LTER Sweden

Last changed: 09 March 2023

LTER Sweden is a network of Swedish field stations conducting environmental research and monitoring. There are currently 20 LTER stations in Sweden.

LTER Sweden in a nutshell

LTER Sweden is based on a number of established and running instrumented stations for ecological research and monitoring. It is an open network and all Swedish research stations that fulfill some basic requirements are welcome to apply for membership, the Swedish LTER network provides its members opportunities for national and international cooperation, and access to state-of-the-art infrastructures for ecological field research through the European LTER network. LTER Sweden was founded in June 2010.

Specific aims of LTER Sweden

The LTER Sweden network should:

  • reinforce Swedish environmental research and assessment by building capacity for data sharing and research cooperation between long-term monitoring and research stations and their associates.
  • provide scientists with opportunities for research and environmental assessment at greater spatial and temporal scales than possible with data from one individual monitoring station.
  • encourage grant applications for research and environmental assessment activities not possible to conduct without the Swedish LTER network or international cooperation with other LTER organisations.
  • encourage new research areas and multidisciplinary research emerging from the network structure. 

LTER stations

LTER data

Meta data for all LTER sites associated to LTER Europe – DEIMS (open access)

Variables measured in LTER Europe in ECOPAR (public database).

LTER Organisation

LTER Sweden is one of 26 national networks belonging to the pan-European LTER network LTER Europe. Altogether, about 450 sites across Europe are included. Globally, LTER Europe is organised under the international organisation International LTER (ILTER).

The LTER network is comprised of relatively small scale ecological field stations and more extensive LTSER platforms (Long Term Socio-Ecological Research) which also include also the influence of the local human society on nature. LTER Sweden has one LTSER site (Bergslagen) and 20 LTER stations.

LTER Sweden is coordinated by Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), Ulf Grandin is coordinator.

To further reinforce Swedish ecosystem research, LTER Sweden cooperates with the SITES research infrastructure SITES, and all SITES stations are also members in LTER Sweden.

Organisation of the LTER Sweden network

The Swedish network is built on a bottom-up principle. Individual stations form the basis of the network and a central secretariat coordinates national activities and contacts with the European and International mother LTER organisations. The secretariat handles routine issues and is responsible for e.g. organising the annual meeting, maintaining the web site, updates and contacts with ILTER, LTER Europe, end users and stakeholders.

LTER organisation

Get involved: LTER Sweden network and eLTER Sites and Platforms Forum

National LTER coordination teams are key contacts and pivots for the respective national processes. Active engagement in national LTER network is critical for feeding into the concepts and decision making at eLTER level.

Sites and Platforms Forum (SPF) is a specific platform for eLTER Sites and Platform coordinators (SPCs) for communication and exchange directly with the eLTER team engaged in the European process or for establishing joint activities (e.g. training) as a peer group across countries.

Application forms (Application form part 1 and Application form part 2) for becoming a member of the Swedish LTER network


Background document