Objective Forests provide key ecological services such as the regulation of energy, carbon and water balances from local to global scale. These are however under severe pressure due to climate and land use changes, especially in the Mediterranean basin where limited water availability is prominent. It is thus crucial to identify the forest species and areas that are likely to be more vulnerable to reduced water availability and establish how changes in forest composition and structure will impact key ecosystem services. In this project, we will use the functional trait concept to bridge between tree, population, species and forest level and as such enlarge our capacity to predict where and when dramatic changes in forest ecosystem services are likely to occur, especially focusing on the role of phloem and parenchyma tissue in tree and forest functioning in relation to drought. Our objectives are to (i) measure phloem and parenchyma traits of 104 populations of 7 dominant tree species in Catalonia and Portugal, study the relationships between these traits and other hydraulic and functional traits and quantify their variability along gradients in water availability, (ii) integrate phloem and parenchyma traits in the theoretical framework describing tree responses to drought, (iii) determine which combination of traits is the best predictor of drought resistance at intra- and interspecific level and (iv) test how and to which extent variability in phloem and parenchyma traits influences forest performance at different ecological scales and forest vulnerability under climate change scenarios. Classical wood anatomy and plant physiology methods will be used as well as novel 3D techniques and recently developed models will be combined and extended. Our results will contribute to the knowledge needed to design effective strategies to deal with climate change. Transferring it to managers and policy makers, as well as to the society at large, is thus a focus of the proposal. Fields of science natural sciencescomputer and information sciencesdatabasesagricultural sciencesagriculture, forestry, and fisheriesforestrysilviculturenatural sciencesphysical sciencesopticsmicroscopynatural sciencesbiological sciencesecologyecosystemsnatural sciencesearth and related environmental sciencesatmospheric sciencesclimatologyclimatic changes Programme(s) H2020-EU.1.3. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Main Programme H2020-EU.1.3.2. - Nurturing excellence by means of cross-border and cross-sector mobility Topic(s) MSCA-IF-2014-EF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF-EF) Call for proposal H2020-MSCA-IF-2014 See other projects for this call Funding Scheme MSCA-IF-EF-ST - Standard EF Coordinator CENTRO DE INVESTIGACION ECOLOGICA Y APLICACIONES FORESTALES Net EU contribution € 158 121,60 Address Universitat autonoma de barcelona edifici c 08193 Bellaterra Spain See on map Region Este Cataluña Barcelona Activity type Research Organisations Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Participation in EU R&I programmes Opens in new window HORIZON collaboration network Opens in new window Other funding € 0,00
