Global change impacts at the macroecological scale: how digital collections data (of six million European fungal species observations) help address questions in conservation
13:15 – 14:15
Researcher
EVOGENE group, Dept. of Biosciences (UiO):
Abstract
The driving forces to the geographical structuring of fungi remain notably irresolute, despite well documented trends for a variety of plant and animal groups. This information is critical to planning and mitigating potentially negative consequences of global change, and especially related to conservation. In this talk, analyses are discussed from a European mycological ‘meta- database’ (ClimFun), built mostly from museum and citizen science records, and which has been integrated with open-source environmental and functional traits data. Phenology patterns related to climate and the seasonality of fruiting suggest significant likelihood that further climatic change, especially related to temperature, will impact species’ fruiting patterns at large spatial scales. It is not just the timing of fruiting, however, that is susceptible to global change: compositional assemblages are also patterned along major geographical and environmental gradients for two main nutritional modes, saprotrophic and ectomycorrhizal fungi. The highest rates of compositional change by time suggest targeting higher latitudes and altitudes for a better understanding of fungal dynamics with respect to climate change. Against a backdrop of global change, this presentation should demonstrate how museum and citizen science based 'big data' are advancing the fields of macroecology and conservation biology.
The new NiN landscape type system for Norway - presentation and potential applications in research and management
14:15 – 15:00
PhD Fellow
GEco group at Natural History Museum, Oslo
Abstract
Landscape variation is commonly regarded as an important aspect of nature's diversity, and the diversity of Norwegian landscapes is widely recognised. In this lecture, I will present a novel concept for systematic description of ecological diversity at the landscape level, rooted in ecological continuum theory. An application of this concept is exemplified with the new extensive and area-covering landscape type map for Norway within the framework of ‘Nature in Norway’ (NiN), developed at the geo-ecological research group at NHM. Examples of applications to research and management will be given.
