Objective Human population growth is placing ever increasing demands on using land for housing and for food and fuel production1. This demand is driving rapid land use change across much of the globe, in particular in developing countries, which poses a major threat to biodiversity and the ecosystem services it provisions. Simultaneously, climate is changing rapidly, and thus biodiversity faces the joint threat of land use and climate change; not only will species need to be able to persist in heavily degraded landscapes, but they are likely to have to shift their ranges through highly fragmented habitat patches embedded within a hostile matrix. A key role for applied ecology over the coming years will be to provide clear recommendations on how conservation activities can optimise the landscape structure such that as much biodiversity as possible is likely to be retained. There is a need for new tools that can help stakeholders, including land planners and managers, make informed decisions. In this project, I will use a novel, individual-based modelling platform, RangeShifter to test, in silico, the likely effectiveness of alternative future land management scenarios in terms of their ability to protect forest bird biodiversity. As a case study, the project will focus on the Eastern Arc Mountain Range (EAM) in Kenya and Tanzania, a region of exceptional biodiversity and endemism, but which has lost most (80 %) of its native forest cover. An important aspect of the project is that it seeks co-production of knowledge with stakeholders, who will be actively involved throughout in terms of developing and evaluating the effectiveness of alternative scenarios. Fields of science natural sciencesbiological scienceszoologyornithologynatural sciencesearth and related environmental sciencesphysical geographycartographygeographic information systemsnatural sciencesphysical sciencesastronomyplanetary sciencesplanetary geologynatural 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 UNIVERSITY OF ABERDEEN Net EU contribution € 195 454,80 Address King's college regent walk AB24 3FX Aberdeen United Kingdom See on map Region Scotland North Eastern Scotland Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire Activity type Higher or Secondary Education Establishments 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
