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Hydraulic functional traits as determinants of forest function and drought responses. Putting xylem and phloem attributes into the functional trait map.

Objective

Forests provide key ecological services such as the regulation of energy, carbon and water balances from local to global scale. These are however under severe pressure due to climate and land use changes, especially in the Mediterranean basin where limited water availability is prominent. It is thus crucial to identify the forest species and areas that are likely to be more vulnerable to reduced water availability and establish how changes in forest composition and structure will impact key ecosystem services. In this project, we will use the functional trait concept to bridge between tree, population, species and forest level and as such enlarge our capacity to predict where and when dramatic changes in forest ecosystem services are likely to occur, especially focusing on the role of phloem and parenchyma tissue in tree and forest functioning in relation to drought. Our objectives are to (i) measure phloem and parenchyma traits of 104 populations of 7 dominant tree species in Catalonia and Portugal, study the relationships between these traits and other hydraulic and functional traits and quantify their variability along gradients in water availability, (ii) integrate phloem and parenchyma traits in the theoretical framework describing tree responses to drought, (iii) determine which combination of traits is the best predictor of drought resistance at intra- and interspecific level and (iv) test how and to which extent variability in phloem and parenchyma traits influences forest performance at different ecological scales and forest vulnerability under climate change scenarios. Classical wood anatomy and plant physiology methods will be used as well as novel 3D techniques and recently developed models will be combined and extended. Our results will contribute to the knowledge needed to design effective strategies to deal with climate change. Transferring it to managers and policy makers, as well as to the society at large, is thus a focus of the proposal.

Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)

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Programme(s)

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Topic(s)

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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-EF-ST - Standard EF

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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

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Coordinator

CENTRO DE INVESTIGACION ECOLOGICA Y APLICACIONES FORESTALES
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.

€ 158 121,60
Address
UNIVERSITAT AUTONOMA DE BARCELONA EDIFICI C
08193 Bellaterra
Spain

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Region
Este Cataluña Barcelona
Activity type
Research Organisations
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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.

€ 158 121,60
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