Project description
Climate change effects on inland waterbird populations
The role inland waters play in the ecosystem is significant: they are considered important sentinels of climate change and act as repositories of information on past environmental events, as well as providing nesting grounds for migratory birds. However, anthropogenic climate change harms inland waters such as Arctic and Mediterranean lakes. The result is shorter ice-cover periods in the Arctic that give rise to further warming and less water storage in the Mediterranean, bringing on droughts. The EU-funded PAST project will study how previous droughts and extreme climatic events have influenced the long-term processes of bird populations. The project will apply a palaeolimnological approach that reveals trends in environmental changes in previous periods and allows researchers to study the lake’s history in a cost- and work-effective way.
Objective
Anthropogenic climate change affects all countries and so societies need to begin adapting to the ongoing impacts of these changes. In addition, different biomes respond in distinctive ways to climatic warming. For instance, like oceans, Arctic lakes are strongly affected by shorter ice-cover periods, further decreasing albedo which further increases warming. On the other hand, lakes located in Mediterranean regions are experiencing a decrease in the inundation area and water storage due to the magnitude of the droughts.
It is important to say that inland waters are recognised as important sentinels of climatic change and their sediments accumulate records of past environmental conditions. For this reason, we can use these sediment records to study the trends in environmental changes such as warming or wet periods that occurred in the past. Through paleolimnological analyses, past climate history information can be inferred to determine the timing and degree of change in lake ecosystems. Whilst monitoring data may be short, the paleolimnological approach allows for the study of many years of a lakes history in a very cost and labour effective manner.
Furthermore, inland waters are frequently nesting areas for migratory birds, and these water bodies are especially sensitive to droughts. For this reason, waterbirds may suffer major losses by limited food supplies and habitat, as well as increased disease due to overcrowding. By using paleolimnological approaches, new methodologies allow us to assess past drought periods along with the long-term changes in bird population.
This is why the main objective of this proposal is to study how past droughts and other climatic extremes have affected long-term dynamics of bird populations using paleolimnological approaches in two areas that are being affected by environment change in such different manners: ponds on nesting islands in the Great Lakes region of Canada and the Mediterranean Region of Spain.
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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H2020-EU.1.3. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
MAIN PROGRAMME
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H2020-EU.1.3.2. - Nurturing excellence by means of cross-border and cross-sector mobility
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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.
MSCA-IF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF)
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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) H2020-MSCA-IF-2019
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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.
18071 GRANADA
Spain
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.