Project description DEENESFRITPL Growing our knowledge of dryland ecosystems Occupying 45 % of the Earth’s land surface, drylands are regions with low rainfall, high temperatures and even higher evapotranspiration. Drylands also support more than a third of the world’s population but are vulnerable to environmental changes. Mycorrhizal fungi, which have existed since the first plants appeared on dry land millions of years ago, contribute to the diversity and functioning of drylands. The question is how do they do this. The EU-funded MYFUN project will seek to answer this question. It will also investigate how the contribution of mycorrhizal fungi to dryland multifunctionality might change under the forecasted global environmental change and the resource economy of the plant community. Show the project objective Hide the project objective Objective Dryland ecosystems are a key terrestrial biome, covering 45% of the Earth´s surface and supporting over 38% of the total global population, but their functioning and the goods and services they provide are vulnerable to global environmental changes such as increasing land use intensity (e.g. grazing pressure) and climate aridification. Mycorrhizal fungi, i.e. obligate plant symbionts colonizing the roots of 90% of all land plants, contribute substantially to dryland biodiversity, to their functioning, and the provision of goods and services by dryland ecosystems. In exchange for plant assimilated carbon, mycorrhizal fungi increase plant nutrient supply, influence soil formation and aggregation, plant defence to herbivory and resistance to drought, among other important processes. Through these mechanisms, they influence plant diversity, multiple ecosystem functions, such as nutrient cycling or biomass production, and likely modulate ecosystem responses to aridity and grazing pressure, which are forecasted to increase in drylands under global environmental change. Mycorrhizal effects depend on environmental conditions and species traits determining the efficiency of the resource exchange between plants and fungi. However, to date little is known about the contribution of mycorrhizal fungi to the diversity and functioning of drylands or to the capacity of drylands to provide multiple functions simultaneously (i.e. multifunctionality). We also do not know how the contribution of mycorrhizal fungi to dryland multifunctionality might change under forecasted global environmental change or depending on the resource economy of the plant community. The MYFUN project aims to fill these gaps in knowledge by assessing the contribution of mycorrhizal fungi to dryland multifunctionality in response to environmental stress (increased aridity, grazing pressure) and plant resource economy. Fields of science natural sciencesbiological sciencesmicrobiologymycologynatural sciencesbiological sciencesecologyecosystemsagricultural sciencesagricultural biotechnologybiomass Keywords drylands mycorrhizal fungi ecosystem functioning plant functional traits plant root traits plant aboveground traits plant-soil interactions climate-change land use change aridity grazing 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-2018 - Individual Fellowships Call for proposal H2020-MSCA-IF-2018 See other projects for this call Funding Scheme MSCA-IF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF) Coordinator UNIVERSIDAD DE ALICANTE Net EU contribution € 160 932,48 Address Campus de san vicente raspeig 03690 Alicante Spain See on map Region Este Comunitat Valenciana Alicante/Alacant 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
