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: 2022
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2022-01-01 至 2023-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=745853
• 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。它们占有40％的陆地碳，占地12％，占地超过一半的陆地多样性。尽管避免森林砍伐是减少全球温室气体排放的一种方法，但森林修复和森林修复提供了从大气中删除二氧化碳的机会。直到2030年，气候缓解潜力估计> 11 pgco2e yr-1，热带景观处于气候作用的最前沿。在这种情况下，我的NSERC Discovery Grant专注于热带森林对不断变化的气候的韧性。有人提出，与气候相关的温度升高和干旱可能会在全球范围内从碳水槽转移到源。森林作为气候解决方案的潜力取决于它们的长期韧性以及承受气候变化和其他人为降解驱动因素的慢性影响的能力。因此，我建议将研究森林的研究结合起来，以研究树木多样性与生态系统功能之间的关系，以及森林景观中气候弹性的属性。 2001年，我在巴拿马中部种植了一个实验林，该森林拥有单一培养图和混合物图。从那以后，它经历了一次极端的潮湿事件，连续三年连续三年和一场热带风暴。对树木生长和其他生态系统功能的长期监测，例如生产叶子和粗木质碎片，为揭开使混合物对极端气候事件更具弹性的机制提供了独特的机会。此外，我将通过测量与湿润和热带干燥种植林中的冠层和树苗有关的许多功能性状来提高对气候韧性的理解。测试的假设是，随着气候变得更干燥，具有与耐旱性有关的特征的树苗将增加丰度，从而增强森林的弹性。我还将研究景观连接性，是景观弹性的关键要素，比较了完整和碎片景观中树冠和树冠树的多样性和功能性状。我的研究将在全球对亚马逊森林的命运的关注时，将提高我们对热带森林气候的理解。此外，在德国的领导下，许多国家加入了波恩挑战，全球努力使1.5亿公顷的森林砍伐和退化土地到2020年到2030年到2030年。到2030年，到2030年。我的发现赠款赠款的研究授予了通过对改善风险依赖的重大依赖的主要现实影响的潜在影响，从而使现实中的现实范围有所改善。