REFERENCE PERSON:

Ilona Mészaros

University of Debrecen (UNIDEB) is one of the largest integrated University and offers the largest university training spectrum in the country.

Two Departments of Biological and Ecological Institutes of Faculty of Sciences and Technology are involved in the present project: Department of Botany and Department of Applied Ecology.

Department of Botany carries out basic and applied research on interactions between plants and environment. It focuses on the effects of local and global environmental changes on structure and function of native borad-leaved forests and sandy grasslands.

Research activity of Department of Applied Ecology is related to monitoring and screening the effects of anthropogenic pressures (e.g. surface mining, water pollution) on terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems and develops methods on restoration.

Both departments have large experience in application of monitoring methods and data collection in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems and use of effective restoration and bioremediation methods in different environments.

Research activity of both departments is connected to long term ecological sites which are partly involved in National Long-Term Ecological Research Network (LTER). Hungarian LTER includes three different sites which are representative for the zonal biomes of the country, and have proper scientific background and long term data base from earlier research activity. In National LTER activity of the two departments involved in the present project is related to a forest site (Sikfőkút Project), aquatic site (Lake Balaton) and to a non-formal LTER site acidic sandy grassland site (Nyírség).

Long Term Sites maintained by UNIDEB are suggested and accepted to be involved in European LTER Network.