Objective
Carbon exchange measurements at the whole ecosystem level have revealed that net carbon uptake by coniferous forests is downregulated or even completely supressed during the winter season. This is followed by a rapid onset of photosynthesis in spring during which the evergreen boreal forests take up about one third of their annual carbon gain. Maintenance of green needles during winter and retaining the capacity for rapid onset of the downregulated photosynthetic machinery is therefore important for the carbon budget and success of the evergreen boreal forests. There is already evidence of increased physiological activity of northern hemisphere vegetation resulting from an earlier start of the growing season as a consequence of global warming. However, our current understanding of seasonal patterns of carbon sequestration and photosynthesis in these forests and their interaction with the environment is rather poor. We hypothesize that the seasonal changes in photosynthesis are accomplished by well regulated changes in just a few chloroplastic key proteins involved in light harvesting and photoprotective processes as a response to changing environmental conditions. By this process, most of the components of the photosynthetic machinery can be retained during winter, thus allowing for rapid recovery in spring just by reconversion of the involved key proteins. We will elucidate such key proteins and place them in the context of ecophysiological function and track changes in response to environmental conditions. We will also use marker transcripts (mRNA) to elucidate signaling pathways and understand regulatory mechanisms. We hope to develop our process based understanding of this phenomenon to a level sufficient to allow a mechanistic description of the autumn and spring transition processes. Incorporating such mechanisms into models of current and future ecosystem gas exchange would allow for reliable predictions of how forests may respond to future climate change.
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.
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.
- natural sciences biological sciences biochemistry biomolecules proteins
- social sciences economics and business economics production economics productivity
- natural sciences biological sciences ecology ecosystems
- natural sciences earth and related environmental sciences atmospheric sciences climatology climatic changes
- natural sciences biological sciences botany
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.
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.
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.
Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
FP6-2002-MOBILITY-6
See other projects for this call
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.
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.
OIF - Marie Curie actions-Outgoing International Fellowships
Coordinator
MUENCHEN
Germany
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.