Research on ecosystems of the future has started
Thursday, April 25, 2013 - 10:30
in Earth & Climate
What will happen when a plant moves to higher latitudes driven by climate change, potentially leaving behind friends and foes? Will it outcompete local plants, will originally interacting species become re-united, or do we get novel communities and ecosystems? This will be studied by professor Wim van der Putten of the Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW) with a prestigious European grant of two million Euros. His research aims to enhance predictions of our nature's future in a warming world. The first experiment already began when the Netherlands' future king personally planted two species in the 'ecosystems of the future'.