Skip to main content
Go to the home page of the European Commission (opens in new window)
English English
CORDIS - EU research results
CORDIS

Vulnerability of soil organic carbon to climate change in permafrost and dryland ecosystems

Objective

Soil organic matter provides essential ecosystem services and is one of the largest C reservoirs on Earth, holding more than three-fold as much C as does the atmosphere. Over 75% of the global soil organic C pool is stored in permafrost and dryland regions, both under high pressure due to climate change. In particular, global warming may accelerate soil organic matter decomposition in these ecosystems, which may dramatically endanger their functioning and worsen climate change by releasing significant amounts of CO2 to the atmosphere. However, the rate of this effect and to what extent it may be offset by warming-induced increases of plant-derived organic inputs remain highly uncertain. The main objective of this project is to gain a deeper insight into the vulnerability of soil organic matter to climate change in permafrost and drylands, and to explore potential implications in terms of ecosystem functioning and feedback to global warming. We will use globally unique ecosystem warming experiments in Alaska (permafrost) and central Spain (dryland), with a well-established monitoring of plant productivity, phenology, and nutrient status, soil physical, chemical, biochemical, and microbiological properties, and CO2 fluxes. We will focus on the destabilization, stabilization, and transformation processes of soil organic matter at the molecular level by using an unparalleled combination of state-of-the-art methods for soil organic matter fractionation into pools directly related to conceptual preservation mechanisms, powerful stable and radioactive isotope techniques, and advanced nuclear magnetic resonance tools. VULCAN will fill major gaps in our knowledge, will make this information widely available to scientists, policy makers, and the general public, and will provide the Fellow with the necessary knowledge, skills, networking, and experience to lead future research projects related to the feedbacks between climate change and terrestrial ecosystems in Europe.

Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)

CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: https://op.europa.eu/en/web/eu-vocabularies/euroscivoc.

You need to log in or register to use this function

Programme(s)

Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.

Topic(s)

Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.

Funding Scheme

Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.

MSCA-IF-GF - Global Fellowships

See all projects funded under this funding scheme

Call for proposal

Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.

(opens in new window) H2020-MSCA-IF-2014

See all projects funded under this call

Coordinator

UNIVERSIDAD REY JUAN CARLOS
Net EU contribution

Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.

€ 174 495,60
Address
CALLE TULIPAN
28933 Mostoles
Spain

See on map

Region
Comunidad de Madrid Comunidad de Madrid Madrid
Activity type
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
Links
Total cost

The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.

€ 201 726,00

Partners (1)

My booklet 0 0