MICROSERVICES

Abstract:

Climate change exerts considerable pressure on the Earth’s biodiversity and the multitude of ecosystem services it provides. This is particularly problematic for agroecosystems, where the accelerating pace of climate change combined with unsustainable land use directly threatens global food production. Policy actions such as the Sustainable Development Goals and the Aichi Biodiversity Targets, which aim to quantify and mitigate the impact of climate change and unsustainable management on biodiversity, are not on track to be achieved in the near future.
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One way to help achieve these objectives is to take advantage of microbial functions, i.e., those that improve crop growth, nutrient use efficiency, resilience to abiotic stress, resistance to diseases and mitigation of greenhouse gases in agricultural production, while progressively decreasing the amount of external chemical inputs such as fertilizers and pesticides. The extent to which climate change affects the microbiome of the plant-soil nexus is unclear and continues to be underrepresented in current debates on climate change, global biodiversity loss and conservation policy.

In this context, the MICROSERVICES project was born with the objective to i) provide scientific information on the future impacts of climate change on the crop microbiome and associated ecosystem services, and ii) provide scientific information on the future impacts of climate change on the crop microbiome and associated ecosystem services, ii) promote political and public awareness of the importance of microbial diversity for sustainable agriculture, and iii) establish interactions between research institutions, stakeholders in the agricultural sector and policy makers to influence policy agendas at national and European levels.

El projecte utilitzarà un enfocament multidomini per a avaluar l’impacte del canvi climàtic en el nexe conreo-sòl-microbioma sota diversos règims de gestió agrícola, amb l’objectiu d’augmentar la capacitat per a predir i mitigar els futurs impactes del canvi climàtic sobre la biodiversitat del sòl i els seus efectes en cascada sobre el funcionament dels agroecosistemes. Aquests coneixements seran fonamentals per a desenvolupar una agricultura sostenible i resistent al clima.

The project consortium is formed by the National Observatory of Athens (Greece), the Aristotle University of Tessaloniki (Greece), the National Institute for Research in Agriculture, Food and Environment (France), the University of Kassel (Germany), the European Landowners Organization (Belgium), Leitat (Spain) and the Federal Polytechnic School of Zuric (Switzerland), which leads the consortium.

Leitat’s Role in the Project:

Leitat’s main role and contribution to the project is focused on its role as a partner and expert in the field of circular economy.