BECC theme meeting C-cycle and climate change

Gothenburg 21/3. A detailed agenda, full information and location info will follow soon.

Associated workshop on C dynamics in tropical forests

The BECC grand challenge Constraining the carbon cycle to characterise and mitigate climate change aims at reducing “uncertainty in the carbon cycle, its responses to anthropogenic and biophysical drivers, and legacy effects of slow-responding processes of vegetation and soils”. Tropical forest are the most productive terrestrial ecosystems and store large quantities of carbon (C) in the plant-soil system, thereby controlling the global climate and the rate of climate change. However, past and current land-use change has resulted in the loss of large areas of tropical forest. Tropical deforestation is after fossil fuel burning the second largest anthropogenic CO2 emission source. Avoiding tropical deforestation is a means to mitigate climate change, for example the UN-REDD programme.

Read more here.

Preliminary BECC-MERGE Spring meeting 2017 - Global Change Scenarios

18-19 April in Lund

Aims are to encourage new exchange between BECC and MERGE, and promote synergy through deployment of MERGE expertise on climate modelling, scenario construction within impact, process and adaptation/mitigation studies in BECC. Particularly we are interested in spreading knowledge of and interest in the scenario approach among BECC researchers performing basic process research.

More information will come soon here.

Methodological Pluralism: Which research methods can/should be used for studying biodiversity and ecosystem services in a changing climate?

Lund, Ecology Building 31/03,  09:00 - 15:30

The objective of this seminar on methodological pluralism is to bring the broader group of BECC junior and senior scholars together in discussions about the strengths and weaknesses of various methods, methodologies and approaches that we use in our research.

Read more and find registration here.

New BECC guest researcher Liba Pejchar

Dr. Liba Pejchar brings expertise in several emerging topics in BECC at the intersection of biodiversity, ecosystem services and human well-being. Her lively research program explores innovative strategies for conserving and restoring biodiversity on human-dominated lands that are compatible with sustaining livelihoods.

Read more here.

Final evaluation report of the Swedish rural programme 2007-2013

Four different research teams have shared the assignment of evaluating the the Swedish rural programme 2007-2013. One of the groups have been responsible for the second partial report, with the assignment of evaluating the programmes effect when it comes to measures for improving the environment. This research group has worked under the supervision of Henrik Smith Who has also been the editor of the report together with Juliana Dänhardt, both from CEC.

Read more here.

New Center for biological diversity opens in Gothenburg

The first day of the new year was also the first day of opening of the Gothenburg Global Biodiversity Centre. The aim of the center is for researchers and students in the field of biodiversity to collaborate more and also to explain better to the public and decision makers why the work to protect species and nature is so important.

Head of the centre is Deputy Theme Coordinator of the Biodiversity theme in BECC Alexandre Antonelli

Read more here.

BIOECONOMY Graduate Research School

PhD students can now apply for the new BIOECONOMY Graduate Research School. BIOECONOMY is a 1 year graduate research school at Lund University with an overall aim of developing the competencies necessary for participating PhD students to adopt systems approach in order to identify and assess the full range of technological, economic, social and ecological challenges and opportunities in transition to a bioeconomy. The aim is also for the students to be able to lead the way in innovative inter/trans-disciplinary research for a sustainable bioeconomy in the international arena. 

Read more and apply here.

Climate researchers can be trusted!

BECC researcher Johan Hollander has published an article in Climatic Change where he, together with colleagues, examine 120 published articles in climate science from the period 1973 to 2013. In the study they find no evidence of skewness in the way the results are published.

Read more here.

Bringing economists and scientists together for planetary solutions

What policies are needed to cope with the global environmental challenges? What can scientists learn from economists and vice versa? This was the theme of the workshop held on 7-8 December, organised by Thomas Sterner, BECC researcher and professor of environmental economics at the University of Gothenburg.

Read more here.

Land-atmosphere interactions and regional Earth system dynamics due to natural and anthropogenic vegetation changes

The 10/3 Niklas Boke-Olén will defend his thesis.

Read more here.

The influence of herbivory on shrub expansion in the Scandes forest-tundra ecotone  

Tage Vowles defended his thesis 20/1

Read more here

Carbon and nutrient cycling in Afromontane Tropical Forests at different successional stages

Brigitte Nyirambangutse defended her thesis 9/12

Read more here.

Modelling nutrient transport from forest ecosystems to surface waters

Giuliana Zanchi Defended her thesis 15/12

Read more here.

Reconstruction of Past European Land Cover Based on Fossil Pollen Data

Behnaz Pirzamanbein defended her thesis 19/12

Read more here. 

Biophysical and human controls of land productivity under global change: development and demonstration of parsimonious modelling techniques

Florian Sallaba defended his thesis 20/12

Read more here.