Through litter decomposition enormous amounts of carbon is emitted to the atmosphere. Numerous large-scale decomposition experiments have been conducted focusing on this fundamental soil process in order to understand the controls on the terrestrial carbon transfer to the atmosphere. However, previous studies were mostly based on site-specific litter and methodologies, adding major uncertainty to syntheses, comparisons and meta-analyses across different experiments and sites. In the TeaComposition initiative, the potential litter decomposition is investigated by using standardized substrates (Rooibos and Green tea) for comparison of litter mass loss at 336 sites (ranging from -9 to +26 °C MAT and from 60 to 3113 mm MAP) across different ecosystems. In this study we tested the effect of climate (temperature and moisture), litter type and land-use on early stage decomposition (3 months) across nine biomes. We show that litter quality was the predominant controlling factor in early stage litter decomposition, which explained about 65% of the variability in litter decomposition at a global scale. The effect of climate, on the other hand, was not litter specific and explained <0.5% of the variation for Green tea and 5% for Rooibos tea, and was of significance only under unfavorable decomposition conditions (i.e. xeric versus mesic environments). When the data were aggregated at the biome scale, climate played a significant role on decomposition of both litter types (explaining 64% of the variation for Green tea and 72% for Rooibos tea). No significant effect of land-use on early stage litter decomposition was noted within the temperate biome. Our results indicate that multiple drivers are affecting early stage litter mass loss with litter quality being dominant. In order to be able to quantify the relative importance of the different drivers over time, long-term studies combined with experimental trials are needed.

Summary1. Political commitment and policy instruments to halt biodiversity loss require robust data and a diverse indicator set to monitor and report on biodiversity trends. Gaps in data availability and narrow-based indicator sets are significant information barriers to fulfilling these needs. 2. In this paper, the reporting requirements of seven global or European biodiversity policy instruments were reviewed using the list of Essential Biodiversity Variables (EBVs) as an analytical framework. The reporting requirements for the most comprehensive policy instrument, the United Nation's Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020, were compared with the indicator set actually used for its reporting, to identify current information gaps. To explore the extent to which identified gaps could be bridged, the potential contribution of data mobilization, modelling and further processing of existing data was assessed. 3. The information gaps identified demonstrate that decision-makers are currently constrained by the lack of data and indicators on changes in the EBV classes Genetic Composition and, to a lesser extent, Species Populations for which data is most often available. Furthermore, the results show that even when there is a requirement for specific information for reporting, the indicators used may not be able to provide all the information, for example current Convention of Biological Diversity indicators provide relatively little information on changes in the Ecosystem Function and Ecosystem Structure classes. This gap could be partly

1. Restoration is an increasingly central theme in river ecology. Recent studies have highlighted the importance of the species pool in the surrounding river network for determining colonisation of restored river reaches by both invertebrates and fish. 2. Using a comprehensive data set of 21 river restoration sites and 292 sites in the immediate surroundings, we tested the influence of distance to nearest colonist source on invertebrate colonisation based on a comparison of river network distances and Euclidean distances, expecting river network distances would better align with colonisation rates. We then assessed the importance of dispersal distance in relation to several other parameters, such as the number and intensity of barriers along the river network, surrounding taxon pool occupancy rate, physical characteristics of the restored sites and restoration techniques used in determining colonisation of commonly occurring benthic invertebrates. 3. We hypothesised that (i) distance would be critical, with colonisation of restored sites declining with increasing distance; (ii) barriers between these sites would be a minor, but taxon-specific, influence on the colonisation; and (iii) the higher the regional pool occupancy rate of a certain taxon, the higher its probability of presence at a restored site. 4. Overall, taxon pool occupancy rate was the most important driver of colonisation likelihood, followed by distance to nearest source, with the first kilometre particularly important. The effect of barriers was minor but significant, and taxon identity had no effect on the predictive ability of the model. Factors associated with the restoration projects such as techniques used and physical characteristics had minor influences, being completely outweighed by taxon pool and dispersalrelated factors. 5. To gauge the likelihood of successful outcomes of habitat restoration projects, we suggest it is important to assess regional taxon pools and ensure distances between healthy populations are minimised. These results clearly emphasise the importance of spatial planning for restoration projects.

Global change effects on biodiversity and human wellbeing call for improved long-term environmental data as a basis for science, policy and decision making, including increased interoperability, multifunctionality, and harmonization. Based on the example of two global initiatives, the International Long-Term Ecological Research (ILTER) network and the Group on Earth Observations Biodiversity Observation Network (GEO BON), we propose merging the frameworks behind these initiatives, namely ecosystem integrity and essential biodiversity variables, to serve as an improved guideline for future site-based long-term research and monitoring in terrestrial, freshwater and coastal ecosystems. We derive a list of specific recommendations of what and how to measure at a monitoring site and call for an integration of sites into co-located site networks across individual monitoring initiatives, and centered on ecosystems. This facilitates the generation of linked comprehensive ecosystem monitoring data, supports synergies in the use of costly infrastructures, fosters cross-initiative research and provides a template for collaboration beyond the ILTER and GEO BON communities.