The LTER site was established in 2017 in a conservation area, known in English as the State Park of Campos do Jordão, which occupies an area over 8,000 ha in the montane belt of the Atlantic Forest in the Mantiqueira Range in south-eastern Brazil. The Park has been a conservation area since 1941, maintained by the State of São Paulo.
The LTER is operating an integrated research programme, conceived in the vein of what Collins et al. (2011) have proposed as a "conceptual framework for long-term social-ecological research", aligned with the main objectives of US LTER programme (Patterns and control of primary production [biogeochemistry]; Spatial and temporal distribution of selected populations [Araucaria angustifolia and its biotic interactions with its soil symbionts, dispersers and frugivores] for representing trophic structure; Patterns and control of organic matter accumulation in surface layers and sediments [topo-hydro-pedo gradients]; Patterns of inorganic nutrient inputs [monitoring of dry deposition of N and other elements] and their movement through the soil [suction cups], subterranean and surface waters; Patterns and frequency of disturbance [climate; fire; past land use; illegal hunting; introduction of exotic wildlife]; Changes in land cover and land use [past: logging, plantation forestry and grazing; present: restoration of exotic plantations to native forest cover; tourism development]; Human – environment interactions [park management; urban development; land use on neighbouring estates; ecosystem services].
The Park has had a manual meteorological station since ca. 1974; currently the LTER operates an automatic station; the national water authority operates a hydrological / pluviometry station inside the Park. Since 2017, a Delta system has been used to measure N deposition. An Eddy covariance flux system is being planned to be acquired in 2020. Prenart solutions cups are being installed to quantify solute chemistry in forest and open vegetation. The PELD-PECJ participates in the LIFE Plan biodiversity project (continuous sonic and camera recording of wildlife, spore / continuous pollen collecting and flying insect trapping, and periodic analyses of soil microbial composition). The site also participates in the worldwide SoilTemp project, measuring soil and superficial microclimate. There is an LTER representative in the Park Management Council that collaborates in implementing the social component of the integrated programme (supplemented by a companion modelling approach).
Information based on published and grey literature is being compiled on previous research in the Park and a biodiversity database is being fed by the information. A pilot project has been initiated on biodiversity (habitat x land use x phylogeny).
The LTER serves as a nucleus for collaborative comparative LTER research in mountain areas in South America (South American Montane Forests in a Warming Climate - a project funded by NERC (UK) and FAPESP (Brazil).
Reference
Collins SL et al. (2011) An integrated conceptual framework for long-term social-ecological research. Front. Ecol. Environ. 9:351-357. doi: 10.1890/100068
