Project description
Human resilience to past climate change and biodiversity loss
During the Upper Palaeolithic, Europe experienced major climate shifts and the extinction of several mammal species, leading to changes in human demographics and culture. In the Cantabrian Region, a climate refuge during colder periods, human populations grew rapidly, resulting in resource overexploitation. Supported by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, the FOOD-WEBS project will investigate how biodiversity loss has affected human carrying capacity and vulnerability to climate change. Using advanced palaeoclimate reconstructions, archaeo-palaeontological data, ancient environmental DNA, and trophic network models, the project will deliver the first quantitative assessment of human resilience to past climate change and biodiversity loss by estimating species abundance from climate-driven biomass fluctuations.
Objective
During the Upper Palaeolithic, Europe witnessed major climatic changes, the extinction of mammal species, and substantial transformations in human demography and culture. In the Cantabrian Region, a climate refuge during colder phases, human populations grew exponentially, marking the onset of resource overexploitation. By integrating cutting-edge paleoclimate reconstructions, extensive archaeo-paleontological data, ancient environmental DNA and trophic network models, FOOD-WEBS will test whether, and to what extent, the loss of biodiversity affected: a) the human carrying capacity, and b) the vulnerability of human populations to climate changes. The Evolutionary Ecology Group, led by Prof. Manica and renowned for ecological modelling, will provide training in machine learning techniques to reconstruct trophic interactions between species. In addition, training in ancient DNA metabarcoding will be acquired during a secondment in Prof. Alsos’s Ancient DNA lab. Using climate-induced biomass fluctuations, we will estimate the abundance of each species and compute, for the first time, energy fluxes along trophic links. This will enable the first quantitative assessment of human resilience to climate change and biodiversity loss in our deep past. The training and research offered by this MSCA will position me as an expert in past trophic networks and computational archaeology. FOOD-WEBS will build a new reference framework to assess the relationship between climate change, biodiversity loss, and human population dynamics in Prehistory.
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.
- humanities history and archaeology history prehistory
- social sciences sociology demography
- natural sciences biological sciences genetics DNA
- natural sciences biological sciences ecology
- humanities history and archaeology archaeology
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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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HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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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.
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
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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) HORIZON-MSCA-2024-PF-01
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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.
CB2 1TN CAMBRIDGE
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.