Forest 4.0 was participated at the 1st eLTER Science Conference, held in Tampere, Finland, from 23 to 27 June 2025. The event brought together researchers, stakeholders, and institutions across Europe to advance common understanding of ecosystems through a pan-European network of sites and platforms. eLTER stands for Long-Term Ecosystem Research and plays a key role in global efforts to study and protect ecosystems over extended timescales. The conference emphasized collaborative, inter- and transdisciplinary approaches, covering fields such as bio geoscience, biodiversity research, and social ecology.
Two ICP Integrated monitoring stations – Aukštaitija and Žemaitija IMS – now represent the Lithuanian eLTER network. Aukštaitija IMS serves as a cornerstone of the Forest 4.0 research infrastructure, which is actively expanding.
Forest 4.0 researchers delivered several presentations at the conference, including “Mixed coniferous hemi-boreal forest understory vegetation long-term monitoring data analysis: Similarities versus peculiarities” (presented by A. Pivoras), “Hemi-boreal forest ecosystem under the pressures of global environmental changes” (A. Augustaitis), “Single tree health monitoring using UAV-based LiDAR data” (D. Jonikavičius), “Forest 4.0 – Research Infrastructure to Support the Operationalization of Digitalization in Maintenance and Management of Forest Ecosystems” (co-authored by nearly the whole Vytautas Magnus University Forest 4.0 team).
As part of the conference program, participants visited the SMEAR II station in Finland – one of the world’s most advanced forest research facilities for studying ecosystem–atmosphere interactions. The conference provided an excellent opportunity to revisit legacy datasets, explore cutting-edge research methods, and forge new scientific collaborations.