Skip to main content
European Commission logo
français français
CORDIS - Résultats de la recherche de l’UE
CORDIS
CORDIS Web 30th anniversary CORDIS Web 30th anniversary
Contenu archivé le 2024-05-27

Long-term woodland dynamics in Central Europe: from estimations to a realistic model

Objectif

The vegetation of Central Europe has been directly influenced by humans for at least eight millennia; the original forests have been gradually transformed into today’s agricultural landscape. However, there is more to this landscape change than the simple disappearance of woodland. Forests have been brought under various management regimes, which profoundly altered their structure and species composition. The details of this process are little known for two main reasons. The greatest obstacle is the lack of cooperation among the disciplines dealing with the subject. The second major problem is the differences in spatio-temporal scaling and resolution used by the individual disciplines. Existing studies either concern smaller territories, or cover large areas (continental to global) with the help of modelling-based generalizations rather than primary data from the past. Using an extensive range of primary sources from history, historical geography, palaeoecology, archaeology and ecology, this interdisciplinary project aims to reconstruct the long-term (Neolithic to present) patterns of woodland cover, structure, composition and management in a larger study region (Moravia, the Czech Republic, ca. 27,000 km2) with the highest spatio-temporal resolution possible. Causes for the patterns observed will be analyzed in terms of qualitative and quantitative factors, both natural and human-driven, and the patterns in the tree layer will be related to those in the herb layer, which constitutes the most important part of plant biodiversity in Europe. This project will introduce woodland management as an equal driving force into long-term woodland dynamics, thus fostering a paradigm shift in ecology towards construing humans as an internal, constitutive element of ecosystems. By integrating sources and methods from the natural sciences and the humanities, the project will provide a more reliable basis for woodland management and conservation in Central Europe.

Appel à propositions

ERC-2011-StG_20101014
Voir d’autres projets de cet appel

Régime de financement

ERC-SG - ERC Starting Grant

Institution d’accueil

BOTANICKY USTAV AV CR, V.V.I.
Contribution de l’UE
€ 1 413 474,00
Adresse
ZAMEK 1
25243 Pruhonice
Tchéquie

Voir sur la carte

Région
Česko Střední Čechy Středočeský kraj
Type d’activité
Research Organisations
Chercheur principal
Péter Szabó (Dr.)
Contact administratif
Jan Stachura (Mr.)
Liens
Coût total
Aucune donnée

Bénéficiaires (1)