Synthesis Project 2: Functional relationships between land-use, climate and biogeochemical cycles

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To understand impacts of climate and land use changes on biodiversity and accompanying ecosystem stability and services, detailed understanding and characterization of biotic and abiotic controls on ecosystem C, N and nutrient cycling are essential. Syn2 combines results of field and laboratory studies from phases one and two with process based modelling (linked biogeochemical and dynamic vegetation model) to evaluate the impacts of climate and land-use on C, N and water cycles and budgets of Mt. Kilimanjaro ecosystems. This approach will allow upscaling of results in space (from 13 focal plots to the total of 65 plots, and Kilimanjaro area) and in time (complete annual time series and future scenarios). The functional relationships between land-use, water and biogeochemical cycles under current climatic conditions discovered at the plot scale will be extrapolated to ecosystem level. We will reveal how these relationships will change in the future under expected climate and land-use scenarios. Results will be aggregated and developed into novel process-based indicators of ecosystem characteristics (i.e. C, N, nutrients and water). Finally, these indicators as well as fluxes, will be jointly (Syn1, 3, 5) used in novel trait analysis to reveal functional relationships with vegetation and soil fauna biodiversity.