Objective
ECOMONT aims at a high degree of integration: 1) to investigate which changes in the canopy structure occur due to land-use changes in agricultural and forestal Alpine ecosystems and how these changes affect the exchange processes with the atmosphere; 2) to clear up how the changes in canopy structure are connected with species composition,
performance,competition and interaction; 3) to understand the influence of land-use changes on soil organic matter (SOM) status and turnover, on biogeochemical (C02, N) and hydrological processes at the ecosystem level, and on the exchange processes between the ecosystems and the the atmosphere; 4) to extend this understanding to the landscape level by means of multimedia modelling activities; 5) to compare the results from the Alps with those of other European mountains (Spanish Pyrenees, Scottish Highlands).
Six composite experimental sites are planned in the subalpine belt along European transects. Three sites will
be situated along a South/North-transect from the Italian to the Austrian Alps. The other three sites will be
located in the Swiss Alps, the Spanish Pyrenees and the Scottish Highlands. In each site comparative and
complementary multi-disciplinary ecosystem studies will be conducted on differently managed ecosystems
(meadows, pastures, abandoned areas, forests).
The following research topics will be included: Spatial distribution of vegetation and soil; SOM status and
turnover; canopy structure, energy budget, water relations and gas exchange of single plants, ecosystems and
catchments; exchange processes between the investigated landscapes and the atmosphere.
Population and plant biological studies and potential risk analyses will also be conducted. All the results will
be treated with the help of Environmental Information Systems, including numerical data-bases, GIS and remote
sensing. ECOMONT will be coordinated by the University of Innsbruck. Six partner teams from the
Community Member States Austria, Italy, Germany, Great Britain, and Spain and two from the non-Member
State Switzerland will contribute.
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.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques.
- natural sciencescomputer and information sciencesdatabases
- engineering and technologyenvironmental engineeringremote sensing
- natural sciencesbiological sciencesecologyecosystems
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Call for proposal
Data not availableFunding Scheme
CSC - Cost-sharing contractsCoordinator
6020 INNSBRUCK
Austria