Restoring tropical landscapes with resilient forests in the context of climate change mitigation

在减缓气候变化的背景下利用有复原力的森林恢复热带景观

• 批准号: RGPIN-2020-03898
• 负责人: Potvin, Catherine
• 金额: $ 3.42万
• 依托单位: McGill University
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2021
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2021-01-01 至 2022-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=739545
• 关键词: Restoring; tropical; landscapes; resilient; forests

Tropical forests are critical in the face of climate change. They hold over 40% of terrestrial carbon, occupy 12% of terrestrial surface and harbour more than half of terrestrial diversity. While avoiding deforestation is one way to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions, reforestation and forest restoration offer an opportunity to remove CO2 from the atmosphere. With a climate mitigation potential estimated at >11 PgCO2e yr-1 up until 2030, tropical landscapes are at the forefront of climate action. In this context, my NSERC Discovery Grant focuses on tropical forests' resilience to the changing climate. It has been suggested that climate-related increases in temperature and drought could globally shift tropical forests from a carbon sink to source. The potential of forests to serve as climate solutions rests on their long-term resilience and ability to withstand chronic effects of climate change and other anthropogenic drivers of degradation. I therefore propose to combine research on an experimental forest, established to study the relationship between tree diversity and ecosystem function, and on the attributes of climate resilience in forested landscapes. In 2001, I planted an experimental forest in Central Panama with monoculture plots and mixture plots. Since then, it has experienced one extreme wet event, one extreme wet dry spell over three consecutive years and one tropical storm. Long-term monitoring of tree growth and other ecosystem functions, such as the production of leaf litter and of coarse woody debris, offers a unique opportunity to unravel the mechanism that makes mixture plots more resilient to extreme climate events. In addition, I will advance the understanding of climate resilience by measuring a number of functional traits related to drought resistance in canopy trees and saplings of both moist and tropical dry planted forests. The hypothesis being tested is that, as the climate is becoming drier, saplings harbouring traits related to drought tolerance will increase in abundance, thereby enhancing forest resilience. I will also examine landscape connectivity as a key element of landscape resilience, comparing saplings and canopy tree diversity and functional traits in intact and fragmented landscapes. My research will advance our understanding of the climate resilience of tropical forests at a time of worldwide concern over the fate of the Amazonian forests. Furthermore, under the leadership of Germany, a number of countries have joined the Bonn Challenge, a global effort to bring 150 million hectares of deforested and degraded land into restoration by 2020 and 350 million hectares by 2030. My Discovery Grant research holds the potential of having a major real-world impact by providing guidance on how to enhance the climate resilience of reforestation and forest restoration projects.

面对气候变化，热带森林至关重要。它们拥有超过40%的陆地碳，占据陆地表面的12%，并拥有超过一半的陆地多样性。虽然避免森林砍伐是减少全球温室气体排放的一种方法，但重新造林和森林恢复提供了消除大气中二氧化碳的机会。到 2030 年，气候减缓潜力估计 >11 PgCO2e yr-1，热带景观处于气候行动的最前沿。在这种背景下，我的 NSERC 发现补助金重点关注热带森林对气候变化的适应能力。有人认为，与气候相关的气温升高和干旱可能导致全球范围内的热带森林从碳汇转变为碳源。森林作为气候解决方案的潜力取决于其长期恢复力和承受气候变化和其他人为退化驱动因素的长期影响的能力。因此，我建议将实验森林的研究结合起来，该实验森林的建立是为了研究树木多样性与生态系统功能之间的关系，以及森林景观气候适应能力的属性。 2001年，我在巴拿马中部种植了一片试验林，其中包括单一种植地块和混合种植地块。此后，连续三年经历了一次极端潮湿事件、一次极端潮湿干旱和一场热带风暴。对树木生长和其他生态系统功能（例如落叶层和粗木质碎片的产生）的长期监测，为揭示使混合地块更能抵御极端气候事件的机制提供了独特的机会。此外，我将通过测量潮湿和热带干燥种植林的冠层树木和树苗与抗旱性相关的一些功能特征来加深对气候适应力的理解。正在测试的假设是，随着气候变得干燥，具有耐旱性的树苗数量将会增加，从而增强森林的恢复力。我还将研究景观连通性作为景观恢复力的关键要素，比较完整和破碎景观中的树苗和冠层树木的多样性和功能特征。在全世界都在关注亚马逊森林的命运之际，我的研究将增进我们对热带森林气候适应能力的理解。此外，在德国的领导下，许多国家加入了波恩挑战，这是一项全球努力，目标是到 2020 年恢复 1.5 亿公顷森林砍伐和退化的土地，到 2030 年恢复 3.5 亿公顷。我的发现补助金研究具有以下潜力：通过提供有关如何增强重新造林和森林恢复项目的气候适应能力的指导，产生重大的现实影响。