Project partners

Bulgarian acadamy of sciences, Leibniz Institute of Ecological Urban and Regional Development

Short description

Mounting evidence about global change impacts on all aspects of life on Earth emphasizes the need for a robust monitoring system and an improved understanding of the fundamental processes affecting water and element cycling at multiple scales within the biogeochemical and the socio-economical systems. This need is particularly pronounced for the most vulnerable areas, including mountain regions with special focus on sensitive mountain ecosystems.

Mountains are critical for the provisioning of ecosystem services within, and well beyond, the mountain areas. This is the generally termed “highland–lowland interactive systems”. Many of the services within this system are threatened by climate change and land use modifications, and by the associated biodiversity loss. In this context, and taking into account the objectives of the European Union for mountains, the proposed Bilateral Project “Ecosystem based information system covering sensitive mountain areas in Bulgaria” addresses technological, scientific and societal challenges in mountain environments by fostering the development of a transdisciplinary network of scientists specialized in mountains.

Benjamin Burkhard completed this project at the Christian-Albrechts-University Kiel.