Evaluating the role of biodiversity in delivering sustainable nature-based solutions to climate change

评估生物多样性在提供基于自然的可持续气候变化解决方案方面的作用

• 批准号: 2607180
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: Imperial College London
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Studentship
• 财政年份: 2021
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2021 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=studentship-2607180
• 关键词: Evaluating; role; biodiversity; delivering; sustainable

In the wake of missed climate targets and failed technological fixes, the concept of "Nature-based Solutions" (NbS) has emerged as a prominent alternative in climate policy. It has been forecast that forest growth can provide a third of the climate action needed by 2030, leading to high-profile endorsements in the corporate sector, as well as by many national governments. Under the Bonn Challenge, 62 countries have pledged to restore 170 million ha of deforested or degraded land and intend to meet nearly half of these commitments with tree plantations. At an even larger scale, the Trillion Tree Campaign was announced at the World Economic Forum in Davos, 2020, based on plans to plant a trillion trees worldwide by the end of the decade. Although broadly welcomed, these initiatives are risky. In particular, their potential to deliver the intended benefits has not been rigorously assessed, leading to concerns over reliability and cost-effectiveness. Indeed, many previous tree planting or reforestation programmes have failed, seemingly because they paid little attention to factors such as disease prevention, water supply, seed dispersal and pest control, all of which may be delivered at much reduced cost in natural systems with high levels of biodiversity. The goal of this project is to assess the role of biodiversity in maximising positive outcomes for tree planting schemes, agroforestry and plantation forestry. To achieve this, the student will focus on published and unpublished datasets from established study systems in Europe, Africa and South America. They will assess the effect of landscape-level variation in natural vegetation and biodiversity on seed dispersal, pollination, pest control, and the recruitment and growth of tree seedlings, including comparison with hand-planted systems. Traits of seed dispersing birds and tree fruits are available through the Tobias lab global trait dataset and the TRY plant trait database, respectively, allowing an investigation of trait diversity, trait matching between trophic levels, and their effects on reforestation. A second theme will focus on evaluating the role of biodiversity in regulating populations of insect pests and pollinators. The student will conduct lab-based meta-barcoding of flower-visiting insects and faecal samples from the dominant insectivorous bird species at each study site, and use these to build interaction networks. Finally, the extent to which different management strategies improve socio-economic outcomes will be investigated, with particular focus on cost-effectiveness, carbon uptake and yield (timber or crops). The results will improve understanding of best practices in building biodiversity-based resilience into multifunctional landscapes, a key step towards ensuring that NbS can achieve their potential to tackle both climate and biodiversity crises while also contributing to sustainable economic development.

在未能实现气候目标和失败的技术修复之后，“基于自然的解决方案”（NbS）的概念已成为气候政策中的一个重要替代方案。据预测，到 2030 年，森林增长可满足气候行动所需的三分之一，从而得到企业界以及许多国家政府的高度认可。根据波恩挑战，62 个国家承诺恢复 1.7 亿公顷被砍伐或退化的土地，并打算通过种植林来履行其中近一半的承诺。 2020 年达沃斯世界经济论坛上宣布了规模更大的“万亿棵树运动”，该计划的基础是到本十年末在全球范围内种植一万亿棵树。尽管受到广泛欢迎，但这些举措存在风险。特别是，它们实现预期效益的潜力尚未得到严格评估，导致人们对可靠性和成本效益的担忧。事实上，之前的许多植树或重新造林计划都失败了，似乎是因为他们很少关注疾病预防、供水、种子传播和害虫控制等因素，而在生物多样性水平高的自然系统中，所有这些都可以以大大降低的成本实现。该项目的目标是评估生物多样性在最大限度地发挥植树计划、农林业和人工林积极成果方面的作用。为了实现这一目标，学生将重点关注欧洲、非洲和南美洲已建立的研究系统中已发表和未发表的数据集。他们将评估自然植被和生物多样性的景观变化对种子传播、授粉、害虫控制以及树苗的补充和生长的影响，包括与手工种植系统的比较。种子传播鸟类和树木果实的性状可分别通过 Tobias 实验室全球性状数据集和 TRY 植物性状数据库获得，从而可以研究性状多样性、营养级之间的性状匹配及其对重新造林的影响。第二个主题将侧重于评估生物多样性在调节害虫和传粉媒介种群方面的作用。学生将对每个研究地点的访花昆虫和主要食虫鸟类的粪便样本进行基于实验室的元条形码，并利用这些样本建立互动网络。最后，将调查不同管理策略改善社会经济成果的程度，特别关注成本效益、碳吸收和产量（木材或农作物）。研究结果将增进对在多功能景观中建立基于生物多样性的复原力的最佳实践的理解，这是确保 NbS 能够发挥其潜力来应对气候和生物多样性危机，同时也为可持续经济发展做出贡献的关键一步。