Description du projet
Combler le fossé entre taxonomie et macroécologie
Certains aspects clés de l’écologie, de la compréhension de la biodiversité à l’identification des cibles de conservation, dépendent de la classification des organismes. La taxonomie revêt une importance incontestée pour les écologistes. Si la plupart des sous-disciplines de l’écologie considèrent la classification taxonomique des organismes comme statique, elle est en fait dynamique et sujette à des changements périodiques. TAXON-TIME vise à combler le fossé entre la taxonomie et la macroécologie. Le projet se penchera sur 250 ans d’explorations botaniques dans les forêts tropicales africaines et amazoniennes pour analyser l’impact des reclassifications taxonomiques sur les modèles macroécologiques de la diversité végétale. Ce projet, financé par l’UE, adoptera des méthodes de recherche à forte intensité de données pour intégrer de gigantesques volumes d’informations numériques sur les découvertes et reclassifications historiques des espèces.
Objectif
Few macroecologists would dispute the importance of taxonomy for their work. Yet most treat taxonomic classification as a static, although it is intrinsically dynamic and subject to periodic change. This inconsistency arises from the divergent objectives of both disciplines and hampers progress towards more robust estimates of species richness across biomes. TAXON-TIME aims to bridge the gap between taxonomy and macroecology. The project will scrutinize 250 years of botanical explorations in African and Amazonian rainforests and analyze the impacts of taxonomic reclassifications on the macroecological patterns of tree species abundance and richness. To this end, TAXON-TIME will apply cutting-edge methods of data-intensive research and integrate massive volumes of digital data of historical taxonomic discoveries and reclassifications that became available only recently. A probabilistic approach to data analysis will ensure the resulting biodiversity patterns account for the likelihood of taxonomic reclassifications across space and time. TAXON-TIME results can lead to a paradigm shift in macroecological research towards the adoption of a probabilistic, rather than deterministic, view of taxonomic reclassifications. The project is led by an Experienced Researcher (ER) with outstanding analytical and technical skills and relevant research experience on three continents. TAXON-TIME brings together an interdisciplinary team of leading scientists with complementary research skills in tropical ecology, macroecology and data-intensive research. Upon completion, TAXON-TIME will contribute to a paradigm shift in macroecology and provided the ER with an analytical toolbox tailored for the next generation of macroecologists, establishing the ER as a central actor in a unique cross-disciplinary research field, which has just began to emerge.
Champ scientifique
Programme(s)
Régime de financement
MSCA-IF-EF-ST - Standard EFCoordinateur
28006 Madrid
Espagne