European Forest Ecosystem Research Network (EFERN)

The European Forest Ecosystem Research Network (EFERN) was set up in 1996 as one result of the Ministerial Conferences on the Protection of European Forests in Strasbourg 1990 and Helsinki 1993. EFERN is a pan-European network initiative with the aim to promote coordination of forest ecosystem research for sustainable forest management and to improve communication among scientists working in that field.

The EFERN-team has issued a catalogue (CATRES) of research topics which are recommended for future investigation. An important perspective is to encourage and organize interdisciplinary research programs and transnational cooperation.

Another major achievement of EFERN is a European network for forest ecology. The network consists of institutions and a working team of representatives from most European countries being active to advance the objectives of Resolution S6. The technical core of the network is the database on the Internet providing information on 1,500 institutions from 38 European countries, projects, and scientific experts dealing with forest ecosystem research. The forest institutions directory on the database, the most complete in Europe, serves as a base for a constant entry of new research projects and experts.

In the EFERN project database only meta-information, needed to identify projects (title and keywords) and project participants (research units and experts), is stored. If available, links point to the Internet homepages of the research units where full project information can be found. Data entry and update is done by users via www-online forms and by the database administration. If you are involved in a research project dealing with any aspect of forest ecosystems in Europe, you are welcome to submit your data at [http://ifff.boku.ac.at/efern/dataentry.html].

The Concerted Action EFERN S6 was funded by the European Commission (FAIR) and officially ended by March 31, 1999. At present, the EFERN database is sponsored by the Austrian Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry and maintained by the Institute of Forest Entomology, Forest Pathology & Forest Protection, BOKU -- University of Natural; Resources and Applied Life Sciences, Vienna, Austria.

A follow-up to EFERN -- The European Network for long-term Forest Ecosystem and Landscape Research (ENFORS) -- was initiated in December 2000. ENFORS is hosted by the European Co-operation in the field of Scientific and Technical Research (COST), an intergovernmental organization of 32 European nations for cooperation in science and technology connected to the European Union (EU). (NOTE: There is a separate metadata report for ENFORS registered in Mercury.)

欧洲森林生态系统研究网络（European Forest Ecosystem Research Network，简称EFERN）于1996年成立，系1990年斯特拉斯堡与1993年赫尔辛基两次欧洲森林保护部长级会议的成果之一。该网络为一项泛欧洲倡议，旨在协调面向可持续森林管理的森林生态系统研究，并促进该领域科研人员间的学术交流。

EFERN工作组已发布研究主题目录（CATRES），推荐用于未来的研究方向。其核心愿景之一是推动并组织跨学科研究计划与跨国合作。

EFERN的另一项重要成果是构建了欧洲森林生态学网络。该网络由欧洲多数积极推进S6决议目标的国家的机构及代表工作组组成。网络的技术核心为互联网数据库，收录了来自38个欧洲国家的1500家机构、相关项目及从事森林生态系统研究的科研专家的相关信息。该数据库中的欧洲森林机构名录为欧洲范围内最完备的同类名录，可作为持续收录新增研究项目与专家的基础平台。

EFERN项目数据库仅存储用于识别项目（标题与关键词）及项目参与者（研究单元与专家）的元数据。若存在可用链接，可跳转至对应研究单元的互联网主页以获取完整项目信息。数据的录入与更新由用户通过在线网页表单及数据库管理方完成。若您参与过欧洲森林生态系统相关领域的研究项目，欢迎通过[http://ifff.boku.ac.at/efern/dataentry.html]提交您的项目数据。

协调行动项目EFERN S6由欧盟委员会（European Commission，FAIR）资助，于1999年3月31日正式终止。目前，EFERN数据库由奥地利联邦农业与林业部赞助，并由维也纳自然资源与应用生命科学大学（BOKU -- University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences, Vienna, Austria）下属的森林昆虫学、森林病理学与森林保护研究所负责维护。

EFERN的后续项目——欧洲长期森林生态系统与景观研究网络（European Network for long-term Forest Ecosystem and Landscape Research，简称ENFORS）——于2000年12月启动。ENFORS由欧洲科学与技术研究合作组织（European Co-operation in the field of Scientific and Technical Research，简称COST）托管，该组织为隶属于欧洲联盟（EU）的政府间科技合作机构，由32个欧洲国家组成。（注：ENFORS的元数据报告已单独在Mercury中注册。）