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

Long-term consequences of environmental changes on biodiversity: incorporating life history traits and time dimension when assessing and predicting the loss of functional and phylogenetic complexity.

Project description

Assessing the long-term impacts of climate change on biodiversity

The EU-funded ENVIRON_CHANGE project will investigate the impact of environmental change on ecosystem functions and evolutionary history over time through an interdisciplinary approach. By applying long-term monitoring and surveying, niche analysis, GIS tools, phylogenetic comparative analyses and ecological modelling, the research fellow will better understand why certain species are more able to cope with habitat alteration than others. This will provide insights into the long-term consequences of urbanisation and agriculture on the biodiversity of avian communities. The project will allow for a more detailed picture of the impact of land use change on biodiversity, which can better inform management decisions and assess the extent to which functional and phylogenetic diversities are more protected in species-rich assemblages.

Objective

Not all species equally respond to environmental changes, and some are better adapted than others to cope with the new challenges. The loss of functional and phylogenetic diversity driven by habitat loss has a great potential to alter ecosystem functioning and reduce stability, and thus impact the long-term sustainability of ecosystem services. Previous assessments on the causes and consequences of biodiversity loss due to human activities commonly adopted a space-for-time substitution approach to quantify the impacts of habitat alteration, but the impacts on ecosystem functions and evolutionary history over time still remains to be uncovered. I propose to advance the knowledge by using a multidisciplinary approach that combines long-term monitoring and survey, niche analysis, GIS tools, phylogenetic comparative analyses and ecological modelling to understand why certain species are better prepared to respond to environmental changes than others, and how the spatiotemporal variation in responses to habitat changes alters the structure of communities in terms of functional and phylogenetic diversity. Building on classic life history theory and modern theoretical and empirical work, I intend to integrate autoecology and community ecology to investigate the causes and long-term consequences of urbanisation and agriculture to the biodiversity of avian communities. The outcomes will provide us a general picture of the impact of land use change on biodiversity, allowing to better guide management decisions, and may also allow us to assess the extent to which functional diversity is more protected in species rich assemblages. I propose to develop this project under the supervision of Professor Daniel Sol, an international reference in life-history theory and responses of organisms to rapid environmental changes. We will work together at the Centre for Ecological Research and Applied Forestries - CREAF, located at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, in Spain.

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: The European Science Vocabulary.

You need to log in or register to use this function

Keywords

Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)

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 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF)

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-2020

See all projects funded under this call

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.

€ 160 932,48
Address
UNIVERSITAT AUTONOMA DE BARCELONA EDIFICI C
08193 BELLATERRA
Spain

See on map

Region
Este Cataluña Barcelona
Activity type
Research Organisations
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.

€ 160 932,48
My booklet 0 0