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Recently finalized projects

On this page we have gathered some of the finalized projects in BECC. They are listed in the following order:

  • Postdoctoral projects
  • Research projects
  • Action Groups

Postdoctoral projects

Eco-evolutionary models of spatiotemporal dynamics of plant-pollinator communities – novel avenues for studying community response to landscape structure

Involved researchers

Contact: Mikael Pontarp (Department of Biology) - portal.research.lu.se

Magne Friberg (Department of Biology) - portal.research.lu.se

Jacob Johansson (Department of Biology) - portal.research.lu.se

Anna Persson (Centre for Environmental and Climate Science) - portal.research.lu.se

Lingzi Wang (postdoc), Department of Biology, Lund University

About the project

We have designed and analysed an eco-evolutionary and functional-trait-based model of three interacting trophic levels and we have simulated adaptation and diversification in traits as a response to eco-evolutionary feedbacks. In line with our initial idea, our model includes several ecological interactions including (1) within-trophic-level competitive interactions for resources, (2) between-trophic-level antagonistic and mutualistic interactions, and (3) the way in which species interacts with the abiotic environments. In doing so we have found several interesting and publishable results.

The results we have found include a causal and mechanistic link between mutualistic interactions that positively affect population size which in turn promote evaluability and trait evolution. Adaptive functional trait matching between species that engage in mutualistic interactions are promoted whereas adaptation to the abiotic environment becomes less pronounced. Negative interactions (i.e. antagonism related abiotic or biotic interactions) have the opposite effect. We also find that benign abiotic conditions, low degree of competition, and high interactive range between the plants and antagonistic herbivores or mutualistic pollinators can generate a higher level of diversification in both herbivores and pollinators. In other words, benign abiotic and biotic conditions can promote diversification, while harsh conditions tend to impede diversification.

Our research thus improves our general understanding of ecological and evolutionary mechanisms that underpin the eco-evolutionary processes that drive ecosystem dynamics including population sizes, traits evolution and diversification. Our findings also improve understanding of urgent issues associated with changing environmental conditions (e.g., climate change, loss of natural habitats), a theoretical understanding that can be applied and tested in many specific ecosystems. We are currently working on publishing these results. 

Researchers

ContactJessica Coria (Department of Economics, University of Gothenburg) - gu.se 

Yann Clough (Centre for Environmental and Climate Science) - portal.research.lu.se

Ville Inkinen, PhD Student, Department of Economics, University of Gothenburg

João Vaz, Post-doctoral Researcher, Department of Economics, University of Gothenburg

About the project

Biodiversity offsets are a popular tool in conservation policy. Offsets seek to balance biodiversity losses from development projects in one location with an equivalent biodiversity gain in a separate location, with the goal of achieving “no net loss” (NNL) of biodiversity. One strategy that has received increasing attention is that of a market approach, whereby private firms conserve large tracts of land and whose restoration activities can be converted into ecological credits that landowners can sell to developers to meet their offset requirements.

One key objective of our project is to provide evidence of the ecological performance of existing market-based programs to biodiversity offsetting. Our empirical approach is based on data from the US wetland mitigation market, which corresponds to the largest, more well-developed, and lasting example of a market for biodiversity offsets. Using wetland area as a proxy for biodiversity values, we analyzed satellite imagery to identify and delineate the extent of wetland area gains at mitigation banks established between 2001 and 2020. In a difference-in-differences framework, we compare outcomes at established bank sites against planned mitigation sites.

Our analysis provides three main findings:

  • First, the share of wetland area created at mitigation banks averaged 20 percentage points, which translates into 15,900 wetland acres gained from the banking program.
  • Second, 88% of wetland gains were additional (i.e., the majority of wetland gains would not have occurred without dedicated compensation activities).
  • And third, by contrasting the estimated wetland gains against wetland losses, we estimate that there is a net loss of 1,600 wetland acres per year over the 2012-2020 period (i.e., the program is not achieving NNL of wetland area).

The outcomes of our analysis are highly relevant for the design of existing and future offsetting policies.

Forest management practices for climate targets and environmental objectives – adaptive strategies based on novel combinations of ecosystem modelling, policy analysis and visualisation

Involved researchers 

Hanna Fors, SLU | Externwebben (slu.se)

John Bergkvist, Alexandra Nikoleris

ContactAnna Maria Jönsson (Department of Physical Geography and Ecosystem Science) - portal.research.lu.se

Johannes Stripple (Department of Political Science) - portal.research.lu.se

Fredrik Lagergren (Department of Physical Geography and Ecosystem Science) - portal.research.lu.se 

John Bergkvist (Department of Physical Geography and Ecosystem Science) - portal.research.lu.se 

Alecandra Nikoleris (Department of , Environmental and Energy Systems Studies) 

About the project

The forest contributes to human well-being in many ways. To avoid overuse and unintentional ecosystem changes, this multi-functionality has to be addressed when developing forest management strategies and policies. The aim of this transdisciplinary project was to quantify and visualize the contribution of different adaptive management strategies to climate solutions and fulfilment of environmental objectives during the transition towards a fossil-free society. 

The Arctic is a critical biome for biodiversity, biogeochemical cycling and ecosystem services but most research in the region is strongly clustered around a few locations. This means that scientific understanding of Arctic processes, which guide both predictive models and policy debates, probably disproportionately influence by only a few locations with environmental conditions which may or may not be representative of the biome as a whole. This project will use a unique map of Arctic scientific research to identify six sites representing the least studied regions of the Arctic then perform a wide-ranging, rapid field survey of key environmental properties at each site. These results will be compared with matching surveys at two of the most intensively studied Arctic sites. The results will provide key insights into the full range of environmental variation across the Arctic, thereby helping to improve predictions and models of whole-Arctic processes and conditions under climate change.

Filling in critical knowledge gaps of ecosystem properties across the Arctic. - portal.research.lu.se

Contact

Postdoc

Henni Ylänne - portal.research.lu.se

Centre for Environmental and Climate Science
henni [dot] ylanne [at] cec [dot] lu [dot] se (henni[dot]ylanne[at]cec[dot]lu[dot]se)
+46 46 222 89 39

Collaborating researchers

Dan Metcalfe Metcalfe (Department of Physical Geography and Ecosystem Science) - portal.research.lu.se

Johannes Rousk (Department of Biology) - portal.research.lu.se

Johan Uddling (Department of Biological & Environmental Sciences, University of Gothenburg) - gu.se

Involved researchers

Contact: Mats Hansson (Department of Biology) - portal.research.lu.se

Jacob Johansson (Department of Biology) - portal.research.lu.se

Åslög Dahl (Department of Biological & Environmental Sciences, University of Gothenburg) - gu.se

Anna Maria Jönsson (Department of Physical Geography and Ecosystem Science) - portal.research.lu.se

Willian Silva, SLU: willian [dot] silva [at] slu [dot] se (willian[dot]silva[at]slu[dot]se )

About the project

Flowering time is an important process in a plant’s lifecycle since it allows the plant population to maximize its benefits from environmental processes by allowing for the optimization of allocation of resources to growth and reproduction and synchronization with pollinator activity. The evolution of flowering time in plants can be significantly affected by climate change because of changes in temperature, which affect productivity and weather patterns, in turn leading to a mismatch between the plant flowering time and the optimal season for flowering. Therefore, climate change may cause evolutionary changes in flowering time, potentially resulting in cascading effects on ecosystem dynamics.

In this project, we created a mathematical model to explore the effects of climate change on the evolution of flowering time in annual plants and found that evolutionary patterns change in direction and magnitude depending on the effect of climate change on the plant growth season. Our analysis elucidates how natural selection under climate change can influence competition among plants for light, a factor which is, so far, little explored in plant life history theory in spite of being a key ecological factor shaping plant evolution.

In particular, our theory highlights how evolved flowering times of wild plants adapted to light competition may differ from optimal flowering times to maximize yield in agricultural plants under different climate change scenarios. We also explore the effect of mass loss caused by, e.g., plant diseases or predation. Overall, our results highlight how considering plant-plant competition may help to interpret phenological trends and idiosyncratic fitness effects of climate change in wild plant communities and provides a theoretical framework for comparing phenological responses in wild and agricultural plants. 

Publication: Silva, W.T.A.F.; Hansson, M.; Johansson, J. 2021. Light competition and phenological adaptation of annual plants to a changing climate. Climate Change Ecology 2: 100007. DOI: 10.1016/j.ecochg.2021.100007.

Presentations: Silva, W. T. A. F. Phenological evolution in annual plants under light competition as a consequence of abiotic and biotic effects of climate change. Oral presentation at the 2nd Nordic Biomathematics Days, Roskilde University, May 2022.

Towards better assessments of nutrient constraints on soil carbon sequestration: including soil microbial and mineral mechanisms into the terrestrial biosphere models

Involved researchers

Lin Yu: lin [dot] yu [at] cec [dot] lu [dot] se (lin[dot]yu[at]cec[dot]lu[dot]se)

Cecilia Akselsson (Department of Physical Geography and Ecosystem Science) - portal.research.lu.se

Johannes Rousk (Department of Biology) - portal.research.lu.se

Sönke Zaehle (Department Biogeochemical Integration, Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry) - jena.mpg.de

About the project

Soils contain the largest carbon pool in terrestrial ecosystems. The capacity of soils to sequestrate C is thus important for climate mitigation. However, the future projections of soil C sequestration generated by terrestrial biosphere models (TBMs) are highly uncertain. The reason is inadequate process descriptions related to microbial activity and nutrient constraints on C sequestration. 

In this project we wanted to improve those process descriptions, to reduce the uncertainties in the soil C sequestration estimations. To achieve this, the newly developed soil model JSM, which includes detailed soil processes, was coupled to the TBM QUINCY. Whereas earlier simulations with QUINCY alone have shown a positive correlation between productivity and soil C sequestration, these new runs showed no such correlation, which is in better agreement with measurements. This highlights the importance of microbial processes and SOC stabilization mechanism in future climate projections.   

The new model was also used to study role of soil C-nutrient interactions and their impacts on future C sequestration under different climate, deposition and management scenarios in Eucalyptus and Amazon forests. QUINCY-JSM performed adequately well in simulating the current state of Eucalyptus and Amazon forests. The future simulations differed from the simulations from other TBMs with respect to the relationships between plant productivity and soil organic carbon. We believe that the uncoupling of the unrealistic correlation between NPP and SOC in QUINCY-JSM will shed light on plant and soil carbon dynamics responses to environmental changes in future research. 

Jiang M, Medlyn BE, Drake JE et al. 2020: The fate of carbon in a mature forest under carbon dioxide enrichment. Nature 580, 227-231.

Related papers written during the project period, but not directly connected to the project:

Caldararu S, Thum T, Yu L, Kern M, Nair R & Zaehle S 2022: Long-term ecosystem nitrogen limitation from foliar δ15N data and a land surface model. Global Change Biology 28, 493-508.

Wutzler T, Yu L, Schrumpf M & Zaehle S 2022: Simulating long-term responses of soil organic matter turnover to substrate stoichiometry by abstracting fast and small-scale microbial processes: the Soil Enzyme Steady Allocation Model (SESAM; v3.0). Geosci. Model Dev. 15, 8377-8393.

Yu L, Caldararu S, Ahrens B et al. 2023: Improved representation of phosphorus exchange on soil mineral surfaces reduces estimates of phosphorus limitation in temperate forest ecosystems. Biogeosciences 20, 57-73.

Zanchi G, Yu L, Akselsson C et al. 2021: Simulation of water and chemical transport of chloride from the forest ecosystem to the stream. Environmental Modelling & Software 138, 104984.

A grand challenge for mankind is to fight climate change, which involves both reducing and reverting CO2 emissions. Soils store much more carbon (C) than the atmosphere, and it is microorganisms that govern whether C compounds remain in the soil, or whether they are disintegrated back to CO2. An important mechanism of long-term C storage is the physical stabilization of organic matter within the soil structure, meaning that C can be “hidden” from its decomposers in the complex matrix of soil aggregates, but the processes involved are not well understood.


We have studied the dynamic process of microbial soil aggregate formation, and the nature of fungal “gluing” exudates, with help of different synchrotron light techniques at MAX IV laboratory, and in collaboration at the Canadian Light Source. We have combined these micro-scale studies with experiments at field scale, where we probed a soil aggregate structure gradient and investigated the amount of spatio-physical inaccessible C in relation to its aggregate stability. Understanding the mechanisms of physical C stabilization is the basis to identify soil cultivation techniques which foster this process, and to be able to increase the C sink potential of our soils by convincing agriculture and forestry policy makers.

Contact

Postdoc

Milda Pucetaite - portal.research.lu.se

Centre for Environmental and Climate Science
milda [dot] pucetaite [at] cec [dot] lu [dot] se (milda[dot]pucetaite[at]cec[dot]lu[dot]se)
+46 46 222 47 80
 

Collaborating researchers

Edith Hammer (Department of Biology) - portal.research.lu.se

Leif Klemedtsson (Department of Earth Sciences, University of Gothenburg) - gu.se

Per Persson (Centre for Environmental and Climate Science) - portal.research.lu.se

Farm2forest: Evaluating impacts of agricultural policy reform on biodiversity and ecosystem services in mixed farming-forestry landscapes

Farming in marginal areas with its resulting mosaic of forests, afforestation, and active and passive farmland contributes to the maintenance of biodiversity and ecosystem services in Europe. Such areas are though heavily supported by Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) payments. It is unclear how projected CAP reform after 2020, in conjunction with the rise of the bio-based economy, will affect (1) the shares and spatial distribution of farming, forestry and intermediate land-use forms in marginal areas, (2) how and where biodiversity and ecosystem services will be affected at the landscape scale, and (3) what alternative policy (e.g. results-based payments, regional prioritization) might efficiently ensure their preservation. This project addresses these questions in a spatially-explicit manner for marginal farming areas in Sweden by explicitly considering interactions between agriculture and forestry, which has not been done before. Existing agricultural agent-based models will be extended for forestry using data compiled in this project. Predictions for the different policy scenarios will be translated to GIS landscape models, and available biodiversity and ecosystem models will be used to assess their impact. The project should contribute to better understanding and decision support when considering interactions between agriculture and forestry for biodiversity and ecosystem services policy in Europe.

Farm2Forest: Effects of agricultural policy reform on biodiversity and ecosystem services in mixed farming-forestry landscapes. - portal.research.lu.se

Contact

Postdoc

Niklas Boke Olén - portal.research.lu.se

Centre for Environmental and Climate Science
niklas [dot] boke_olen [at] cec [dot] lu [dot] se (niklas[dot]boke_olen[at]cec[dot]lu[dot]se)
+46 222 89 69

 

Collaborating researchers

Yann Clough (Centre for Environmental and Climate Science) - portal.research.lu.se

Cecilia Akselsson (Department of Physical Geography and Ecosystem Science) - portal.research.lu.se

Johan Ekroos (Centre for Environmental and Climate Science) - portal.research.lu.se

Mark Brady (AgriFood Economics Centre, SLU) - portal.research.lu.se

Paul Caplat (Centre for Environmental and Climate Science) - portal.research.lu.se

Climate change will cause extreme fluctuations in precipitation and temperatures generating intense drought and rainfall events. This will affect the functioning of most ecosystems, and the most severely affected include the world’s poorest and food security challenged nations, including Ethiopia. Microorganisms control decomposition of organic matter (OM), and
dominate the terrestrial contribution to the carbon (C) cycle. Our aim is to incorporate understanding of microbial community processes into the ecosystem model LPJ-Guess – a central BECC priority. This ambitious aim is made feasible by drawing results from funded projects.

We have:
1. Defined the dependence on moisture of microbial processes and scale this information to ecosystem, regional and global levels with LPJ-Guess.
2. Determined and incorporate both long-term and short-term legacy effects of drought on microbial functions to estimate how ecosystem carbon-budgets respond to environmental change.
3. Distinguished between microbial community and physiochemical mechanisms within modelled ecosystem carbon balances.
4. Determined how plant input modulates the microbial resilience to drought by coupling above- and belowground processes in LPJ-Guess.
5. Applied a revised LPJ-Guess (1-4) to simulate the carbon pool fate for Ethiopia, and arid regions in general.

Contact

Postdoc

Albert C Brangarí - portal.research.lu.se

Centre for Environmental and Climate Science
albert [dot] brangari [at] biol [dot] lu [dot] se (albert[dot]brangari[at]biol[dot]lu[dot]se)
+46 46 222 86 33
 

Collaborating researchers

Johannes Rousk (Department of Biology) - portal.research.lu.se

Paul Miller (Department of Physical Geography and Ecosystem Science) - portal.research.lu.se 

Dan Metcalfe (Department of Physical Geography and Ecosystem Science) - portal.research.lu.se

Edith Hammer (Department of Biology) - portal.research.lu.se

Green infrastructure (GI) has been launched as a concept and policy tool to improve biodiversity conservation and support of multiple ecosystem services, by including it into large-scale land-use planning under a changing climate and land-use changes. Therefore, how different actors understand GI may have profound consequences on biodiversity conservation across Europe within the next decades. To understand challenges and opportunities that this development imposes on biodiversity conservation, we urgently need research on the links between the underlying scientific evidence base for effective conservation strategies and the conceptualization and implementation of GI across multiple governance levels.


This project has:
1) reviewed the ecological literature to establish to which extent organisms occurring in the fragmented landscapes are limited by dispersal
2) tracked the conceptual evolution of GI within peer-reviewed literature and in policy documents to better understand the interconnectedness or lack of such between science and policy in the area of GI.
3) mapped systematically how GI is understood by policy actors at different scales to establish the degree to which evidence has informed decisions.

This interdisciplinary postdoc project has established close collaboration between ecologists, environmental scientists and political scientists within the BECC community and provide a platform for planning future joint research.

The making of green infrastructure as a policy tool for biodiversity conservation - portal.research.lu.se

Contact

Postdoc

Maria von Post - portal.research.lu.se

Department of Biology
maria [dot] von_post [at] biol [dot] lu [dot] se (maria[dot]von_post[at]biol[dot]lu[dot]se)
+46 46 222 38 22
 

Collaborating researchers

Johan Ekroos (Centre for Environmental and Climate Science) - portal.research.lu.se

Åsa Knaggård (Department of Political Science) - portal.research.lu.se

Ola Olsson (Department of Biology) - portal.research.lu.se

Anna Persson (Centre for Environmental and Climate Science) - portal.research.lu.se 

Johanna Alkan Olsson (Centre for Environmental and Climate Science) - portal.research.lu.se 

Grain legumes have the potential to provide climate-smart protein for human consumption and livestock fodder, while simultaneously enhancing pollinator habitat and soil productivity, thereby promoting sustainable agricultural land use and benefits to multiple ecosystem services. However, current grain legume acreages in Europe and Sweden are small. We aim to evaluate the desirability of increasing legume production on current arable land in Sweden to meet climate, food security and environmental goals, and to identify policy pathways that can accomplish this, using a mixed method approach that combines ecology, ecological-economic modelling and trans-disciplinary policy analysis.

We will: i) quantify multiple environmental benefits of increasing grain legume production using mechanistic and statistical models (agri-ecological production functions) based on empirical data and data from the literature; ii) evaluate impacts on farmers’ welfare (and thus willingness to grow legumes) using agent-based modelling; iii) evaluate the impacts on societal welfare of policy scenarios affecting grain legume acreages in dialogue with stakeholders, using our integrated modelling and complementary benefit-cost analysis, under different assumptions of future use of grain legume crops. We will synthesize the results, and use them to inform the future development of the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy to benefit sustainable agricultural production and consumption.

Exploring synergies between wild pollinators and climate-smart protein production – portal.research.lu.se

Contact

Postdoc

Liam Kendall - portal.research.lu.se

Centre for Environmental and Climate Science
liam [dot] kendall [at] cec [dot] lu [dot] se (liam[dot]kendall[at]cec[dot]lu[dot]se)

Collaborating researchers

Henrik Smith (Department of Biology) - portal.research.lu.se

Mark Brady (AgriFood Economics Centre, SLU) - portal.research.lu.se

Kimberly Nicholas (Lund University Centre for Sustainability Studies) - portal.research.lu.se

Large scale drought hit Sweden in 2018 and the extremely hot summer days of 2019 sets new heat records across Europe. Global warming is not only increasing mean temperatures, but also extremes, driving evaporation and increasing water vapour pressure deficit, resulting in more frequent and extreme drought. Currently the growth rate of northern forests is increasing but there is evidence that drought induced mortality is also on the rise in boreal and temperate forests. Increased biomass is linked to higher water demand which may lead to so-called structural overshoot, exacerbating the vulnerability of forests to drought. The proposed project will leverage and build on ongoing projects and developments at Gothenburg and Lund Universities, as well as encourage state of the art research and strengthen Lund-Gothenburg cooperation. Identification and analysis of extreme weather events will be combined with newly developed hydrology processes in the ecosystem model LPJ-GUESS to analyze past, current and future impact of drought on Swedish and Eurasian ecosystems. The postdoc will focus on using and refining a model version that includes deep water storage and ground water and evaluate the impact of extreme weather events in the past and in the future.

Contact

Postdoc

Zhengyao Lu - portal.research.lu.se

Department of Physical Geography and Ecosystem Science 
zhengyao [dot] lu [at] nateko [dot] lu [dot] se (zhengyao[dot]lu[at]nateko[dot]lu[dot]se)

Collaborating researchers

Anders Ahlström (Department of Physical Geography and Ecosystem Science) - portal.research.lu.se

Deliang Chen (Department of Earth Sciences, University of Gothenburg) - gu.se 

Research projects

2021

Involved researchers

Main applicant: Thomas Holst, (Deptartment of Physical Geography and Ecosystem Science, LU)
Co-applicant: Olle Anderbrant, (Department of Biology, LU)

About the project

The pine weevil is causing high economic losses in newly established or replanted forests by feeding on bark and cambium of conifer seedlings. As a defense mechanism against herbivory, and due to the damage on plant tissue, plants under stress change their emission pattern of volatile organic compounds (BVOC). These compounds are highly reactive and a major player in atmospheric chemistry, and precursor to secondary organic aerosols (SOA).

The project aims to observe the attack of the pine weevil on conifer in real-time, monitor the plant’s stress-induced BVOC emissions in high temporal resolution, and provide quantitative data on stress-induced BVOC emissions required for implementation and validation of plant-stress modules in vegetation models, and to validate models on atmospheric chemistry and aerosol formation used to estimate the radiative forcing of BVOC/aerosol feedbacks.

The project outcomes will give detailed information on insect/plant relationships to the forest management useful for strategies in pest-control in monoculture ecosystems, enhance understanding of the variability of BVOC emissions from ecosystems in a changing environment, and provide crucial data for parameterization and validation of ecosystem models to assess uncertainties in climate modelling.

2021

Involved researchers

Main applicant: Peng Zhang (Researcher at the Department of Earth Sciences, UGOT) 
Co-applicants: Deliang Chen (Professor at Department of Earth Sciences, UGOT); 
Hans W. Chen (Assistant professor at Geoscience and Remote SensingChalmers)

About the project

Global warming is causing earlier spring vegetation greening which has increased spring soil water depletion, exacerbating summer soil drying over Eurasian cold regions. However, whether such changes in spring vegetation growth, together with warmer summers, have led to soil water depletion to a level where summer water availability becomes a limiting factor for summer vegetation growth (i.e., causing summer vegetation drought) relative to the water demand for the vegetation growth remains unclear.

This project aims to quantify the inter-annual variation of the summer vegetation drought stress in Sweden and find out how the intensity of the vegetation drought stress has changed over the past decades in relation to earlier spring vegetation greening and warmer summers, and how the changes have affected summer vegetation growth and carbon fluxes in Sweden. Successfully addressing these research questions will provide us with valuable insight into future trajectories in vegetation growth and carbon sink potential in Sweden in a warmer climate. In contrast to previous studies, this project will develop a method to quantify summer vegetation drought stress, from a vegetation-growth-water-demand perspective, based on the observed response strength of weekly vegetation growth to net atmosphere water supply during the summer. 

2021

Involved researchers

Main applicant: Anne D. Bjorkman (Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, UGOT) 
Co-applicants: Robert Björk (Department of Earth Sciences, UGOT), David Wårlind (Department of Phusical Geography and Ecosystem Science, LU), Paul Miller, (Department of Phusical Geography and Ecosystem Science, LU)
Isla Myers-Smith (Global Change Research Institute, the University of Edinburgh) 

About the project

The Arctic is the fastest-warming region on Earth, and its soils contain more than double the amount of carbon currently in the atmosphere. Changes in Arctic vegetation can influence whether this carbon is released into the atmosphere, thus contributing to additional climate warming, but our understanding of this potential is still poor.

Dead plant material (litter) is the primary carbon input to Arctic soils, and thus represents a key component of regional carbon cycling. In order to understand how changes in vegetation could alter litter decomposability across the Arctic, we will: 1) quantify the relationship between plant traits and litter decomposition rates using field experiments and trait measurements, and 2) determine the contribution of Arctic vegetation change to regional-scale changes in litter decomposability by combining empirically estimated trait-decomposability relationships with biome-wide trait databases and multi-decadal records of vegetation change at hundreds of locations across the Arctic.

The knowledge generated by this project will feed into an Arctic-enabled Dynamic Global Vegetation Model (LPJ-GUESS) to determine the contribution of Arctic plant litter decomposition to regional estimates of carbon cycling and to identify potential climate-vegetation feedbacks.

Involved researchers

Main applicant: Lars Eklundh, INES, LU
Co-applicants: Henrik Smith, CEC, LU and Peter Olsson, CEC, LU

About the project

This project aims at developing remote sensing methodology for biodiversity research. The focus is semi-natural grasslands: important reservoirs of biodiversity in intensively managed landscapes, but affected by both local management and landscape context. Given the spatial extents involved, the vital task to monitor their status in a landscape perspective to inform relevant conservation policies is challenging. We propose that monitoring can be facilitated by establishing relationships between remotely sensed habitat descriptors and biodiversity estimates.

We aim to investigate remotely sensed data of productivity, phenology, structure, and spectral variability using novel data from the latest series of satellites. The project will add remote sensing expertise to enable synergistic analyses of novel aspects in grasslands with an on-going project. Thereby, several un-sampled properties will be investigated:

  • biological productivity of grasslands and surrounding crop fields (agricultural intensity)
  • phenology
  • canopy structure and height
  • wetness and nutrient status of the grasslands and surrounding landscape and
  • spectral diversity

The project will develop methodology for future large-area biodiversity investigations as well as disentangling the role of local and landscape scale drivers of biodiversity. 

Biodiversity monitoring of insects is a daunting task, traditionally requiring prohibitive amounts of time and taxonomic expertise. Metabarcoding of environmental DNA (eDNA) has propelled the field of biodiversity monitoring of macroorganism into a new era. Metabarcoding allows the simultaneous identification of multiple species using short characteristic gene sequences, while eDNA refers to the DNA released by organisms into water, sediment or air. In a pilot experiment we have shown for the first time that airborne eDNA can be used to detect flying insects. Here we propose to develop and validate the method for the biodiversity monitoring of insects. The method development will be coordinated with other BECC researchers that start using eDNA in a wide range of projects, to foster competence building and institutional learning about eDNA methods at BECC. The proposal is an interdisciplinary collaboration between three departments, two faculties and two strategic research areas (BECC and MERGE), leveraging the unique combination of taxonomical, ecological, molecular biological and aerosol technological expertise present. The proposed method has applications in biodiversity studies, invasive species monitoring, pest monitoring and public health. 

Contact

Project leader

Niklas Wahlberg - portal.research.lu.se

Department of Biology 

niklas [dot] wahlberg [at] biol [dot] lu [dot] se (niklas[dot]wahlberg[at]biol[dot]lu[dot]se)

+46462223102

Collaborating researchers

Fabian Roger (Centre for Environmental and Climate Science) - portal.research.lu.se
Jakob Löndahl (Ergonomics and Aerosol Technology) - portal.research.lu.se

A project on the biodiversity offsetting policies in Sweden and abroad. It entails an interdisciplinary perspective from environmental science and political science. The analysis cover the institutional design, policy processes, actor perceptions, and the current implementation practices.

Biodiversity offsetting policies - portal.research.lu.se

Contact

Project leader

Åsa Knaggård - portal.research.lu.se

Department of Political Science
asa [dot] knaggard [at] svet [dot] lu [dot] se (asa[dot]knaggard[at]svet[dot]lu[dot]se)
+46 46 222 01 64

Collaborating researchers

Johanna Alkan Olsson (Centre for Environmental and Climate Science) - portal.research.lu.se

Fariborz Zelli (Department of Political Science) - portal.research.lu.se

Helena Hanson (Centre for Environmental and Climate Science) - portal.research.lu.se

Nils Droste (Department of Political Science) -  portal.research.lu.se

Terese Thoni - (Centre for Environmental and Climate Science) - portal.research.lu.se

Guilherme Rodrigues Lima (Federal University of Rio de Janeiro) - ufrj.br

Start: 2020

Pesticides are used to control pests in agriculture, but can also lead to exposure and effects on non-target pollinators. Bees are important pollinators that can be exposed to pesticides when foraging for pollen and nectar in agricultural landscapes. There are several routes of pesticide exposure for bees, but one less explored is that through air. Pesticides in the air are part of the national environmental quality monitoring since ten years and residues of over 50 compounds can be found throughout the vegetation season. In this project, we aim to quantify bee pollinator exposure to pesticides through air and food along an agricultural intensification gradient defined by the proportion of cropland in the surrounding landscape. We will sample air, bees, nectar and pollen at six apple orchards in southernmost Sweden, distributed along a gradient of increasing cropland and decreasing semi-natural grassland and forest in the landscape. The identity and concentrations of pesticides will be related among materials and to the intensification gradient, forming the basis for land use policy to reduce pollinator pesticide exposure. Our findings will be useful for pollinator conservation, harnessing pollination services to crops and wild plants and for authorities, growers of insect pollinated crops and beekeepers. 

Contact

Project leader

Maj Rundlöf - portal.research.lu.se

Department of Biology
maj [dot] rundlof [at] biol [dot] lu [dot] se (maj[dot]rundlof[at]biol[dot]lu[dot]se)
+46 709298524

Collaborating researchers

Ove Jonsson (Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences) - slu.se

Jenny Kreuger (Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences) - slu.se

Involved researchers

Contact: Johan Uddling Fredin - gu.se

Heather Reese (Department of Biological & Environmental Sciences, University of Gothenburg)- gu.se

Olivier Manzi (PhD student at Biological and Environmental Sciences, UGOT)

Göran Wallin (Biological and Environmental Sciences, UGOT)

Lina Mercado (University of Exeter).

About the project

In this project, we explored the physiological heat tolerance limits and thermal safety margins in a broad range of tropical tree species with contrasting successional strategies. We determined thermal thresholds and traits controlling leaf temperature in three multi-species plantations in Rwanda with large variation in elevation (1300-2400 m) and climate (18-24°C mean daytime temperature). Although most species were able to partially acclimate their heat tolerance to warmer growth conditions, heat tolerance limits were exceeded in some species at the warmer sites. This occurred in species with leaf traits causing poor thermoregulation (low transpiration, large leaf size). Species experiencing high leaf temperatures also suffered in terms of growth and mortality at the warmer sites.

Our results have important implications for tree plantation programs in Rwanda. The Rwanda TREE project is presented at this webpage, www.rwandatree.com, and in this YouTube video: Tropical montane forests in a warming world

Participating researchers

Contact: Christine Bacon - gu.se

Department of Biological & Environmental Sciences, University of Gothenburg
christine [dot] bacon [at] bioenv [dot] gu [dot] se (christine[dot]bacon[at]bioenv[dot]gu[dot]se)
+46 766185167

Anne Bjorkman (Department of Biological & Environmental Sciences, University of Gothenburg) - gu.se

Mats Hansson (Department of Biology) - portal.research.lu.se 

The Arctic region has warmed faster than any other region in the world, and climate changes are driving temperature increases up to three times faster than the global average. Beyond temperature, trait shifts have been identified in response to photoperiod and other environmental changes. To understand first the distribution of genetic diversity in Arctic plants, and then use that to determine genomic response to environmental change, explore the process of adaptation, and manage tundra habitats through evolutionary rescue, we developed a chromosome level genome assembly for Oxyria digyna. This is a widespread Arctic and alpine plant species of the Northern Hemisphere, characteristic of the tundra and is an important fodder for reindeer that are semi-domesticated by Indigenous Sami peoples. We used PacBio HiFi long reads and Illumina HiC short reads to build a chromosome scale assembly of Oxryia digyna. The Oxyria digyna genome lays the groundwork for understanding the impact of environmental change on the Arctic.

Involved researchers

ContactWilhelm May - portal.research.lu.se

Katarina Hedlund (Department of Biology) - portal.research.lu.se

Mark Brady (AgriFood Economics Centre SLU) - portal.research.lu.se

Maria Ingimarsdottir (Department of Biology, LU) - portal.research.lu.se

About the project

Changing precipitation patterns and more frequent and more intense extreme weather events projected by future climate scenarios pose considerable risks for the Swedish agricultural sector. One way to adapt agriculture to the negative effects of climate change is the conservation of soil organic carbon through favorable agricultural management practices.

In the project we investigated:

  • a) the extent to which changes in agricultural management practices that improve soil health by restoring organic soil carbon have occurred during the past decade
  • b) which management practices farmers consider beneficial for soil health and
  • c) which economic support farmers would consider adequate to adopt these management practices.

Based on a survey that followed up on a corresponding survey among farmers in Skåne and Halland a decade ago it was found that more farmers had adopted agricultural management practices that preserve soil organic carbon and, thus, are beneficial for soil health between 2011 and 2021 (see figure). More farmers, for instance, operated zero (8% vs. 31%) or low tillage systems (42% vs. 74%), spread manure on their fields (29% vs. 62%) and applied processed organic fertilizer (11% vs. 21%). Slightly more farmers added crop residues to their fields (87% vs. 93%).

Diagram from survey about farmers adoption of agricultural management practices that preserve soil organic carbon.
Fractions of farmers in Skåne and Halland that applied selected agricultural management practices that preserve soil organic carbon in 2011 and 2021 according to corresponding surveys. 3000 farmers were invited to the survey in 2011 and 2087 in 2021. 34% of the farmers replied in 2011 and 17% in 2021.

Both in 2011 and 2021, considerable fractions of the farmers were willing to adopt agricultural management practices that preserve soil organic carbon if they were “adequately” compensated. However, the willingness to operate a zero tillage system increased in 2021 (33% vs. 51%) as did the willingness to use crop residues (34% vs. 42%). The willingness to spread manure on the fields or to apply processed organic fertilizers, on the other hand, declined in 2021 (59% vs. 53%).            

In the project, there have been numerous opportunities to interact with farmers, farmer organizations and agricultural consultants as well as the interested public and public administrators to communicate and discuss the advantages of using and adopting agricultural management practices beneficial for soil health. Particularly for mitigating the agricultural risks associated with a changing climate.

Policy brief by N. Malmstöm, M. Brady and N. Droste Kolinlagring – en försäkring i ett förändrat klimat

The aim of this research project was to explore stories about forests and examine the potential power they have to generate political, economic and social responses to the challenges of climate change and biodiversity loss in the Swedish forests. Through focusing on desire and grief, and the potentially conflicting stories they generate, we explored new ways by which ecosystems services can be understood and engaged.

Woodworlds – Stories of desire and grief in Swedish forests - portal.research.lu.se

Contact

Project leader

Johannes Stripple - portal.research.lu.se

Department of Political Science
johannes [dot] stripple [at] svet [dot] lu [dot] se (johannes[dot]stripple[at]svet[dot]lu[dot]se)
+46 46 222 04 88

Collaborating researchers

Postdoc: Alexandra Nikoleris (Environmental and Energy Systems Studies, LTH) - portal.reserach.lu.se

Anna Maria Jönsson (Department of Physical Geography and Ecosystem Science) - portal.research.lu.se

Paul Miller - (Department of Physical Geography and Ecosystem Science) - portal.research.lu.se

Johan Uddling (Department of Biological & Environmental Sciences, University of Gothenburg) - gu.se

Action Groups

The world of Pantopia: an exploration of ecologically sound futures

Coordinators: Alexandra Nikoleris (Environmental and Energy Systems Studies, LTH) and Nils Droste

BECC AG: The world of Pantopia: an exploration of ecologically sound futures — Lund University

Bringing environmental DNA Methods to BECC

Coordinator: Romana Salis

BECC AG: Bringing environmental DNA methods to BECC — Lund University

Reconciling disciplines and scales in CO2 emissions from terrestrail ecosystems (REC-CO2)

Coordinator: Albert Brangari

Reconciling disciplines and scales in CO2 emissions from terrestrial ecosystems — Lund University

Vibrational spectroscopy hub for an in-depth analysis of biogeochemical processes in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems (ECOSPEC)

Coordinator: Milda Pucetaite

BECC AG: Vibration spectroscopy hub for an in-depth analysis of biogeochemical processes in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems — Lunds universitet

Social and ecological context of climate change adaptation for biodiversity

Coordinator: William Sidemo Holm

BECC AG: Social and ecological context of climate change adaptation for biodiversity — Lund University

Review of novel nanoSIMS assessment of organic N and C cycling in soil (SIMSreview)

Coordinator: Louise C Andresen

Resilient forests

Coordinator: Giuliana Zanchi

BECC AG: Resilient Forests — Lunds universitet

Genomic causes and consequences of inbreeding in natural and domesticated populations

Coordinator: Bengt Hansson

BECC AG: Genomic causes and consequences of inbreeding in natural and domesticated populations — Lund University

Evolutionary feedbacks in plant-pollinator communities novel avenues for studying structure and function

Coordinator: Mikael Pontarp

BECC AG: Evolutionary feedbacks in plant-pollinator communities novel avenues for studying structure and function. — Lunds universitet

Application of pre-industrial data to quantify current impacts of environmental and climate change

Coordinator: Dan Hammarlund

BECC AG: Application of pre-instrumental data to quantify current impacts of environmental and climate change — Lund University

Soil as a tool for climate change mitigation: can it really buy us the time that we need?

Action Group leader:

Edith Hammer (Department of Biology) - portal.research.lu.se

Soil as a tool for climate change mitigation: can it really buy us the time that we need? - portal.research.lu.se

 

Aquatic-terrestrial interactions in agricultural landscapes 

Action Group leader:

Björn Klatt (Department of Biology) - portal.research.lu.se 

Aquatic-terrestrial interactions in agricultural landscapes - portal.research.lu.se

 

V-Bio: Assessing the link between biodiversity and democracy

Action Group leaders: Alexandre Antonelli and Allison Perrigo

A methodological road map to value changes in forest ecosystem services under alternative

Action Group leaders: Giuliana Zanchi and Mark Brady

A methodological road map to value changes in forest ecosystem services under alternative – portal.research.lu.se

Microbial responses to drought and drought cycles in soil (MICRODRY)

Action Group leader: Johannes Rousk

Microbial responses to drought and drought cycles in soil (MICRODRY) – portal.research.lu.se

Identifying gaps and priorities in Arctic environmental research

Action Group leader: Dan Metcalfe

Identifying gaps and priorities in Arctic environmental research – portal.research.lu.se

Evidence relying on simulation models and expert judgment

Action Group leader: Ullrika Sahlin

Evidence relying on simulation models and expert judgment – portal.research.lu.se

Initiating collaboration between BECC and ESG

Action Group leaders: Kristin Aleklett and Maja Essebo

EnviroSync (Synchrotron applications in environmental sciences)

Action Group leader: Edith Hammer

EnviroSync (Synchrotron applications in environmental sciences) – portal.research.lu.se

Towards more reliable estimates of past climates applicable for ecosystem modelling. Integrating proxy based climate reconstructions with GCM simulations

Action Group leader: Anneli Poska

Assessing the Impact of Climate Change on Plant Ecosystems Across Time and Space

Action Group leaders: Alexandre Antonelli and Johan Uddling

Nutrient weathering from rocks

Action Group leader: Louise Andresen

Nutrient weathering from rocks – portal.research.lu.se

Stakeholder Interaction in Research Processes

Action Group leader: Daniel Slunge

Multifunctional landscapes: trade-offs between ecosystem services in farmland

Action Group leader: Tina D'Hertefeldt

Consequences of phenological shifts for wild and managed ecosystems in Sweden

Action Group leader: Jacob Johansson

Constraints on range-shifts: consequences for conservation strategies

Action Group leader: Nils Cronberg

Arctic tree line dynamics: drivers, consequences and challenges

Action Group leader: Anna Ekberg

Land-sea interactions in a long time perspective

Action Group leaders: Anneli Poska and Anne Birgitte Nielsen

Microbial control of global biogeochemical cycles (MICROGLOBE)

Action Group leader: Johannes Rousk

Sustainable forestry in a changing climate

Action Group leaders: Cecilia Akselsson and Per Bengtson

Constraints on range-shifts: consequences for conservation strategies

Action Group leader: Fredrik Haas

Scenarios and climate data

Action Group leader: Veiko Lehsten

Multifunctional landscapes: trade-offs between ecosystem services in farmland

Action Group leader: Klaus Birkhof

Effects of ozone, carbon dioxide and temperature on crops and forests in a global change perspective

Action Group leader: Johan Uddling

Monitoring Forests and the Effects of Forestry Governance in a Changing Climate – an interdisciplinary analysis of ecological, social and economic implications

Action Group leader: Fariborz Zelli and Fredrik Lagergren

The influence of climate change and forest management on nutrient cycling and N leaching - an integrated empirical and modelling approach

Action Group leader: Nicholas Rosentstock

Land-sharing vs. land-sparing in a changing climate: consequences for ecosystem services and biodiversity

Action Group leader: Johan Ekroos

Data assimilation and multi-model integration

Action Group leader: Johan Lindström