The scientific partners defined a number of narratives (the storylines), which contextualize the overall workflow of ECOPOTENTIAL in particular ecological, management and policy settings. A storyline links real-life issues which have broad relevance to many Protected Areas included in the ECOPOTENTIAL project. The storylines specify the needs for Earth Observation data and in-situ data for ecosystem modelling, ecosystem services, cross-scale topics, demands for future protections, policy and capacity building. While storylines do not have to cover actions in all the Work Packages of the project, they are aimed to be broad yet locally relevant, engaging with stakeholders and decision-makers. Each storyline is focused within at least one Protected Area and it puts the basis for further operational work in the field, adding specifics, defining a work plan, assigning tasks, and allocating resources (person-months) among partners. Storylines are iterative processes whose flow of activity and practical implementation evolves with the increase of knowledge and the demands by stakeholders.
Storylines list:
| ID | Title | Focal Areas | Lead Author |
| Mountains | |||
| M1a | Dynamics of high-altitude environments as a life-support system to wild herbivores: carbon and moisture cycling, biodiversity and landscape modification | Gran Paradiso National Park (Italy) | CNR |
| M1b | Dynamics of high-altitude environments as a life-support system to wild herbivores: carbon and moisture cycling, biodiversity and landscape modification | Hardangervidda National Park (HNP)(Norway) | UIB |
| M2 | Managing mountain forests undergoing changing disease / disturbance dynamics | Kalkalpen National Park (Austria) | EAA |
| M3 | Interaction between climate change driven bark beetle outbreaks and forest decline and nitrogen deposition driven inertia in ecosystem succession in mountain ecosystems | Bavarian Forest National Park (Germany)149,987 | UBT |
| M4a | Mountain biodiversity as a sentinel of environmental change | Gran Paradiso National Park (Italy) | CNR/PNGP |
| M4b | Mountain biodiversity as a sentinel of environmental change | Samaria National Park on Crete (Greece) | FORTH |
| M5 | Ecosystem services and biodiversity crisis across mountain lakes | Ohrid/Prespa (FYR of Macedonia) Gran Paradiso National Park (Italy) | CNR |
| M6 | Comparing ecosystem services provided by protected areas with non-protected areas in mountainous areas of Europe using EO | Swiss National Park, Landschaft Davos (Switzerland) | ETH |
| M7 | Vegetation Dynamics as a Proxy of Socio-ecological Transitions and Future Societal Benefits in Mountain PAs | Peneda-Gerês (Portugal) | ICETA |
| M8 | Ancient irrigation channels as management tools to buffer the impact of climate change in Sierra Nevada ecosystem services | Sierra Nevada (Spain) | UGR |
| M9 | Temporal evolution of ecosystem services in Sierra Nevada | Sierra Nevada (Spain) | UGR |
| M10 | Ecosystem Functional Types as an EBV to characterize functional diversity in Sierra Nevada | Sierra Nevada (Spain) | UGR |
| M11 | Structure, trends and drivers for the sub-arctic northern treeline in face of climate change and pathogen outbreaks in Abisko National Park, Sweden | Abisko National Park (Sweden) | UBT |
| Coastal/Marine | |||
| O1 | Improving coastal lagoon benefits under multiple pressures | Wadden Sea (The Netherlands) | DELTARES |
| O2 | Using Earth Observations to Better Map Whale Presence: balancing expectations for whale conservation and shipping in the Mediterranean Sea | LME Mediterranean | UBO |
| O3 | Conserving dynamic wetlands under combined global, regional and local stressors | Doñana (Spain) | CSIC |
| O4 | The impact of aquatic ecosystems provisioning services on tourism | Danube Delta (Romania) | UB |
| O5 | Evolution of wetland functions and services in the Camargue | Camargue (France) | TdV |
| O6 | Cross-scale management of ecosystem services in the Mediterranean Large Marine Ecosystem | LME Mediterranean | PoliMi |
| O7 | Invasive species impacting the functioning and services of island protected areas through losses of endemic species | La Palma (Spain) | UBT |
| Arid/semi-arid | |||
| A1 | Impact of residential settlements on the life supporting capacity of Har HaNegev arid environment | Har HaNegev (Israel) | BGU |
| A2 | Spatial-temporal dynamics of savanna ecosystems (tree-grass interactions, grass quality/quantity, biodiversity) as a life support system to wildlife and livestock production in and around Kruger National Park | Kruger National Park (South Africa) | CSIR |
| A3 | Interaction between agro-ecosystems and natural grasslands: stone graining and loss of natural ecosystems | Murgia Alta (Italy) | CNR |
| A4 | Mediterranean wood-pasture for people and nature | Alentejo Natura 2000 sites (Portugal) | IST |