FORKAST

BAVARIAN RESEARCH ASSOCIATION "CLIMATIC IMPACTS ON ECOSYSTEMS AND CLIMATIC ADAPTATION STRATEGIES"

TP4 Impact of climate change on ecological functional services of grassland and peatland ecosystems

Peatlands offer a broad spectrum of ecological functional services. Not only agricultural production but also regulation of landscape water balances (regulation), conservation of biodiversity (biotope), carbon storage as well as the exchange of climate relevant gases (regulation) are of social importance. The intensifying of land-use changes and the impacts of climate change are the main drivers for effects on functional services. The central aim of this project is to study the effects of relations between sites, plant species composition and climate change (priority on temperature and water balance) on ecological functional services of peatland (production, biotope and regulation of carbon compounds and sequestration). This project builds a methodological network with other grassland ecosystem research projects (see below). Based on experimental results vulnerability of ecological functional services should be forecasted using a model based on climate change extremes. Management options should be identified to adapt peatland on climate change.

Grant-aided by:
Bavarian State Ministry for Science, Research and Arts