Objective
1. Establish communication and collaboration between active research groups, by holding four co-ordination meetings involving all partners each year.
2. Define biodiversity, as relevant to below-ground communities. 3. Determine the parameters that it is important to measure to be able to quantify the effect of environmental change on the biodiversity and function of below-ground microbial communities.
4. Identify at least three field sites which can be used to experimentally test objectives (2) and (3).
5. Generate a mutually compatible set of data, by the simultaneous analysis of environmental samples from the field sites identified in objective (4).
6. Develop a theoretical framework for interpreting the complex data set. 7. Prepare progress reports after each co-ordination meeting, an annual report after the first year, and a final report on completion of the project.
This project aims to understand the relationship between the biodiversity of soil microbial communities (below-ground biodiversity) and key biogeochemical processes. Soil microorganisms are responsible for ecosystem processes such as: the dynamics of soil organic matter; litter decomposition; element cycling; soil structural genesis; the breakdown and transport of pollutants; and the production of greenhouse gases. The study of below-ground biodiversity is still in its infancy.
It is most advanced for fauna (mites, collembola and nematodes), which can be readily extracted, and identified to trophic groups. Little is known of the biodiversity of soil protozoa, let alone how it reacts to environmental change, while studies of soil fungi and bacteria are constrained by the fact that about 1% of the total population is culturable. Recent methodological advances have enabled the study of whole soil microbial communities. Phospholipid fatty-acid profiles are a sensitive indicator of shifts in the microbial community, and environmental DNA contains all the genetic information of the belowground community and can be analysed at a range of different scales. It is important to link ecosystem biodiversity to ecosystem function, so that the consequences of environmental change can be understood.
Transformations of carbon and nitrogen are of global importance and a useful model for the study of ecosystem monitored in the environment by using heavy isotopes (13C, 15N) as tracers. Trace gas production can be used as an indicator of the type (aerobic/anaerobic) and extent of microbial activity, and the availability of carbon in the system. These process measurements will be sensitive parameters linking ecosystem biodiversity to function. Existing food-web models will be extended and modified to include the complex attributes of biodiversity and function that are the focus of this project. The measurable objectives in this project will be:
1. Establish communication between active research groups.
2. Define biodiversity, as related to below-ground communities. 3. Determine the parameters that it is important to measure. 4. Initiate the generation of mutually compatible data by all partners. 5. Develop a theoretical framework for synthesising and interpreting the complex data set generated.
KEYWORDS: biodiversity, ecosystem function, environment change, nitrogen transformations, soil organisms
This project aims to understand the relationship between the biodiversity of soil microbial communities (below-ground biodiversity) and key biogeochemical processes. Soil microorganisms are responsible for ecosystem processes such as: the dynamics of soil organic matter; litter decomposition; element cycling;soil structural genesis; the breakdown and transport of pollutants; and the production of greenhouse gases. The study of below-ground biodiversity is still in its infancy.
It is most advanced for fauna (mites, collembola and nematodes), which can be readily extracted, and identified to trophic groups. Little is known of the biodiversity of soil protozoa, let alone how it reacts to environmental change, while studies of soil fungi and bacteria are constrained by the fact that about 1 % of the total population is culturable. Recent methodological advances have enabled the study of whole soil microbial communities. Phospholipid fatty-acid profiles are a sensitive indicator of shifts in the microbial community, and environmental DNA contains all the genetic information of the belowground community and can be analyzed at a range of different scales. It is important to link ecosystem biodiversity to ecosystem function, so that the consequences of environmental change can be understood.
Transformations of carbon and nitrogen are of global importance and a useful model for the study of ecosystem monitored in the environment by using heavy isotopes (13C, 15N) as tracers. Trace gas production can be used as an indicator of the type (aerobic/anaerobic) and extent of microbial activity, and the availability of carbon in the system. These process measurements will be sensitive parameters linking ecosystem biodiversity to function. Existing food-web models will be extended and modified to include the complex attributes of biodiversity and function that are the focus of this
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- natural sciences biological sciences microbiology bacteriology
- natural sciences biological sciences microbiology protozoology
- natural sciences biological sciences microbiology mycology
- natural sciences biological sciences microbiology microbiomes
- natural sciences biological sciences ecology ecosystems
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Programme(s)
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Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
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Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Funding Scheme
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Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Coordinator
DD2 5DA Dundee
United Kingdom
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.