Project description
Mapping the future of forest growth
Beyond altering growing seasons, climate change is impacting woody species by disrupting the biological processes that govern their growth, with consequences occurring below ground. Supported by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, the WOOD-LIM project aims to explore how temperature controls wood formation in trees and shrubs, with a particular focus on roots and stems throughout the growing season. It will study woody species along altitudinal gradients and using controlled temperature experiments. The findings will shed light on the thermal thresholds that regulate when wood formation begins and ends. It will also assess the role of root temperature, as well as phytohormones and carbohydrates. The project’s goal is to strengthen our ability to predict forest responses to climate change.
Objective
The timing and duration of the growing season of plants determine biomass production and strongly influence the global carbon and water cycles. However, predicting growing season start and end in woody species remains challenging due to limited knowledge of the fundamental factors controlling wood formation throughout the season, particularly belowground. Earlier research shows different thermal thresholds for trees and shrubs. The central hypothesis of the project is that the thermal limit of roots is close to freezing, and therefore lower than that of stems. Moreover, thermal limits are expected to vary little between trees and shrubs when taking into account the buffering effects of microclimate. The project will mainly focus on stem and root wood formation and its kinetics to evidence the timing of wood formation and the mechanism behind it. To achieve this, the project will combine in-situ monitoring of trees and shrubs along an altitudinal gradient, providing different thermal conditions with controlled experiments testing root temperature thresholds in the most common European woody species. the implication of phytohormones and carbohydrates for wood formation temperature threshold will be investigated. Ultimately, the research will provide a foundation for bottom-up assessments of woody species’ responses to climate change. The project outputs will be directly relevant for policymakers, offering key insights for forest management and the optimisation of ecosystem services, including timber production and climate change mitigation.
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.
- natural sciences biological sciences biochemistry biomolecules carbohydrates
- agricultural sciences agriculture, forestry, and fisheries forestry
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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-2025-PF
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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.
8903 Birmensdorf
Switzerland
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.