Distributed environmental research infrastructures are important to support assessments of the effects of global change on landscapes, ecosystems and society. These infrastructures need to provide continuity to address long-term change, yet be flexible enough to respond to rapid societal and technological developments that modify research priorities. We used a horizon scanning exercise to identify and prioritize emerging research questions for the future development of ecosystem and socio-ecological research infrastructures in Europe. Twenty research questions covered topics related to (i) ecosystem structures and processes, (ii) the impacts of anthropogenic drivers on ecosystems, (iii) ecosystem services and socio-ecological systems and (iv), methods and research infrastructures. Several key priorities for the development of research infrastructures emerged. Addressing complex environmental issues requires the adoption of a whole-system approach, achieved through integration of biotic, abiotic and socio-economic measurements. Interoperability among different research infrastructures needs to be improved by developing standard measurements, harmonizing methods, and establishing capacities and tools for data integration, processing, storage and analysis. Future research infrastructures should support a range of methodological approaches including observation, experiments and modelling. They should also have flexibility to respond to new requirements, for example by adjusting the spatio-temporal design of measurements. When new methods are introduced, compatibility with important long-term data series must be ensured. Finally, indicators, tools, and transdisciplinary approaches to identify, quantify and value ecosystem services across spatial scales and domains need to be advanced.

Centre for Ecology and Hydrology Bangor LL57 4NW UK

Centre for Ecology and Hydrology Lancaster LA1 4AP UK

Centre for Ecology and Hydrology Wallingford OX10 8EF UK

CNRS and Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris 1 rue Jussieu 75238 Paris cedex 05 France

Department of Biology University of Fribourg Chemin du Musée 10 CH 1700 Fribourg Switzerland

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering The Pennsylvania State University 212 Sackett University Park PA 16802 USA

Department of Ecology University of Innsbruck Sternwartestrasse 15 6020 Innsbruck Austria; Eurac research Viale Druso 1 39100 Bozen Bolzano Italy

Department of Sustainable Agro ecosystems and Bioresources Research and Innovation Centre Fondazione Edmund Mach Via E Mach 1 38010 San Michele all'Adige Italy

Earth and Environmental Systems Institute 2217 EES Building The Pennsylvania State University University Park PA 16828 USA

Estación Biológica de Doñana Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas Avda Américo Vespucio 26 Isla de la Cartuja 41005 Sevilla Spain

Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research UFZ Department of Community Ecology Theodor Lieser Str 4 06120 Halle Germany

Institute for Atmospheric and Earth System Research Forest Sciences Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry University of Helsinki P O Box 27 00014 University of Helsinki Finland

Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics University of Amsterdam P O Box 94248 1090 GE Amsterdam The Netherlands

Institute of Ecology and Earth Sciences University of Tartu Lai St 40 Tartu 51005 Estonia

Institute of Landscape Ecology SAS Branch Nitra Akademicka 2 949 10 Nitra Slovakia

National Research Council of Italy Institute for Agricultural and Forestry Systems in the Mediterranean Via Patacca 85 1 80056 Ercolano NA Italy

Northwest German Forest Research Institute Grätzelstr 2 37079 Göttingen Germany

School for Forest Management Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences PO Box 43 SE 739 21 Skinnskatteberg Sweden

School of Earth Sciences University of Bristol Wills Memorial Building Queen's Road Bristol BS8 1RJ United Kingdom

School of Environmental Engineering Technical University of Crete University Campus 73100 Chania Greece

Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum Frankfurt Department of River Ecology and Conservation Clamecystr 12 63571 Gelnhausen Germany; University of Duisburg Essen Faculty of Biology 45141 Essen Germany

Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences P O Box 7050 SE 750 07 Uppsala Sweden

The Czech Academy of Sciences Institute of Botany Department of Invasion Ecology CZ 252 43 Průhonice Czech Republic; Department of Ecology Faculty of Science Charles University Viničná 7 CZ 128 44 Prague Czech Republic

University of Bucharest Research Center for Systems Ecology and Sustainability Spl Independentei 91 95 050095 Bucharest Romania

ZRC SAZU Karst Research Institute Titov trg 2 SI 6230 Postojna Slovenia; UNESCO Chair on Karst Education University of Nova Gorica Glavni trg 8 SI 5271 Vipava Slovenia

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