Objective "One of the most serious environmental issues facing mankind this century is the loss of biodiversity and its effect on ecosystem processes and services. Last year, United Nations International Biodiversity Year, has seen the announcement that the nations of the world, including those in Europe, have failed to meet the conservation targets set by the Convention on Biological Diversity and have not slowed the rate of biodiversity loss. Classical field ecology alone will not unravel these problems nor find solutions. Instead highly coordinated cross-sites studies are needed for gaining a comprehensive understanding of the mechanism driving the loss of biodiversity and device general potential solutions to restore diversity. In this context the researcher proposes GLOBEPURE. Focusing on the conservation and restoration of an important biome – diverse, functional grassland ecosystems – GLOBEPURE will inquire these challenges with powerful statistical tools and dedicated experimental manipulations.The main goals of GLOBEPURE are: To identify the specific mechanisms of changes in grassland biodiversity and functioning (acidification, nitrogen vs. phosphorus vs. potassium enrichment, increased asymmetric competition for light, etc.); And to devise and test potential solutions (combating eutrophication, overcoming dispersal and recruitment limitation, reducing dominance through use of parasitic plant species etc.). The project will use a mixture of experimental and modeling approaches and will both exploit existing databases and collect important new information. The project will bring together ecologists and environmental scientists, both pure and applied, to examine the impacts of environmental change on grassland communities and ecosystems." Fields of science natural sciencescomputer and information sciencesdatabasesnatural scienceschemical sciencesinorganic chemistryalkali metalsnatural sciencesbiological sciencesecologyecosystems Programme(s) FP7-PEOPLE - Specific programme "People" implementing the Seventh Framework Programme of the European Community for research, technological development and demonstration activities (2007 to 2013) Topic(s) FP7-PEOPLE-2011-IOF - Marie Curie Action: "International Outgoing Fellowships for Career Development" Call for proposal FP7-PEOPLE-2011-IOF See other projects for this call Funding Scheme MC-IOF - International Outgoing Fellowships (IOF) Coordinator THE CHANCELLOR, MASTERS AND SCHOLARS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD Address Wellington square university offices OX1 2JD Oxford United Kingdom See on map Region South East (England) Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Oxfordshire Activity type Higher or Secondary Education Establishments Administrative Contact Gill Wells (Ms.) Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window EU contribution No data Participants (1) Sort alphabetically Sort by EU Contribution Expand all Collapse all University of Zurich Participation ended Switzerland EU contribution € 0,00 Address Ramistrasse 71 8006 Zurich See on map Activity type Higher or Secondary Education Establishments Administrative Contact Bernhard Schmid (Prof.) Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Other funding No data
