Climate effects on populations of plants (crop and forest), animals and micro-organisms

Above the scale of individual plants, climate influences species distribution, community composition, including biodiversity at all levels as well as the viability and quality of crops in managed ecosystems. Plant growth and interference with other trophic levels are also influenced by the local, regional and global climate, through the exchanges of energy, matter and gases between organisms and the environment around them.

The main scientific objectives are:

 

1. To produce basic understanding of the climate change impacts consequences on biodiversity and ecosystems - from the species to the community level and how to counter these effects through sustainable utilization of biodiversity.
2. To focus on the ecology and biology of noxious species, e.g. invasive species and how invasiveness is affected by climate change and variability in ecosystem vulnerability.
3. To use achieved knowledge to anticipate challenges and suggest measures against climate change related negative impacts of well known as well as introduced species.
4. To develop methods for analyzing and monitoring new pathogenic and novel bio-industrial micro-organisms that emerge due to climate changes as well as changed ways of transportation and export/import patterns.

The impact studies are expected to open significant perspectives for studies on the population dynamics of pest and plant diseases and the factors controlling their distribution and abundance, including predictive modelling of how their ecology may change under climate change.

 

Contact: Associate professor Michael Lyngkjær ()