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Ecosystem Research Topics: Biodiversity and Climate Adaptation
With increasing pressures on our environment as a result of climate change and anthropogenic impacts, our research aims to increase understanding of complex human-climate-ecosystem interactions. The ECI's Biodiversity and Climate Adaptation research group is at the forefront of integrating and improving techniques for the observation and projection of the effects of environmental change on species, ecosystems and the services they provide at the international and national level. These results are feeding into the conservation management and policy areas. It is also researching adaptation options for biodiversity and how mitigation and adaptation measures in other sectors might impact on biodiversity. More specifically we are involved in:
- using sectoral and integrated modelling techniques to project changes in the potential distributions of species and ecosystems at local, regional and global scales and to assess their adaptive capacity and vulnerability to climate change;
- investigating the role of adaptation and mitigation measures in different sectors in offsetting the projected changes and their impacts on biodiversity;
- costing adaptation in natural ecosystems to climate change;
- developing a user-friendly, interactive and web-based platform for stakeholder-led climate change adaptation and vulnerability assessment which explicitly evaluates cross-sectoral interactions between the key sectors driving landscape change in Europe;
- quantifying the contribution of different organisms, and the effects of various drivers of change, on the provision of ecosystem services;
- assessing the implications of the above for conservation policy and management.
Projects
- CLIMSAVE: CLimate change Integrated assessment Methodology for cross-Sectoral Adaptation and Vulnerability in Europe
2010-2013
A project to develop and apply an integrated methodology for stakeholder-led, climate change impact and vulnerability assessment
- Understanding the factors influencing the practical application of the UK Climate Projections 2009 to land management for environmental benefit
2009 - 2010
- Assessing the costs of adaptation to climate change: A review of the UNFCCC and other recent estimates
2009
- MACIS: Minimisation of and Adaptation to Climate change Impacts on Biodiversity
Nov 06 - Nov 08
A review of the existing projections of climate change impacts on biodiversity and the state-of-the-art of methods to assess the probable future impacts of climate change on biodiversity.
- RUBICODE: Rationalising Biodiversity Conservation in Dynamic Ecosystems
Sep 06 - Aug 09
A pan-European project that is reviewing and developing concepts of dynamics ecosystems and the services they provide for both terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems. Frameworks for linking biodiversity traits to service provision and for improving and testing indicators are also being developed and used to explore management strategies and inform priorities for biodiversity conservation policy. RUBICODE will also identify current gaps in knowledge and propose a roadmap for future research.
- BRANCH: Biodiversity Requires Adaptations in NW Europe under a changing climate
Oct 04 - Dec 07
A major transnational European consortium to create a suite of decision making tools and policies to assist biodiversity's response to climate change
- MONARCH: Modelling Natural Resource Responses to Climate Change
99 - 06
A 5 year study of the impacts of climate change on nature conservation in the UK and Ireland. Coupling established impact models with climatological classifications MONARCH provided a valuable framework for examining biodiversity response to climate change.
- Wittenham Clumps Heritage Landscape Project: Future Landscape Scenarios
Jul 04 - Dec 05
As part of a major new landscape evolution centre, ECI created virtual images of realistic alternative future landscapes for South Oxfordshire, with a view to helping the public make informed choices about their impacts on and role in landuse change.
- Biodiversity, Climate Change and Regional Policy.
Apr 04 - Mar 07
Climate change will affect species and their habitat in each of England's regions over the next 50 years. This project assessed species' adaptation to inform regional decision-makers about the likely consequences and policy implications of such impacts.
- Business risks of climate change to public sector organisations in Scotland.
completed Oct 05
- Assessing Climate Change Effects on Land use and Ecosystems; from Regional Analysis to the European Scale (ACCELERATES).
01 - 04
The overall aim of the project was to assess the vulnerability of European agro-ecosystems to environmental change and the consequent impacts on biodiversity in 7 different regions of Europe.
- Regional Integrated Assessment of Climate Change Impacts in the North West and East Anglia (REGIS).
98 - 05
A metamodel tool to assess impacts, adaptation to impacts, and policy responses to climate change. The metamodel enabled stakeholders to assess the impacts of future climate change on agriculture, biodiversity, hydrology, and the coastlines of East Anglia and the NW of England, projecting these changes up to 2050.
- Sustainable Forest Resource Management For Biodiversity Protection in Madagascar
2000 - 2004
A Sustainable Development project which provided new tools in rapid biodiversity assessment in Madagascar.
- Remote Sensing of Carbon Fluxes in Forest Ecosystems (LINK CARBON).
99 - 03
The ECI has a new method for estimating carbon stocks of conifer forests, using remote sensing and carbon partition modelling.
- Anthropogenic and climate interactions with seagrass habitats in the Seychelles.
2000
An expedition to the Seychelles which examined the extent and dynamics of seagrass habitats.