Source

Type

Peer Review

Audience

Pages

Notes

On behalf of a consortium of European Institutions the Global Canopy Programme has submitted an Expression of Interest (EOI) to the EU proposing a major Integrated Project on the role of biodiversity in maintaining ecosystem resilience to atmospheric and hydrological change across Europe and into the tropics. For the first time, this project will investigate whole, mature, forest ecosystems – from canopy to soil – through the use of new forest access technologies and the creation of a European Canopy Network (EUCAN) to carry out the project.

Initially, 10 or more sites will be chosen across Europe’s climatic zones and into the tropics. The physical and biological environment above and below ground will be manipulated (including water and CO2) using new techniques developed only in Europe. In conjunction, evaluation of changes to ecosystem functions and biodiversity, forecast modelling and analysis of sustainable ecosystem management options, will be undertaken. This project will enable scientists to see how real-scale forest ecosystems may respond to global change and will provide critical data on how the least known terrestrial environment on earth – the forest canopy – helps to maintain a stable planet.