History
In Portugal the LTER national network was officially created in 2011 in a process leaded by the Portuguese Ecological Society (SPECO). The LTsER Portugal includes two LTSER platforms and two sites representing key ecosystem types: a Mediterranean multi-use forest system (LTsER Montado Platform), estuaries (LTsER Estuários Platform), freshwater (LTER Sabor Site) and transitional waters (LTER Ria de Aveiro Site). These were selected on the basis of its social and ecological relevance, available datasets, the enrolment with the private and public sector and the capacity to generate complementary funds.
The Montado is a savannah-like landscape, dominated by cork and holm oaks, combining, in a single space, forestry, extensive livestock husbandry and pastures cultivation along with other traditional uses. Due to the variability found in montado landscapes resulting from different climate-soil interactions, main tree species and land-use patterns, 5 core research and monitoring (R&M) stations were selected to cover the range of climate and soil types. The LTsER Montado network is a result of collaborations within different institutions. Baseline funding provided by the national agency for science and technology (FCT - LTER/BIA-BEC/0048/2009) allowed the implementation of the LTsER Montado platform. The monitorisation of montado indicators of change, the valuation of ecosystem services provided and the creation of a web-based platform for data and information dissemination are the main objectives of the LTsER Montado project. The LTsER Montado has 15 participative institutions with potential to include others in the next years.