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Dynamic-Regime Shifts in Forests: Trajectories from Science to Management

Project description

Developing realistic forest management practices

Covering 30 % of the earth’s land area and hosting 80 % of its biodiversity, forests are indispensable, but they are also in danger; therefore, forest conservation and sustainable use are of paramount importance. The main issue to be considered is a forest’s capacity to withstand external pressures and bounce back to its pre-disturbance state. The EU-funded RESET project will work with theoretical and quantitative ecologists and researchers in the science–policy–practice interface to develop a new framework for assessing forest resilience to insect outbreaks and fire as well as climate change and land use changes. By applying resilience concepts from theoretical ecology to empirical case studies, the project will fill an important scientific gap, making it easier to identify resilient communities and assess the underlying post-disturbance forest dynamics.

Objective

The increasing incidence of extreme events (e.g. fires, insect outbreaks) in combination with ramp and press disturbances such as climate and land-use changes are seriously threatening the persistence of forest services on which human well-being depends. In this context, forest resilience to disturbances has become a paradigm for researchers, practitioners, and policymakers. Whereas many indicators have been proposed in different empirical studies, most of them are based on a static view of ecosystem states and overlook that ecosystem states, in fact, represent dynamic regimes. In contrast, many advanced theoretical approaches remain unexplored in specific forest systems. In this sense, incorporating theoretical resilience concepts into empirical studies poses a key challenge to developing realistic management practices and policies that promote forest resilience to upcoming disturbances. This proposal aims to fill an important scientific gap by applying resilience concepts from theoretical ecology into empirical case studies. The main objective is to contribute to the conservation of forests and prevent their degradation and loss by improving our capability to identify resilient and tipping-point communities, assessing the mechanisms underlying post-disturbance forest dynamics, and supporting forest management and policy through useful information and tools. This project proposes an innovative framework to assess forest resilience to pulse (e.g. insect outbreaks, fire), ramp (climate change) and press (land-use change) disturbances accounting for forest dynamic regimes as reference to compare post-disturbance dynamics. The collaboration with theoretical and quantitative ecologists and researchers in the science-policy-practice interface from some of the most prestigious institutions in the EU will guarantee a strong contribution to the understanding of post-disturbance forest dynamics and the preservation of forest services under changing conditions.

Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)

Keywords

Programme(s)

Topic(s)

Funding Scheme

MSCA-IF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF)

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Call for proposal

(opens in new window) H2020-MSCA-IF-2019

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Coordinator

CENTRE NATIONAL DE LA RECHERCHE SCIENTIFIQUE CNRS
Net EU contribution
€ 184 707,84
Address
RUE MICHEL ANGE 3
75794 Paris
France
Region
Ile-de-France Ile-de-France Paris
Activity type
Research Organisations
Links
Total cost
€ 184 707,84