Descrizione del progetto
Studiare il ruolo delle liane nelle foreste tropicali
Le foreste tropicali sono componenti fondamentali del sistema terrestre, ma si sa tuttavia poco del ruolo che hanno nel ciclo globale del carbonio. Una delle principali fonti di incertezza deriva dalla mancata inclusione nei modelli esistenti delle liane, piante rampicanti sempre più abbondanti nelle foreste tropicali. Le liane potrebbero fungere da fondamentale meccanismo di adattamento di tali foreste ai cambiamenti climatici. Ciononostante, l’assenza di queste piante negli attuali modelli degli ecosistemi terrestri ostacola la nostra capacità di comprendere la loro effettiva influenza. In quest’ottica, il progetto TREECLIMBERS, finanziato dall’UE, intende sviluppare il primo modello di vegetazione di sempre che prende in considerazione le liane, consentendo di realizzare uno studio completo del contributo da esse offerto alla dinamica del carbonio, alla struttura delle chiome, ai processi demografici e alla resilienza delle foreste agli eventi siccitosi.
Obiettivo
Tropical forests are essential components of the earth system. Yet, much uncertainty exists about the exact role of this biome in the global carbon cycle. Our limited understanding of tropical forest functioning is reflected in uncertain global vegetation model projections. A large source of uncertainty in these models is their representation of ecosystem demographic processes. Interestingly, fieldwork has revealed lianas as important components of tropical forests, which are apparently increasing in abundance. Liana proliferation might be a key adaptation mechanism of tropical forests to climate change, which has potentially large impacts on the long term tropical forest biome carbon balance. Nevertheless, no single terrestrial ecosystem model currently includes lianas. TREECLIMBERS will generate important insights into the mechanisms by which lianas influence the carbon balance of tropical forests, by building the first vegetation model that includes lianas. We will make the first integrative study of (1) the contribution of lianas to instantaneous carbon and water fluxes, (2) liana contribution and influence on canopy structure, (3) their role for long term demographic processes, and (4) of their role in forest responses to drought events. TREECLIMBERS will develop the first liana plant functional type (PFT) by combining a unique global meta-analysis of existing data with innovative terrestrial LiDAR 3D measurements of the canopy to study the contribution of lianas to the canopy structure. New and available data will be integrated in the Ecosystem Demography (ED) model, a forerunner of the next generation of vegetation models. By using model-data fusion we will, for the first time, integrate the large amount of available and emerging liana data, leading to an integrated insight into the role of lianas in tropical forest functioning. This project aims to show that shifts in floristic composition due to global change may have important impacts in tropical forests.
Campo scientifico
- natural sciencesearth and related environmental scienceshydrology
- agricultural sciencesagriculture, forestry, and fisheriesagriculturehorticulturearboriculture
- natural sciencesbiological sciencesecologyecosystems
- natural sciencesearth and related environmental sciencesatmospheric sciencesclimatologyclimatic changes
- agricultural sciencesagricultural biotechnologybiomass
Programma(i)
Argomento(i)
Meccanismo di finanziamento
ERC-STG - Starting GrantIstituzione ospitante
9000 Gent
Belgio