Projects

Carbon sequestration in BLUE ecoSystems (C-BLUES)

C-BLUES (2024-2028) aims to advance knowledge and understanding of blue carbon ecosystems (BCEs) such as seagrasses, tidal marshes, mangroves, macroalgae, and macroalgae mariculture via targeting three overarching objectives: 1) develop new scientific knowledge within BCEs to reduce scientific uncertainty and improve reporting of blue carbon under UNFCCC, 2) provide input to a possible revision of the 2013 IPCC Wetlands Supplement to increase inclusion of BCEs in national greenhouse gas inventories and reporting, 3) raise awareness and promote the role of BCEs for delivering global climate policy commitments in collaboration with Chinese and other international partners. more

MANIP

MANIP, a long term experimental project, aims at understanding responses in different eddy covariance sites from nutrient loading (primarily N and P) and water availability, on ecosystem-level carbon, water fluxes, and their interannual variability. The sites are located at Majadas de Tiétar, Spain. more

Unveiling the impact of land cover change in Africa on the land-atmosphere interactions

This collaborative project (2024-2028) between the Max Planck Institute and the Weizmann Institute of Science will assess the regional and global impact of land use change on the carbon, water, and energy cycles across scales, as well as the susceptibility of different land covers to climate feedback loops. First part of this research project will be based on the deployment of the unique mobile biosphere-atmosphere lab in Africa, developed by the Ecophysiology group at the Weizmann Institute. The second part of this research project will levarage the data collected during the African field campaignn to validate remote sensing products.

Carbon sequestration in the Wadden Sea

The Wadden Sea has significant potential for carbon sequestration, yet the precise contribution of specific habitats to greenhouse gas reduction has not been quantified on a trilateral scale. To advance the understanding of carbon sequestration in the Wadden Sea, the aim of this project (2024-2025) is to review these projects and based on an in-depth assessment of methods used and specific parameters investigated, provide recommendations for trilateral research and monitoring activities that would allow an assessment of the carbon sequestration potential of Wadden Sea habitats, for future consideration by trilateral experts in the field.

Root Dynamics for Ecosystem Observation (RODEO)

RODEO (2023-2031) is building robotic instruments to set up a network of root observatories. Currently there are many uncertainties in our understanding of phenology belowground; we know its often not the same as aboveground, but don’t understand why. RODEO will use AI for image analysis to gather data on root phenology. RODEO will use these data to improve representation of roots in climate models. RODEO is funded via a SFI-Royal Society University Research Fellowship awarded to Dr. Richard Nair. The Eco-Met group is one core collaborative teams. more

SensOFOREST

The SensOFOREST project (2024-2026) aims to contribute to the FORWARDS network of pilot sites by developing a comprehensive integrated system based on the combined use of ground sensors and multi-scale and multi-sensor proximal and remote sensing. Three sites representative of typical Mediterranean Quercus ilex open forest, including a well-established high-profile long-term monitoring site, have been selected to contribute, in an optimal way, to the FORWARDS network. more

Integrated Observing Systems and Simulation Experiments to Analyze Biodiversity-Ecosystem Function Relationships in Savanna Ecosystems (BIOSSE)

BIOSSE (2024-2027) aims to understand how climate and other human-induced environmental changes jeopardize ecosystems’ biodiversity and functions. Biodiversity can sustain the stability of ecosystem functions in response to environmental variability, perturbations, and extreme events. Therefore, monitoring the state of biodiversity and its relationship with the ecosystem functions at local scales is necessary to preserve ecosystem services and biodiversity. Remote sensing can potentially map different facets of vegetation and related ecosystem functions, enabling continuous monitoring of biodiversity and ecosystem function relationships at management scales. more

Demonstration and modelling of Nature-based solutions to enhance the resilience of Mediterranean agro-silvo-pastoral ecosystems and landscapes (DRYAD)

DRYAD (2024-2028), a Horizon Europe project, will contribute to the Mission Adaptation to Climate Change by developing and implementing real-life, climate-resilient nature-based solutions for Mediterranean agro-silvo-pastoral ecosystems. The project integrates cutting-edge scientific, technological, social, and business innovationswith transformative solutions, supporting a multi-level, cross-sectoral, integrated, and adaptive management governance through the development of Decision Support Systems. The Majadas de Tietar site is involved and the main lead is the University of Extremadura, who is a long-term collaborator of the Eco-Met. more

Land Carbon Constellation Study

The main objective of the Land surface Carbon Constellation (LCC) project is to demonstrate the synergistic exploitation of satellite observations from active and passive microwave sensors together with optical data for an improved understanding of the terrestrial carbon and water cycles. This will be achieved by: 1) adapting a numerical land surface model for its application in a data assimilation framework, 2) acquisition and analysis of campaign data sets at Sodankylä (Finland) and Majadas de Tietar (Spain) supporting the development of the model and the data assimilation scheme on the local scale. The LCC Study starts in October 2020 and contributes to ESA’s Carbon Science Cluster, focussing on its land component more

FLEXSense - FLEX Sentinel Tandem Experiment

In the FLEXSense project we provide ground observations in the MANIP experimental sites to interpret airborne measurements of fluorescence collected with the HyPlant sensor in the context of the FLEX Sentinel Tandem Experiment. The prohject is funded by ESA.

oBEF Across2: Observing effects of biodiversity on ecosystem functioning across time, space, and wavelength

The project addresses this topic by exploring the potential of the Sentinels, EnMap, and ESA-Flex missions for revealing influence of Biodiversity on Ecosystem Functioning (BEF) across environmental gradients, and to assess their temporal “stability”. This project will generate and test new hypothesis, for instance regarding the post-disturbance BEF recovery. Key questions in the context of “biodiversity patterns” and “biodiversity functions” will profit and be broadened. The project is funded by the German Space Agency and the BMWi. The project is in collaboration with German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, UL (University of Leipzig), and UFZ (Helmholtz-Centre for Environmental Research).

oBEF-Across: Observing effects of biodiversity on ecosystem functioning across time, space, and wavelength

The project addresses this topic by exploring the potential of the Sentinels, EnMap, and ESA-Flex missions for revealing influence of Biodiversity on Ecosystem Functioning (BEF) across environmental gradients, and to assess their temporal “stability”. This project will generate and test new hypothesis, for instance regarding the post-disturbance BEF recovery. Key questions in the context of “biodiversity patterns” and “biodiversity functions” will profit and be broadened. The project is funded by German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig. This project is a collaborative effort among MPI-BGC (Max-Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry), UL (University of Leipzig), and UFZ (Helmholtz-Centre for Environmental Research).

LFT: Long-term fate of N from fertilizer experiment

The LTF or “Long-Term Fate” experiment aims to answer that question by tracking the fate of added nitrogen fertilizer for one year after application. more

SMANIE

The SMANIE project is a small-scale manipulation experiment (SMANIE) running parallel to the large scale manipulation experiment with focusing on the grass layer. more

Training on Remote sensing for Ecosystem modElling (TRuStEE)

October 01, 2016

Duration: 10/2016 - 09/2020

TRuStEE aims to capacitate the next generation of scientists to understand and deal with the increasing pressure of environmental change on ecosystem functioning and land-atmosphere interactions.

Contact: Mirco Migliavacca more