Project description DEENESFRITPL Taking a closer look at megafauna–ecosystem interactions As big animals, megafauna have a big impact on ecosystem functioning and climate. Through consumption and excretion of biomass, megafauna accelerate nutrient cycling, increase plant productivity and influence soil greenhouse gas fluxes. Megafauna also emit methane when digesting plants through fermentation. The EU-funded MegaBiCycle project will study this through megafauna-ecosystem interactions in a dynamic global vegetation model. Specifically, it will test hypotheses on the effect of past and present changes in megafauna populations. The research will boost our understanding of the connection between climate, biosphere and megafauna. The findings will be useful for policy and conservation. Show the project objective Hide the project objective Objective Megafauna play an important role in carbon cycling and fluxes of greenhouse gases. Through consumption and excretion of biomass, megafauna accelerate nutrient cycling, increasing plant productivity and influencing soil greenhouse gas fluxes. Megafauna also emit methane when digesting plants through fermentation. Consequently, megafauna can have wide-ranging impacts on ecosystem functioning and climate. However, methodological limitations in dynamic global vegetation models and research gaps in megafauna ecology hamper our ability to assess these impacts. These gaps include: (i) a limited representation of megafauna in vegetation models; (ii) a lack of large-scale, long-term studies detailing the influence of megafauna on nutrient cycling and greenhouse gas fluxes; (iii) insufficient knowledge on how the current loss and introduction of megafauna is affecting ecosystems and their services. This project will address these research gaps by first developing a new classification of the effects of megafauna across biomes for present and late Quaternary species. This classification will then be used to simulate megafauna-ecosystem interactions in a dynamic global vegetation model (ORCHIDEE). This new tool will allow to test hypothesis on the effect of past and present changes in megafauna populations on a) plant primary productivity and carbon cycling and b) methane and nitrous oxide fluxes. The proposed project has the potential to greatly advance our understanding of the connection between climate, biosphere, and megafauna. The results will have implication for climate policy and conservation. Strong contributions to climate modelling, ecology, and paleoecology are to be expected. The candidate’s experience in megafauna-ecosystem interactions and ecological modelling, coupled with the host's expertise in climate and vegetation model will provide new insights into the role of megafauna in past, present, and near future global changes in climate and ecosystems. Fields of science social scienceseconomics and businesseconomicsproduction economicsproductivitynatural sciencesearth and related environmental sciencesatmospheric sciencesmeteorologybiospheranatural sciencesearth and related environmental sciencespalaeontologypaleoecologynatural sciencesbiological sciencesecologyecosystemsnatural scienceschemical sciencesorganic chemistryaliphatic compounds 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-EF-ST - Standard EF Coordinator COMMISSARIAT A L ENERGIE ATOMIQUE ET AUX ENERGIES ALTERNATIVES Net EU contribution € 184 707,84 Address Rue leblanc 25 75015 Paris France See on map Region Ile-de-France Ile-de-France Paris 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
