Biodiversity Objective BD-2.1

Determine how interactions between above- and below-ground biodiversity structure ecosystems and their functioning

Biodiversity Objective BD-2.1 contributes to CEH Science Strategy Challenge IV (to quantify the impact of environmental change on natural resources) by quantifying how soil (an essential natural resource) and soil functioning are affected by environmental change.

BD-2.1 aims to:

  • Identify and correlate the functional links between above-ground vegetation and soil diversity using molecular, genomic and taxonomic approaches
  • Identify the drivers of species dynamics above and below ground community structures using empirical and theoretical studies
  • Quantify links between soil biodiversity and ecological processes
  • Develop predictive models of links between diversity and ecological processes across trophic levels from niche to geographical scales.

These activities are integrated with other research areas in the Biodiversity, Biogeochemistry and Water Programmes and the Environmental Information Data Centre. This will lead to improved understanding of the soil processes that support life on land.

 

Areas of research

Examples of research projects relevant to BD-2.1 include:

Collaborative research projects

BD-2 participates in many collaborative projects. Examples include: