Ecosystems are made up of different parts that interact with each other: water and sediment; topsoil and subsoil. Species connecting these parts determine whether ecosystems function stably or not. Human intervention, in particular, puts ecosystems under pressure. Examples include climate change, air, soil and water pollution, changes caused by agriculture and urbanisation, and increasing pressure on marine ecosystems. All these factors affect ecosystem functioning. Relatively little is still known about the possible effects of current and future global and regional environmental changes on ecosystems.
Connecting character
The challenge is to use multidisciplinary empirical research at population, organism and process level to map how human intervention changes ecosystem functioning. Scenario research on the possible future exposure to and impacts of environmental changes on humans and nature should lead to the development of adaptation strategies to preserve ecosystems. To predict future developments, it is of great importance to link ecological and evolutionary research at the individual and community level with research at the process level. Such research can make use of knowledge on how species respond to climate change now and how they did so in the past, for example.
