Detection and climate change attribution of multidecadal vegetation changes in calcareous grasslands

• Applicant: Dr. Timo Conradi
• Subject Area: Ecology and Biodiversity of Plants and Ecosystems
• Term: since 2024
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 553813315

The climatic changes of the last forty years have probably contributed to changes in plant communities. However, due to limited data availability on vegetation changes and methodological difficulties of attribution, it is difficult to detect such vegetation changes and subsequently attribute them to different drivers. It is therefore often unclear how climate change affects plant communities, limiting our ability to adapt conservation strategies. In this project, we use large vegetation databases and own resurveys of vegetation to detect vegetation change in species-rich European calcareous grasslands. Using model-based analyses of these vegetation changes and analyses of climate change fingerprints, we will then evaluate different lines of evidence to prove the impact of climate change on calcareous grasslands and show which changes in the plant communities have already been caused by the climatic changes. The project will develop a transparent workflow for the detection and attribution of changes in plant communities that can also be applied to other ecosystems. The results of the project can also lead to an adaptation of nature conservation strategies to climate change in calcareous grasslands.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants