Environmental connectivity as the keystone to ecological restoration of degraded European mountains

Project Information

ECO-MOUNTAIN

Grant agreement ID: 893975

DOI

10.3030/893975

Project terminated on 30 June 2022

EC signature date 14 April 2020

Start date 1 September 2020

End date 31 August 2022

Funded under

• EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions

Total cost

€ 196 707,84

EU contribution

€ 196 707,84

Coordinated by

INSTITUT NATIONAL DE RECHERCHE POUR L'AGRICULTURE, L'ALIMENTATION ET L'ENVIRONNEMENT
France

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - ECO-MOUNTAIN (Environmental connectivity as the keystone to ecological restoration of degraded European mountains)

Reporting period: 2020-09-01 to 2022-08-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

The Pyrenees comprise many fragile ecosystems with a host of plant and animal species, but are subject to severe anthropogenic pressure, exacerbated by extreme weather events, making them vulnerable to hydro-climatological risks. Hotspots of degraded soil exist, but are difficult to locate in a complex and often inaccessible landscape. If not mitigated, pockets of soil erosion can rapidly become a danger to downslope human communities and infrastructure.

ECO-MOUNTAIN aims at developing a novel methodology using the environmental DNA (eDNA) signature of vascular plants in sediments, to identify the origin of eroding soil. In collaboration with local stakeholders, we will test our method on a degraded catchment that is partially undergoing ecological restoration using diverse local plant ecotypes. Results should enable to propose an innovative method for tracing soil erosion and help devise restoration scenarios using local species mixtures.

The project provides evidence that plant eDNA can be used to identify sources of erosion in a watershed. Managers can then focus on restoring the most fragile areas, working with the appropriate land owners.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

1. Fieldwork: Five fieldwork campaigns have been organised:

2. Collaboration with students: Adélaïde Nadin (INSA), Victor Soenens (UGent), Robin Bekaert (UGent)

3. Knowledge transfer: Laboratory work & Research visits
Regular meeting where done online (as result of the pandemic) during “coffee break” meeting with the supervisors.

A scientific visit was organised to the laboratory of collaborator Erik Cammeraat (Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics, University of Amsterdam) on 25 – 29 October 2021

Several scientific visits were organised to the laboratory of collaborator Elie Verleyen (Department of Biology, Ghent University).

The samples collected in the field have been processed for further analysis:
• eDNA at lab of Elie Verleyen (UGent)
• environmental radionuclides and geochemistry at lab of Olivier Evrard (LSCE)

4. Knowledge transfer: Workshop participation/Courses taken
CNRS webinar “Présentation de l'outil DMP-OPIDoR” (Data Management Plan) on 18/11/2020.

LAPSUS modelling course, specialized course organised by Jantiene Baartman at Wageningen University: March –May 2021 (online)

PlaNet workshop, 17 March 2021, online participation. https://webmail.cirad.fr/service/home/~/?auth=co&loc=fr&id=6628&part=2.

TRACING 2021: Emerging strategies of sediment and contaminant tracing
in catchments and river systems, 3 – 7 October 2021, Centre Port-Royal, Saint-Lambert-des-Bois, France. With technical presentation: Environmental DNA A. Foucher (general) /A. Frankl (mountain environments). Organised by Olivier Evrard, Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l’Environnement (LSCE, France).

International Study day on Tracing, 22 May 2022, New Institute of the University of Vienna, Austria. With technical presentation on Visioning the Design of tomorrows tracers. Organised by Olivier Evrard, Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l’Environnement (LSCE, France) and Sabine Kraushaar, Department of Geography and Regional Research, University of Vienna.

5. Dissemination: Research talks & Conference participation
Frankl, A., Evrard, O., Verleyen, E., Cammeraat, E., & Stokes, A. (2021). Opinion: using eDNA fingerprinting in high mountain environments to support soil restoration and hazard control. In LASOSU2021: Online International Conference for Land Degradation, Soil Conservation and Sustainable Development, Abstracts. Dalian, China.

Frankl, A., Evrard, O., Verleyen, E., Cammeraat, E., & Stokes, A. (2021). How forensic science can lead the way in identifying culprit soil fingerprints in European mountains. In Marie Curie Alumni Association, Annual Conference (MCAA 2021): Book of abstracts (pp. 38–38). Online. https://www.mariecuriealumni.eu/sites/default/files/2021-04/MCAA-Book-of-Abstracts-2021-v7.pdf

Frankl, A., Evrard, O., Cammeraat, E., & Stokes, A. (2021). Strengths and limitations of sediment source fingerprinting in high mountain environments and relevance for soil restoration. In EGU General Assembly 2021, Abstracts. Online: European Geosciences Union. https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu21-161

Dissemination in the PlaNet community (multidisciplinary network that will gather experts in the field of nature-based solutions, to create and promote interactions between experts with different scientific backgrounds): Publication in March 2022

Dissemination in the AMAP-EASE community: « L’ADN environnementale comme traceur d’érosion des sols en montagne Pyrénéenne : une recherche exploratoire. » (13/09/2021)

Frankl, A., Evrard, O., Levard, F., Dupin, B., Tytgat, B., Cammeraat, E., … Stokes, A. (2022). The relevance of environmental DNA as a targeted sediment fingerprinting method sensitive to vegetation. Presented at the EGU General Assembly, Vienna. https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-2161

Evrard, O., Batista, P., Company, J., Dabrin, A., Foucher, A., Frankl, A., … Sellier, V. (2022). Improving the design and implementation of sediment fingerprinting studies: Summary and outcomes of the TRACING 2021 Scientific School. Presented at the EGU General Assembly, Vienna. https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-858

AMAP General Assembly on 16/06/2022. The project was highlighted during the presentation of activities of the EASE research cluster.

6. Dissemination: Social media
This was done using several accounts such as my personal twitter and LinkedIn accounts and those of the AMAP-EASE laboratory and PlaNet community.

7. Dissemination: Publication of scientific peer-reviewed articles: see relevant section and https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/?lang=en

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

Identifying degraded ecosystems was done using sediment fingerprinting. It is a relatively new method which allows to identify areas in a catchment where soil erosion occurs following hydro-climatological events. In essence, during intensive rainfall, degraded ecosystems will be subjected to soil erosion and streams draining degraded slopes will transport sediment.

In high mountain catchments, as vegetation type is strongly linked to topography and microclimate, identifying soils originating from below specific plant communities would enhance the sediment fingerprinting method significantly. In that regard, environmental DNA (eDNA) or DNA of organisms isolated from environmental samples has recently been considered as a marker that could be used for sediment fingerprinting.

Expected results (i.e. identified erosion hotspots) will enable stakeholders to guide the implementation of effective mitigation actions, such as nature-based solutions, when restoring these fragile environments.

The impact on the Pyrenean mountain range is tangible though the uptake of research results by stakeholders and spinoff projects. In that regard, the project collaborated with ECO-ALTITUDE (local ecological restoration company), O2H (project on sediment dynamics) and the PLVG (local government, natural resource management). In addition, we will also stimulate the competitiveness of small and medium sized enterprises by developing promising methods for targeted ecological restoration actions for companies such as ECO-ALTITUDE.

Meeting with stakeholders

Fieldwork

Training