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Reconstructing community dynamics and ecosystem functioning after glacial retreat

Objective

Glaciers show a pattern of retreat at the global scale. Increasing areas are exposed and colonized by multiple organisms, but lack of global studies hampers a complete understanding of the future of recently deglaciated terrains. What will be the fate of these areas? How do animals, plants and microorganisms colonize them? How do they interact to perform successful colonization? Which are the climatic, geological and biogeographical processes determining colonization patterns? How does ecosystem functioning evolves through time? Until now, the complete reconstruction of soil communities was hampered by the complexity of identification of organisms, thus analyses at broad geographical and taxonomic scale have been so far impossible. IceCommunities will combine innovative methods and a global approach to boost our understanding of the evolution of ecosystems in recently deglaciated areas. I will investigate chronosequences ranging from recently deglaciated terrains to late successional stages of soil pedogenesis. Through environmental DNA metabarcoding I will identify species from multiple taxonomic groups (bacteria, fungi, protists, soil invertebrates, plants), to obtain a complete reconstruction of biotic communities along glacier forelands over multiple mountain areas across the globe. This will allow measuring the rate of colonization at an unprecedented detail. Information on assemblages will be combined with analyses of soil, landscape and climate to identify the drivers of community changes. I will also identify the impact of eco-geographical factors (climate, regional pool of potential colonizers) on colonization. Analysis of functional traits will allow reconstructing how functional diversity emerges during community formation, and how it scales to the functioning of food webs. IceCommunities will help to predict the future development of these increasingly important ecosystems, providing a supported rationale for the appropriate management of these areas

Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)

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Keywords

Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)

Programme(s)

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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.

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.

ERC-COG - Consolidator Grant

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Call for proposal

Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.

(opens in new window) ERC-2017-COG

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Host institution

UNIVERSITA DEGLI STUDI DI MILANO
Net EU contribution

Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.

€ 1 720 738,00
Address
Via Festa Del Perdono 7
20122 Milano
Italy

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Region
Nord-Ovest Lombardia Milano
Activity type
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
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Total cost

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.

€ 1 720 738,00

Beneficiaries (2)

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