Since 2018, the ICBM is a member of LTER-D - the German network for ecological and ecosystem long-term research. LTER-D serves as a platform for communication, documentation and collaboration in interdisciplinary environmental monitoring in Germany. The Coastal Observatory Spiekeroog is part of an LTER-site within the National Park Lower Saxony Wadden Sea registered as another LTER site. Meanwhile LTER-D consists of more than 30 sites all over Germany.
LTER-D is part of the international network ILTER (international long-term ecology research) as well as of the European network eLTER / LTER-Europe focusing on joint research strategies. The eLTER project ESFRI (European Strategic Forum for Research Infrastructures) will also have an influence on LTER-D in the coming years.

Haase, P., Frenzel, M., Klotz, S., Musche, M., Stoll, S. (2016). The long-term ecological research (LTER) network: Relevance, current status, future perspective and examples from marine, freshwater and terrestrial long-term observation. Ecological Indicators 65, 1-3. Doi: 10.1016/j.ecolind.2016.01.040