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Contact CEH NORA team at noraceh@ceh.ac.ukThe NERC and CEH trademarks and logos ('the Trademarks') are registered trademarks of NERC in the UK and other countries, and may not be used without the prior written consent of the Trademark owner. 'ecosystem services' were in a state of decline, while several others, including functions 48 provided by soils and wild species diversity, were in a reduced or degraded state. The UK 49NEA identified a range of pressures, often acting in concert, contributing to this degradation, 50 including urbanisation, intensive agriculture, pollution and climate change. It argued that the 51 benefits derived from ecosystems were currently undervalued in an economic sense and that 52 future sustainable development would require their true worth to be taken into account in 53 any decision-making process. Among its conclusions the NEA states: 'In order to refine our 54 understanding of the fundamental ecosystem processes underpinning the delivery of 55 ecosystem services we need to both extend our observations and experimental 56 manipulations, and also improve our models of the key mechanisms.' 57 Of course, concern over the decline in the extent and quality of natural environments and 58 resources extends back well before the recent articulation of concern over ecosystem 59 services. Researchers, conservationists and decision-makers have long recognized the 60 importance of understanding processes that determine how ecosystems function, how and 61 why they may be changing, and how resilient they are to both short term and more 62 sustained disturbances. This need is served through a continuously evolving scientific 63 understanding founded on inter-dependent disciplines of repeated observation, controlled 64 experiments and process-based and mathematical modelling (Parr et al., 2003). 65The first of these disciplines requires precise measurements to be made over much longer 66 periods of time than may be covered by standard scientific research grants (typically of 3-5 67 years duration). Indeed, strong natural variation in climate at a range of frequencies dictates 68 that several decades of data may be necessary to identify and quantify some key underlying 69 trends in the environment resulting, for example, from climate change or changing pollution 70 emission policy. The establishment and maintenance of systems of consistent, repeated 71 measurements over long periods, therefore, requires a clear long-term vision, sustained and 72 often substantial investment and the patience of funding bodies -particularly during the

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