Project description DEENESFRITPL Climate change effects on inland waterbird populations The role inland waters play in the ecosystem is significant: they are considered important sentinels of climate change and act as repositories of information on past environmental events, as well as providing nesting grounds for migratory birds. However, anthropogenic climate change harms inland waters such as Arctic and Mediterranean lakes. The result is shorter ice-cover periods in the Arctic that give rise to further warming and less water storage in the Mediterranean, bringing on droughts. The EU-funded PAST project will study how previous droughts and extreme climatic events have influenced the long-term processes of bird populations. The project will apply a palaeolimnological approach that reveals trends in environmental changes in previous periods and allows researchers to study the lake’s history in a cost- and work-effective way. Show the project objective Hide the project objective Objective Anthropogenic climate change affects all countries and so societies need to begin adapting to the ongoing impacts of these changes. In addition, different biomes respond in distinctive ways to climatic warming. For instance, like oceans, Arctic lakes are strongly affected by shorter ice-cover periods, further decreasing albedo which further increases warming. On the other hand, lakes located in Mediterranean regions are experiencing a decrease in the inundation area and water storage due to the magnitude of the droughts. It is important to say that inland waters are recognised as important sentinels of climatic change and their sediments accumulate records of past environmental conditions. For this reason, we can use these sediment records to study the trends in environmental changes such as warming or wet periods that occurred in the past. Through paleolimnological analyses, past climate history information can be inferred to determine the timing and degree of change in lake ecosystems. Whilst monitoring data may be short, the paleolimnological approach allows for the study of many years of a lake’s history in a very cost and labour effective manner. Furthermore, inland waters are frequently nesting areas for migratory birds, and these water bodies are especially sensitive to droughts. For this reason, waterbirds may suffer major losses by limited food supplies and habitat, as well as increased disease due to overcrowding. By using paleolimnological approaches, new methodologies allow us to assess past drought periods along with the long-term changes in bird population.This is why the main objective of this proposal is to study how past droughts and other climatic extremes have affected long-term dynamics of bird populations using paleolimnological approaches in two areas that are being affected by environment change in such different manners: ponds on nesting islands in the Great Lakes region of Canada and the Mediterranean Region of Spain. Fields of science natural sciencesbiological scienceszoologyornithologyhumanitieshistory and archaeologyhistorynatural sciencesbiological sciencesecologyecosystemsnatural sciencesearth and related environmental sciencesatmospheric sciencesclimatologyclimatic changes Keywords paleolimnology climate warming waterbirds 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-2019 - Individual Fellowships Call for proposal H2020-MSCA-IF-2019 See other projects for this call Funding Scheme MSCA-IF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF) Coordinator UNIVERSIDAD DE GRANADA Net EU contribution € 232 497,60 Address CUESTA DEL HOSPICIO SN 18071 Granada Spain See on map Region Sur Andalucía Granada 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 Total cost € 232 497,60 Partners (1) Sort alphabetically Sort by Net EU contribution Expand all Collapse all Partner Partner organisations contribute to the implementation of the action, but do not sign the Grant Agreement. Queen's University at Kingston Canada Net EU contribution € 0,00 Address University Avenue 99 K7L 3N6 Kingston See on map 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 Total cost € 152 031,36
