Objective
This project addresses a key issue in fundamental research - one that has challenged ecologists ever since Darwin s time that is why some species are common, and others rare, and why, despite marked turnover at the level of individual species abundances, the structure of a community is generally conserved through time. Its aim is to examine the temporal dynamics of species abundance distributions (SADs), and to assess the capacity of these distributions to withstand change (resistance) and to recover from change (resilience). These are topical and important questions given the increasing impact that humans are having on the natural world. There are three components to the research. First, we will model SADs and predict responses to a range of events including climate change and the arrival of invasive species. A range of modeling approaches (including neutral, niche and statistical) will be adopted; by incorporating temporal turnover in hitherto static models we will advance the field. Second, we will test predictions concerning the resistance and resilience of SADs by a comparative analysis of existing data sets (that encompass communities in terrestrial, freshwater and marine environments for ecosystems extending from the poles to the tropics) and through a new field experiment that quantifies temporal turnover across a community (unicellular organisms to vertebrates) in relation to factors both natural (dispersal limitation) and anthropogenic (human disturbance) thought to shape SADs. In the final part of the project we will apply these new insights into the temporal dynamics of SADs to two important conservation challenges. These are 1) the conservation of biodiversity in a heavily utilized European landscape (Fife, Scotland) and 2) the conservation of biodiversity in Mamirauá and Amaña reserves in Amazonian flooded forest. Taken together this research will not only shed new light on the structure of ecological communities but will also aid conservation.
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: https://op.europa.eu/en/web/eu-vocabularies/euroscivoc.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: https://op.europa.eu/en/web/eu-vocabularies/euroscivoc.
- natural sciences biological sciences ecology ecosystems
- natural sciences biological sciences ecology invasive species
- natural sciences earth and related environmental sciences atmospheric sciences climatology climatic changes
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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.
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.
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.
ERC-2009-AdG
See other projects for this call
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.
Host institution
KY16 9AJ St Andrews
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.