Project description
Factoring soil fauna into forest ecosystem models
Dynamic models of forest ecosystems simulate ongoing fluctuations of water and nutrients in the soil. This helps ecologists predict future changes in plant growth and health. However, many existing models do not factor in the active role of soil fauna in soil processes. The MSCA-funded ANAFAUNA project has developed an improved version of the KEYLINK model that takes into account soil fauna activity when studying the breakdown of plant remains, nutrient recycling, soil structure transformation and porosity. The project will provide important evidence of the detrimental effects of persistent precipitation regimes on the soil. Ultimately, the improved KEYLINK model will serve as a more accurate tool for predicting the future impact of land management and global changes on ecosystem services.
Objective
Understanding soil processes and their role in ecosystem functioning is essential for effective protection, restoration and sustainable use of soils and terrestrial ecosystems. Forest ecosystem models dynamically simulate fluxes of carbon, water, nitrogen and other nutrients through a forest ecosystem. Only models that account for all key interactions between climate, soil and plants can become versatile and reliable tools to predict the effect of different management strategies or future global changes on forests and soils. The effect of soil fauna has been so far neglected in most of similar models. However, with our increasing understanding of the crucial role of fauna on many processes, there is a general consensus on the need to implement these effects into ecosystem models. The main research question of this project is: Does a model that includes an active role of soil fauna provide better prediction of soil processes than previous simpler models?
ANAFORE is a stand-scale mechanistic forest model with a detailed soil model. The specific objectives of this project are 1) to develop a new soil submodel that will account for important effects of soil fauna on the simulated fluxes of water, carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus; and integrate it into the ANAFORE model. The modeled effects include fragmentation, bioturbation, aggregation, macropore formation and foodweb effects on soil organic matter decomposition, 2) to optimize and validate the new model using: i) historical experimental data obtained during long-term research at Sokolov post-mining ecosystems LTER site, ii) additional literature and original data collected during the project for modelling purposes; 3) to compare performance of the new ANAFORE soil submodel with the previous version of ANAFORE and the Yasso model as an example of a simple model that predicts organic matter decomposition only based on litter quality and abiotic factors.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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H2020-EU.1.3. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
MAIN PROGRAMME
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H2020-EU.1.3.2. - Nurturing excellence by means of cross-border and cross-sector mobility
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Topic(s)
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.
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.
Funding Scheme
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.
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.
MSCA-IF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF)
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) H2020-MSCA-IF-2017
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
2000 Antwerpen
Belgium
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.