Understanding climate
for the benefit of society

Photo: Creative Commons / Adrian

Two new projects receive funding

Ancient DNA and the hidden costs of afforestation. These Bjerknes-projects have received KLIMAFORSK-funding.

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Out of a total 172 application for the KLIMAFORSK call only 11 were granted funding. Two of these eleven projects belong to Bjerknes researchers. Uni Research Climate and BCCR also received one out of 14 projects funded by the AURORA mobility program.

KLIMAFORSK and AURORA:

aDNAPROX: "Environmental ancient DNA as proxy for sea ice reconstructions", Stijn De Schepper, Uni Research Climate

aDNAPROX aims to improve our understanding of Arctic sea ice history in the recent geological past (last ~100,000 years) and has a specific focus on rapid climate change events such as Dansgaard/Oeschger cycles and Heinrich events. We will develop and assess environmental ancient DNA (aDNA) as a sea ice proxy by comparing with traditional microfossils and organic biomarkers. For this purpose, we will analyse sediment samples collected during two recent scientific cruises of the EU-Synergy Project Ice2Ice.  

The collaboration between palaeoceanographers and molecular biologists will bring Norway to the forefront of a new, exciting cross-disciplinary field of research which can be a starting point to provide better insight into past sea ice extent, information essential for policy makers, industries and end-users of ecosystem services affected by or depending on sea ice.

The research team from aDNAPROX also received funding from the Aurora-Mobility program for visits to and from researchers at Ifremer (France) working with ancient DNA.

KLIMAFORSK:

HiddenCosts: "Hidden costs of implementing afforestation as a climate mitigation strategy: A comprehensive assessment of direct and indirect impacts", Hanna Lee, Uni Research Climate

Under the current Norwegian climate mitigation plan, afforestation of transitional areas is considered the 4th most viable method. In parallel to afforestation, large areas of unused and abandoned semi-natural areas in Norway are now undergoing massive natural succession towards deciduous forest.

The effects and merits of afforestation, however, have been highly debated both in the scientific community and in the public because the impacts assessment have not yet moved beyond simple back-of-the-envelope calculation of carbon binding capacity by aboveground biomass.

HiddenCosts will apply a multidisciplinary approach by integrating Earth System and regional climate modeling, in situ observations of biodiversity, ecosystem structure, and carbon storage, and public valuation and ecosystem services analysis to gain more holistic understanding of the effects (both costs and benefits) of afforestation, continued management, and natural succession in the open lowland landscapes of Norway.

In addition, information gained from this project will be synthesized to effectively communicate with relevant stakeholders and the public.