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Ecological memory and extinction debt: soil biota responses to land use legacies

Project description

Research on soil ecological memory and extinction debts

Land use changes affect various organisms and can lead to local extinction debt. As landscapes transform due to agriculture, soil organisms may initially survive but face eventual extinction without further habitat modifications. Despite understanding the impact on soil properties and microbial communities, specific research on extinction debts in these communities is limited. With the support of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, the SOILEX project will study data from over 1 000 agricultural field sites in Estonia, focusing on land management and molecular identifiers of soil-dwelling organisms. The project will assess soil ecological memory, offering insights for land managers and policymakers, provide evidence of how land-use legacies impact soil communities and identify soil biota vulnerable to changes.

Objective

The impact of land use change on various organisms, including plants, birds, mammals, amphibians, and arthropods, leading to local extinction debt, has been widely recognized. With the rapid transformation of landscapes due to agriculture, it is essential to assess the delayed response of soil organisms to these changes, known as the extinction debt.
The concept of extinction debt suggests that a species may initially survive habitat changes but could eventually become extinct without further modification to its habitat. While it is known that land use can have lasting effects on soil properties and microbial communities, specific research on extinction debts in soil communities has been lacking. To address this gap, a comprehensive study will be conducted using data from over 1000 agricultural field sites in Estonia, including detailed land management information and molecular IDs of various soil-dwelling organisms.
Cutting-edge analytical methods will be employed to evaluate the extent of ecological memory in soils, providing valuable insights for land managers and policymakers. This research aims to offer unique evidence of the impact of land use legacies on soil communities and identify the soil biota most vulnerable to land use changes. By integrating knowledge from agronomy, molecular ecology, community ecology, and soil biology, this interdisciplinary research seeks to understand how past land use legacies influence the current and future composition of soil organisms and, consequently, soil function.

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Topic(s)

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HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships

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Call for proposal

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(opens in new window) HORIZON-MSCA-2024-PF-01

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Coordinator

HELSINGIN YLIOPISTO
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.

€ 242 116,80
Address
FABIANINKATU 33
00014 HELSINGIN YLIOPISTO
Finland

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Activity type
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
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Total cost

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