Speaker
Description
The Antwerp FATI is an experimental facility designed to study changes in precipitation and temperature in open air conditions. Precipitation is controlled by a combination of automated rainout shelters and programmable drip irrigation, while infrared heaters can be used to impose various levels of warming (up to +10 °C). On top of that, researchers can add further treatment factors (plant community composition, soil amendments, etc.), making use of various mesocosm sizes, in hundreds of experimental objects. Here, we briefly discuss results from FATI experiments obtained in the past years, especially those pertaining to increasingly persistent weather patterns, an ever more apparent fingerprint of climate change. We show how these can affect plant and microbial biodiversity, the mechanisms underlying these effects, and which adaptation measures could buffer negative impacts. Finally, we also suggest how platforms such as the Antwerp FATI can be used in combination with other experimental facilities.
Key words: climate change, global change ecology, experiments, interdisciplinary research
| Are you participating to the "AnaEE Environmental Rising Star Award "? | No |
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