Project description
Ancient polar forests and their role in Earth’s climate
Tropical-like forests once extended beyond the polar circles, creating a biome distinct from today’s Arctic. There is fossil evidence from warm periods. However, since no modern equivalents exist, understanding these ancient polar forests is limited. Supported by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, the POLARIS project will revisit the Early Eocene Climatic Optimum, approximately 53 to 49 million years ago. Specifically, it will reconstruct canopy structure, primary productivity, and atmospheric CO2 levels using advanced palaeobotanical and biogeochemical methods. The findings are expected to deepen our understanding of past polar ecosystems, providing valuable insights to improve climate model predictions for future scenarios.
Objective
Fossil evidence from past warm periods reveals that tropical-like forests once extended well beyond the polar circles, creating a biome vastly different from today's Arctic. Due to the absence of modern equivalents, our understanding of the adaptations and structure of these ancient polar forests remains limited and often speculative.
POLARIS will investigate a polar forest from Earth's last prolonged extreme greenhouse interval—the Early Eocene Climatic Optimum (ca. 53–49 million years ago). The project aims to reconstruct canopy structure, primary productivity and atmospheric CO2 levels in which the plants thrived, using state-of-the-art palaeobotanical and biogeochemical proxies, alongside cutting-edge models. Recent advancements in the field now enable us to address these questions, and our multi-proxy approach ensures verification of results, leading to reliable findings. This research will significantly advance understanding of past polar ecosystems and elucidate the role these forests played in global carbon cycling during extreme hothouse intervals. The findings will provide valuable data that could enhance the predictive power of climate models under various future climate scenarios.
The project will be based at Trinity College Dublin, Ireland, with two secondments at the Smithsonian Institution and Wesleyan University, USA. This collaboration unites world-leading experts in palaeobotany and proxy development, providing the fellow with world-class training in a variety of research techniques and transferable skills. Additionally, the fellow will benefit from networking opportunities across two continents and hands-on experiences at different institutional types. This diverse exposure will position the fellow to become a future leader in the field.
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.
- social sciences economics and business economics production economics productivity
- natural sciences earth and related environmental sciences palaeontology paleoecology
- natural sciences biological sciences ecology ecosystems
You need to log in or register to use this function
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.
-
HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
MAIN PROGRAMME
See all projects funded under this programme
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
See all projects funded under this funding scheme
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
See all projects funded under this callCoordinator
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.
D02 CX56 Dublin
Ireland
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.