crossa, M., Vogel, E.F., Gillies, N. and Reubens, J. (2023). Electronic tagging and tracking aquatic animals to understand a world increasingly shaped by a changing climate and extreme weather events. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences (in press)

Lead Partner

• INBO

Participating Alternet Partners

• INBO, NINA, JHI, SLU, WENR

Lead partner

• SLU

Participating Alternet partners

• SLU, SYKE, UFZ, ILE-SAS, CREAF

Status: complete

Outputs

• Report to be uploaded on ALTER-Net website soon. In addition two articles from this work are planned; one on the microbiology on the tea, and one where they will combine all the data.

Lead partner

• SLU

Participating Alternet partners

• INBO, IAES, UFZ, Unibuc, MTA-OK, CEH, Irstea

Status: complete

Outputs

• Milotić, T., Quidé, S., Van Loo, T., Hoffmann, M.  (2017). Linking functional group richness and ecosystem functions of dung beetles: an experimental quantification. Oecologia 183(1), 177-190. doi:10.1007/s00442-016-3756-5
• Elham Omidezadeh Ardali, Pejman Tahmasebi, Dries Bonte, Tanja Milotić, Iraj Rahimi Pordanjani, Maurice Hoffmann (2016). Ecological Sustainability in Rangelands: The Contribution of Dung Beetles in Secondary Seed Dispersal (Case study: Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province, Iran). European Journal of Sustainable Development 5, 3, 133-139. DOI: 10.14207/ejsd.2016.v5n3p133
• Milotić T, Baltzinger C, Eichberg C, et al. Functionally richer communities improve ecosystem functioning: Dung removal and secondary seed dispersal by
  dung beetles in the Western Palaearctic. J Biogeogr. 2018;00:1–13. DOI:10.1111/jbi.13452

Lead partner

• UFZ

Participating Alternet partners

• UFZ, EAA, CEH, SLU, NINA, ILE-SAS, UNIBUC, SYKE, Irstea, MTA-OK

Status: complete

Outputs

• Read the full report

Lead partner

• UFZ

Participating Alternet partners

• UFZ, INBO, EAA, SLU, ILE-SAS, UFZ, UNIBUC, SYKE, CEH

Status: complete

Outputs

• Bernhardt-Römermann, M., Gray, A., Vanbergen, A.J., Bergès, L., Bohner, A., Brooker, R.W., De Bruyn, L., De Cinti, B., Dirnböck, T., Grandin, U., et al. 2011. Functional traits and local environment predict vegetation responses to disturbance: a pan-European multi-site experiment. Journal of Ecology. 99:777-787. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2745.2011.01794.x
• Read full report