Objective

The overall objective of the ENVIRON is to understand the mechanisms of environmental adaptation from molecular to global scales, and feedbacks between the plant and ecosystem adaptation and climate change.

Ecosystems have a large capacity to adapt to environmental perturbations, but most of the future projections of global change ignore the adaptation responses. Interdisciplinary experimental and modelling approaches are used to analyze abiotic and biotic stress effects at molecular, physiological, individual and ecosystem levels, determine the limits of adaptation to multiple sequential and interacting stresses, and scale from molecular stress response mechanisms to adaptation of individuals, ecosystems and biomes. Apart from excellence in science, the consortium builds a foundation for sustainable management of natural resources of Estonia and other Nordic countries under globally changing conditions.

Here is a schematic overview of the key processes induced by the environmental stress covered by the participating research teams. Different processes occur at different time scales but are interdependent and form several feedback loops illustrating the need for integrated collaborative research at all levels.