Restoring climate-resilient forests using interaction networks

Descripción del proyecto

Más allá del carbono: priorizar un futuro forestal con biodiversidad

Los bosques son esenciales para la mitigación del cambio climático; pero las iniciativas actuales de reforestación suelen centrarse únicamente en la captura de carbono, pasando por alto la biodiversidad y la regeneración natural. Con el apoyo de las acciones Marie Skłodowska-Curie, el proyecto RECRUIT tiene como objetivo establecer las primeras prioridades a escala europea para la restauración de bosques ricos en biodiversidad y resilientes al cambio climático. Se centrará en cartografiar las ganancias y pérdidas de vertebrados, reconstruir las redes de dispersión de semillas para distinguir entre las necesidades de restauración natural y las de restauración activa, y priorizar escenarios que equilibren la biodiversidad, el secuestro de carbono y los beneficios sociales. Mediante el desarrollo de estos planes de restauración con múltiples objetivos, el equipo de RECRUIT pretende ayudar a los países europeos a lograr resultados medioambientales significativos. El objetivo del proyecto es proporcionar las herramientas necesarias para combatir las crisis climática y de biodiversidad, garantizando un gran impacto científico, político y social en todo el continente.

Objetivo

Forests are central to climate mitigation and biodiversity conservation, and international policies have pledged to accelerate reforestation. Yet, many reforestation plans remain focused on carbon. Overlooking biodiversity may not only harm species and ecosystem functioning, but also compromise the ability of forests to regenerate and sequester carbon. Forest recovery is further limited by accelerating climate change and a seed dispersal crisis in Europe. The question is: Where should forests be restored, and with what tree species, to enhance natural regeneration and long-term climate and biodiversity benefits? RECRUIT will deliver the first European-wide priorities for restoring biodiverse and climate-resilient forests. This will be achieved through three steps: (1) Quantify and map potential gains and losses for vertebrate species under biodiversity-blind re/afforestation scenarios, and identify ecosystems that could be threatened by reforestation; (2) Reconstruct seed dispersal networks in current and future climates by combining species-distribution models with interaction network data, to reveal opportunities for natural regeneration, vs. where active restoration is needed. (3) Develop a multi-objective prioritisation for climate-resilient forest restoration scenarios that jointly optimises biodiversity, carbon and nature’s contributions to people (e.g. recreation, pest control). RECRUIT has the ambition to support European countries’ restoration plans and achieve meaningful climate and biodiversity outcomes. Novel methodological approaches, timeliness of the project for policy process, and a series of measures for dissemination and communication, ensure high scientific, policy and societal impacts during the project and in the years that follow. For the fellow, RECRUIT consolidates an independent profile in biogeography, network science and spatial planning, and broadens career opportunities through new collaborations and an expanded skillset and expertise.