AnaEE Science Conference 2026

29 Sept 2026, 08:15 → 1 Oct 2026, 17:00 Europe/Paris

Palais de l'Europe

Welcome to the 2nd AnaEE Science Conference:
Ecosystem Science For a Resilient Future

SEPTEMBER 29 - OCTOBER 1, 2026
PALAIS DE L'EUROPE, MENTON, FRANCE

The 2nd AnaEE Science Conference brings together leading ecosystem scientists to advance our understanding of how ecosystems can withstand and adapt to global environmental change. The conference spans experimental approaches to global change ecology, forest and agricultural resilience, aquatic-terrestrial interactions, and innovative data integration methods. 

Join us in Menton for three days of transformative science that will help build the foundation for a resilient future. Registration opens January 11 2026.

Why Attend?

For Scientists: Discover cutting-edge advances in ecosystem experimentation, from ecotron facilities to digital modeling approaches. Present your research on climate adaptation, biodiversity resilience, and sustainable ecosystem management alongside Europe's top researchers in functional ecology.

For Policymakers: Join dedicated stakeholder sessions focused on translating ecosystem science into actionable policy. Learn how the latest research supports evidence-based decision-making for climate resilience, biodiversity conservation, and sustainable development goals.

Register to our workshops

Please indicate your interest in participating to our workshops by clicking on this link.

AnaEE Environmental Rising Star Award

The Environmental Rising Star Award is no longer accepting applications.

In 2026 we are introducing the AnaEE Environmental Rising Star Award, recognizing exceptional postdoctoral researchers within four years of PhD completion. More information on how to participate on the dedicated page.

 

Key information

All dates concern 2026 Location: Palais de l'Europe, 8 Av. Boyer, Menton, France Early bird registration fee for AnaEE affiliated* participant: €200 Early bird registration fee for non-AnaEE participant: €225 Registration fee includes lunches, aperitif, workshops and snacks during coffee breaks. Registration fee after early bird (after June 15): €285 Registration and submissions open January 11 Oral abstract submission deadline is closed. Poster abstracts accepted until September 17.  Letter of Acceptance and winner of PostDoc competition July 15, 2026 at 00:00 AM CET Cancellations by July 17 get full refund minus €50 processing fee. No refunds after. See you in Menton on September 29 to October 1, 2026

​​​​​​​​​*AnaEE affiliated = institution belonging to one of the National Nodes member or observer of AnaEE-ERIC, list on our members' page.

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Contact: anaeesc26@anaee.eu

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AnaEE (Analysis and Experimentation on Ecosystems) is an ESFRI Landmark European Research Infrastructure – providing resources within ecosystem research, such as data, modelling and experimental facilities.)

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This conference is organised in collaboratoin with CNRS, AnaEE-France and a policy session together with PlanBleu.

 

AnaEE code of conduct.pdf

AnaEE Environmental Rising Star Award.pdf

Tuesday 29 September

08:15 Welcome & Registration

1 Opening session

Presentation of the conference with AnaEE DG Michel Boër and welcoming words by local authority.

Speaker: Dr Michel Boer (AnaEE-ERIC)

Session 1: Ecosystem Resilience in a Changing World: Ecosystem Resilience in a Changing World

How can scientific understanding of ecosystems help build resilience to climate change, biodiversity loss, land degradation, and resource pressures - while supporting human well-being and sustainability? Understanding Ecosystem Resilience - What makes an ecosystem resistant or adaptive to disturbances? Identifying tipping points, thresholds, and recovery processes.

Keywords: ecosystem resilience, climate adaptation and mitigation, tipping points

2 Keynote 1: Ecosystem Resilience in a Changing World

This talk will briefly introduce some key concepts related to ecosystem resilience and will illustrate on selected examples how ecosystem experiments have advanced our understanding of the mechanisms underlying drought resilience. The talk will end with some broader conclusions and recommendations highlighting the potential and limitations of enhancing ecosystem resilience in a changing world.

Speaker: Prof. Michael Bahn (University of Innsbruck)

3 Resistance from below: decomposer functional diversity mitigates drought induced declines in carbon fluxes in an ecotron model forest system

The combined impacts of climate change and biodiversity loss are reshaping how ecosystems function, but their interplay remains unclear. One critical gap in our understanding is the role of soil fauna biodiversity in helping ecosystems withstand droughts driven by climate change. To address this, we conducted a three-year ecotron experiment simulating a Mediterranean forest ecosystem. Our goal was to determine whether decomposer functional diversity (FD) affects ecosystem-level carbon fluxes under both normal and intensified summer drought conditions. We found that, in the second and third years, net ecosystem CO2 exchange and gross primary productivity declined by as much as 30% when functional diversity was low and drought was intensified, compared to high FD under normal conditions. However, the presence of endogeic earthworms had an even more pronounced effect. These earthworms boosted drought-period net ecosystem exchange (NEE) and gross primary productivity (GPP) by 20 to 32%, counteracting the drought-induced reductions in annual cumulative carbon fluxes. Our results highlight the pivotal—and often overlooked—role of soil fauna diversity, particularly key functional groups, in regulating ecosystem carbon sequestration amid climate change.

Speaker: Alexandru MILCU (CNRS)

4 Dust in the Arctic: interactions between dust, ecosystems and climate

Dust in the Arctic is an emerging topic related to ecosystem and climate impacts. The United Nations (UN) General Assembles and the UN Coalition to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) have reiterated that the global frequency, intensity, and duration of Sand and Dust Storms (SDS) have increased in the last decade and that SDS have natural and human causes that can be exacerbated by desertification, land degradation, drought, biodiversity loss, and climate change. UNCCD and Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) have also highlighted that emerging SDS source areas have been associated with the warming of the Arctic and high latitude regions, the seasonal or permanent drying of inland waters and river deltas, or are following large-scale deforestation and wildfires, or even the ploughing of a single field. Loss of snow cover, retreat of glaciers, and increase in drought intensity due to climate change can lead to surface conditions that increase the likelihood of creation, continuation and expansion of SDS source areas. Here we give an overview of our recent understanding on dust emissions and their long-range transport routes, deposition, and ecosystem effects in the Arctic as presented in Meinander et al. (2025), special issue of the Arctic Council Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Program/Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna (AMAP/CAFF). Dust plays a significant role in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, e.g., by providing nutrients, and with impacts on the availability of light and water.

Reference: Meinander O, Uppstu A, Dagsson-Waldhauserova P, Groot Zwaaftink C, Juncher Jørgensen C, Baklanov A, Kristensson A, Massling A and Sofiev M (2025). Dust in the arctic: a brief review of feedbacks and interactions between climate change, aeolian dust and ecosystems. Front. Environ. Sci. Sec. Interdisciplinary Climate Studies, Volume 13 – 2025. doi: 10.3389/fenvs.2025.1536395.

Speaker: Outi Meinander (Finnish Meteorological Institute)

Meinander Dust in the Arctic 0109026 ANAEE .pptx

5 Do drier sites and more sensitive species show higher drought resilience under more constraining conditions? Evidence from Atlas cedar and deciduous oak forests in northern Algeria

Abstract
This study investigates the resilience of a conifer (Cedrus atlantica), and two deciduous broadleaf forest tree species (Quercus canariensis and Q. afares) to recurrent drought in the Tellian and Saharan Atlas of northern Algeria. The dendrochronological approach was adopted: two cores from opposite sides were collected from each sampled tree at breast height using an increment borer. A master tree-ring chronology was developed for each stand, and the analyses relied on the detrended tree-ring series with an expressed population signal (EPS) threshold ≥ 0.85. The tree resilience analysis was performed using the R package pointRes. The normalization in a moving window and the interval trend methods were applied to identify the pointer years (PYs) registered in each of the developed chronologies. Then, the negative PYs, corresponding to a substantial growth decrease, and assumed to be mainly due to drought, were used to calculate the four following resilience components: resistance, recovery, resilience and recovery period. The resilience components showed substantial variation among and within stands over time, driven by climatic conditions before, during, and after drought events, as well as interspecific differences and local site characteristics such as topography and soil properties. The three cored tree species showed low resistance and resilience, but high recovery potential. Moreover, the most climate-sensitive stands and species exhibited increased resilience over time, potentially reflecting adaptive responses to progressively adverse environmental conditions. These findings offer useful insights to support sustainable forest management under ongoing climate change.

Key words: dendrochronology, resilience indices, Atlas cedar, deciduous oaks, Algeria.

Speaker: Dr Said SLIMANI (Mouloud Mammeri University of Tizi Ouzou, Faculty of Biological and Agricultural Sciences, Department of Ecology and Environment, Laboratory of Ecology, Biotechnology and Health, Algeria)

6 Beyond Rainfall Totals: Long-Term Rainfall Manipulation Reveals Hidden Compound-Drought Thresholds in a Mediterranean Ecosystem

Forecasting ecosystem stability under climate change requires moving beyond precipitation totals toward a mechanistic understanding of how rainfall amount and timing, atmospheric demand, soil properties and biological legacies interact. This is especially critical in Mediterranean ecosystems, where annual plant communities experience strongly seasonal rainfall, high interannual variability and increasing warming-related atmospheric stress.
We synthesize 25 years of evidence from the Matta LTER station in Israel, one of the world’s longest-running rainfall manipulation experiments. The long-term record shows high resistance of aboveground herbaceous biomass to moderate drought: a 30% experimental rainfall reduction caused only a small biomass decline. This apparent stability indicates that cumulative winter rainfall alone is a poor predictor of ecosystem functioning. Instead, resistance is conditional on how water is delivered, stored and translated biologically into production.
To identify the mechanisms underlying this conditional resistance, we combined long-term monitoring with a new extreme multi-year drought experiment that reduced rainfall by 66% while altering the timing of the remaining rainfall. Water was delivered either at natural rainfall frequency, as many small frequent events, or as fewer large events separated by longer dry intervals. This design separated drought intensity from rainfall intermittency and revealed a soil-texture paradox: clay-rich Terra Rossa soils buffered drought magnitude by retaining water, but increased ecosystem sensitivity to the spacing of rainfall events. Prolonged dry intervals triggered functional reorganization, including strong declines in annual legumes and weakened demographic buffering through the soil seed bank.
Across the long-term record, machine-learning analyses further showed that vapor pressure deficit (VPD) and diurnal temperature range (DTR) can outperform rainfall totals as predictors of biomass production. Together, these results indicate a shift toward a compound-drought-limited state, where ecosystem stability is governed by interactions among hydrological supply, atmospheric demand, thermal variability, soil hydraulic buffering and biological legacies. This synthesis demonstrates the critical role of long-term Research Infrastructures (RIs) in detecting hidden ecological thresholds that short-term experiments or rainfall-based models may miss under climate change.

Speaker: Prof. Marcelo Sternberg (School of Plant Sciences and Food Security, Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University,)

7 Interoperability and collaboration opportunities in holistic ecosystem research

Humans have become a geological and ecological force on the planet Earth, leading to numerous pressing environmental challenges threatening the continued well-being of humankind. Biodiversity loss and land use change, climate change, eutrophication and pollution, and unsustainable use of resources demand urgent attention, simply because they threaten the long-term viability and habitability of our planet for human life. Understanding the functioning, resilience and the trajectory of ecosystems at both local and global scales represents a profound research challenge that requires holistic and transdisciplinary approach, interoperable research infrastructures and joint endeavors in finding solutions for the sustainability crisis. We present the eLTER approach that goes beyond the mere juxtaposition of disciplinary inputs, towards a truly integrative, transdisciplinary research framework that synergistically and seamlessly brings together multiple knowledge bases and research infrastructure services. We also discuss the potential for strategic alignment of the ESFRI landscape, emphasising the collaboration and interoperability opportunities in harmonized observation schemes, co-location of observation sites and the cost-efficient provisioning of services.
Keywords: holistic ecosystem research, research infrastructures, eLTER, interoperability

Speaker: Jaana Bäck (University of Helsinki)

11:00 Coffee break and poster viewing

Session 2: Sustainable Agroecology and Soil-Plant Systems: A

Examining innovations in experimental design to test sustainable practices in agricultural systems, this session emphasizes nutrient cycling, soil health and microbiome, developing restoration options, and plant productivity under varying environmental pressures.

Keywords: agroecosystems, soil health, nutrient fluxes, crop yield, sustainable farming, open-air facilities

8 Keynote: Sustainable Agroecology and Soil-Plant Systems

Examining innovations in experimental design to test sustainable practices in agricultural systems, this session emphasizes nutrient cycling, soil health and microbiome, developing restoration options, and plant productivity under varying environmental pressures.

Speaker: Marie-Hélène Jeuffroy (INRAE)

9 Biochar-loaded Bacillus for Fusarium Wilt of Cucumber and Soil Health Improvement

Fusarium wilt caused by Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cucumerinum (FOC) poses a serious threat to greenhouse cucumber production. This study applied a Biochar-loaded Bacillus inoculant to suppress soilborne disease. High-temperature fir wood biochar (HPB, 800°C) achieved a loading efficiency of 98.86% for Bacillus amyloliquefaciens (BA), attributed to its well-developed pore structure and its ability to shift extracellular polymeric substance (EPS) composition from protein-dominated to polysaccharide-dominated, thereby enhancing bacterial adhesion and biofilm formation. In pot experiments, the 3% HPB–BA inoculant (C3BA) significantly reduced disease incidence by 62.3% and increased plant biomass compared to the control. This disease suppression was closely correlated with shifts in the rhizosphere bacterial community, C3BA restructured the bacterial community toward a healthier state, significantly enriching beneficial genera including Bacillus (13.18%), Pseudomonas (3.41%), while improving soil available nitrogen and organic carbon content. Collectively, this work demonstrates that amending soils with a biochar-loaded Bacillus inoculant effectively suppresses Fusarium wilt and improves soil health, thus emphasizing its potential for sustainable disease management in intensive agricultural systems.

Keywords: Biochar; Bacillus; Fusarium wilt; soil health

Speaker: Mr Xian Wang (China Agricultural University)

10 Long-term soil management legacies alter grassland responses to fertilisation and drought through plant–soil interactions

Land use intensification strongly affects grassland biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, yet its long-term effects on soil-mediated responses to environmental change remain poorly understood. We investigated whether soil communities originating from extensively and intensively managed grasslands generate contrasting responses to fertilisation and drought in experimental grassland communities.

We established 3- and 6-species plant communities using populations collected from extensively and intensively managed grasslands in the Yorkshire Dales (UK). Plants were grown with soil communities originating from either extensive or intensive management, exposed to contrasting fertilisation regimes and drought treatments. We assessed plant performance, functional traits and soil microbial activity to determine how long-term soil management history influences ecosystem responses to contemporary environmental drivers.

Preliminary analyses reveal persistent legacy effects of soil management. Soil communities from intensively managed grasslands promoted photosynthetic performance even in the absence of contemporary fertilisation, suggesting that long-term nutrient enrichment creates enduring fertilisation-like effects. Furthermore, intensive soil legacies altered root trait responses to fertilisation and drought, resulting in reduced specific root length and modified biomass allocation patterns compared with extensively managed soils. In contrast, microbial respiration remained higher under extensive soil management, indicating divergent belowground functioning between management histories.

Our findings suggest that long-term land use intensification generates persistent soil legacies that shape plant resource-acquisition strategies and modify ecosystem responses to future environmental change. These results highlight the importance of considering soil management history when predicting grassland resilience under ongoing global change.

Speaker: Laura Puura (University of Tartu)

12:30 Group Photo

12:40 Lunch break & Poster viewing

Session 2: Sustainable Agroecology and Soil-Plant Systems: B

Examining innovations in experimental design to test sustainable practices in agricultural systems, this session emphasizes nutrient cycling, soil health and microbiome, developing restoration options, and plant productivity under varying environmental pressures.

Keywords: agroecosystems, soil health, nutrient fluxes, crop yield, sustainable farming, open-air facilities

11 Unexpected consequences of breeding: new barley varieties have more positive interactions with soil organisms and yield more

Background and objectives
Population growth increases food demand and this has been maximised over time through breeding varieties with higher yield. In parallel, the widespread use of pesticides and fertilisers can reduce the diversity and abundance of soil organisms. Concerns about biodiversity loss highlight the need for sustainable food production. One approach to achieve this is to utilise mutualistic interactions with soil organisms, which promote plant nutrition and stress tolerance. However, little is known if and how interactions with mutualists have changed during breeding.
Methods
We examined interactions between soil organisms and 13 barley varieties released between 1953 and 2024 to test whether breeding has altered these interactions. We grew barley varieties in a pot experiment using soils from organically and conventionally managed fields. In both management types, each variety was grown in soils previously occupied by (1) the same variety, (2) by another barley variety, (3) by wheat, representing traditional crop rotation and (4) in sterilised soil.
We estimated the influence of soil organisms by measuring aboveground biomass, grain weight, and grain quality. We characterised soil fungal communities using sequencing and analysed leaf and root traits of barley varieties.
Results
In general, plants grew better in sterilised soil than in soil previously occupied by the same variety, indicating that the impact of pathogenic organisms was dominating. However, this negative effect was strongest in older varieties and declined over time of breeding for biomass and yield. Moreover, when plant growth and yield in soils previously occupied by the same variety were compared to soil previously occupied by another barley variety, the effect of soil organisms ranged from negative for older to positive for newer varieties.
We also found that leaf traits varied with breeding year, whereas root traits responded to soil conditions and previous management type, highlighting plant–microbe interaction-driven effects on belowground traits.
These results indicate that soil organisms play an important role in determining crop growth and yield. Newer varieties seem to be more resistant to pathogens or more efficient at utilising mutualistic interactions, suggesting that alternatives to traditional crop rotation can be effective in supporting sustainable agriculture with new crop varieties.
Keywords
Plant-Soil Interactions, Sustainable Agroecology, Barley

Speaker: Anna Marija Firere (University of Tartu, Institute of Ecology and Earth Sciences)

12 Agroecological Mosaics as Nature-Based Solutions for Biodiversity and Production in Portugal’s Côa Valley

Mediterranean farm-scapes are frequently portrayed as trade-offs between crop output and conservation, yet their fine-grained heterogeneity may already deliver the multifunctionality sought by Nature-based Solutions (NbS). We surveyed thirteen 1-ha plots along a land-use gradient in the Côa Valley that ranges from organically managed montado-like and riparian galleries to mechanised vineyards and almond monocultures, during three seasonal rounds (2023–24). Vascular plants, insects and birds were inventoried, and ecosystem service guilds (pollinators, predators, seed-dispersers) were mapped onto habitat classes defined by the IUCN Global Ecosystem Typology.
Results reveal pronounced functional contrasts. Quercus-based silvo-pastoral plots averaged 312 plant species and retained 78 % of the Valley’s nitrogen-fixing legumes, whereas vineyards supported only 155 species but exhibited the highest density of spontaneous nectar sources (4.2 floral units m⁻²). In summer, almond orchards produced a six-fold surge in predatory ladybirds (1 368 ha⁻¹), yet Shannon evenness for the predator guild collapsed from 0.77 (spring) to 0.41, indicating dominance by a single coccinellid species. Insectivorous passerines tracked prey rather than habitat type, with mixed-crop mosaics supporting eight breeding pairs despite minimal tree cover. Beta-diversity patterns underscored the corridor role of semi-natural systems: Sørensen similarity for combined predator-pollinator assemblages was 0.68 within montado-like, 0.52 between montado-like and cropland, and 0.39 among vineyard terraces. NMDS of functional traits (stress = 0.11) placed organically managed montado-like at the ordination centroid, suggesting maximal multifunctionality.
Collectively, just four structurally complex plots (31 % of the study area) supplied 64 % of the Valley’s measured predation, pollination and seed-dispersal potential. Riparian buffers tripled floral resources in adjacent vines, while understorey grazing intensity explained 29 % of predator variance, completely outperforming broad ecosystem classifications. These findings demonstrate that retaining montado-like nuclei, widening riparian strips and integrating flowering cover crops can amplify ecosystem services without compromising yields, positioning agroecological mosaics as effective NbS for reconciling biodiversity conservation with intensive Mediterranean agriculture.

Speaker: Mónica Pinto (CITAB - University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro)

13 From Plant Phenotyping to Agroecological Phenotyping: Enabling the Agroecological Transition Across Scales

Agroecological transition aims to redesign agricultural systems based on ecological principles while maintaining productivity and ecosystem service provision under increasingly heterogeneous and dynamic environmental conditions. Achieving this transition requires quantitative approaches capable of assessing crop performance, stability, resilience, and service delivery within complex, multiscale agroecosystems.
While plant phenotyping has already substantially contributed to crop improvement and management innovation, further methodological and technological developments are needed to address the complexity of agroecosystems. This presentation explores how plant phenotyping can support agroecological transition by evolving beyond its traditional focus on performance traits of individual crops toward an agroecological phenotyping framework targeting above and belowground traits linked to ecosystem functions and services, including resource capture and use efficiency, facilitation and competition among species, resilience to environmental variability, and the delivery of ecosystem services. This approach can support both crop breeding and agroecological management strategies and connect processes across organizational scales, from plants and fields to landscapes. Advancement of plant phenotyping towards agroecological phenotyping represents an essential step to provide the knowledge and tools required to accelerate and scale the agroecological transition.

Speaker: Roland Pieruschka

14 Agroecological feed production and water quality: boreal open-air lysimeter platform

Background and objectives

In livestock-dominated regions, cattle farming poses a risk of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) leaching into surface and ground waters. At the same time, it faces pressure to cope with challenging global conditions and a changing climate. Agroecological methods aim to sustain production while reducing dependence on fossil-based fertilisers and nutrient losses to water and air. Testing this requires field evidence on the forage species, mixtures and management that farmers use. Using AgriLeach, an AnaEE-ERIC open-air lysimeter platform, two projects share the plots: Nero (ERDF) measures forage yield and nutrient losses to water over a 4-year rotation, while HEAL (AGROECOLOGY Partnership) assesses the pre-crop value of the rotation crops and economics.

Methods

On 16 plots (four randomised blocks), each pairing a repacked sandy-soil lysimeter (60 m², 2 m deep) with a 250 m² surface-runoff collector, we compare two conventional crops — perennial grass ley and spring barley — with two agroecological alternatives, a red clover–grass mixture (biological N fixation) and barley undersown with a grass catch crop (erosion control and nutrient retention), fertilised with cattle slurry and mineral N. Flow-proportional automatic sampling measures surface and subsurface nutrients; replicated plots measure dry-matter yield and quality; weather, soil moisture, frost depth and snowmelt imaging link losses to crop uptake and winter dynamics. The plots can also host simultaneous greenhouse-gas chamber measurements.

Preliminary results

In the 2024 establishment year, spring barley yielded ca. 3.5–3.9 t grain DM ha⁻¹ on the barley plots and ca. 4.0–4.5 t whole-crop DM ha⁻¹ as the cover crop for the grass and clover leys. In the following hydrological year (2024–2025), subsurface total N was moderate (5–6 mg/l) and nitrate-dominated, with small treatment differences. Surface-runoff total P was moderate (<0.4 mg/l) and mostly dissolved, higher under leys than barley; suspended solids were low (ca. 2 mg/l). These results match monitoring of a grassland-rich catchment (Räty et al., 2020). Experiment is ongoing, and full nutrient loads over the rotation will be calculated on completion. Via AgroServ, external researchers can join the research.

Keywords: agroecology; nutrient leaching; boreal grassland; lysimeter; surface runoff

Räty, M., Järvenranta, K., Saarijärvi, E., Koskiaho, J., Virkajärvi, P., 2020. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2020.107075

Speaker: Kirsi Järvenranta (Natural Resources Institute Finland)

15 Breeding reduced barley plasticity in nutrient acquisition pathways

Background and objectives

Enhancing arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) symbiosis in crops appears as a promising way to increase agricultural sustainability, as AM fungi can aid their host plants in nutrient uptake and protect them from pathogens and environmental stresses. Simultaneously, crop domestication and breeding have produced less AM-responsive crop varieties, which may only benefit from AM symbiosis under nutrient-limited conditions. We tested in a field experiment whether the breeding effect on barley symbiosis is modulated by agricultural management through its associated differences in soil properties and AM community structure.

Methods

We compared AM colonization and community structure in roots of 13 barley varieties, released in different years and grown under organic and conventional field management. We also compared the ecological niche characteristics of AM fungal communities and the proportion of cultured and non-cultured AM taxa. In a complementary experiment using the same barley varieties, we evaluated root traits under contrasting soil management regimes.

Results

We found that the percentage of root length with arbuscules and the proportion of non-cultured AM taxa in barley roots were higher under organic than conventional management in old barley varieties, whereas these differences were absent or smaller in new varieties. Under organic management, community-weighted mean phosphorus niche optimum, phosphorus niche volume, and pH niche volume were lower and differed more strongly from conventional management in old than in new barley varieties. In the complementary experiment, old but not new varieties adjusted their root traits according to soil management, exhibiting higher specific root length and specific root area in high-fertility conventional soil than in low-fertility organic soil.

Together, these results suggest that old barley varieties adjust their nutrient acquisition strategy according to soil fertility, investing in root-mediated nutrient uptake in fertile soils and mycorrhiza-mediated nutrient uptake in nutrient-poor soils, whereas new varieties show little evidence of such plasticity.

Keywords: arbuscular mycorrhiza, Glomeromycota, crop breeding, barley, Hordeum vulgare

Speaker: Dr Kaisa Torppa (University of Tartu)

16 Morphological and Molecular Characterization of Biscogniauxia mediterranea Isolates Associated with Almond Canker in Portugal

Morphological and Molecular Characterization of Biscogniauxia mediterranea Isolates Associated with Almond Canker in Portugal

Ana Faustino¹˒², Liliana Marum¹˒², Orges Cara³, Marilita Gallo³, Toufic Elbeaino³

¹ CEBAL/IPBeja, 7801-908 Beja, Portugal
² MED & CHANGE, CEBAL, 7801-908 Beja, Portugal
³ CIHEAM Bari, Via Ceglie 9, 70010 Valenzano, Bari, Italy

Abstract

Biscogniauxia mediterranea, an opportunistic fungal pathogen mainly associated with charcoal canker of cork oak and other woody hosts, was recently detected in symptomatic almond trees in Beja, Portugal. Its pathogenicity on almond was subsequently confirmed, representing the first reported association of this pathogen with cultivated almond in Portugal and worldwide. This study characterized three isolates obtained from symptomatic almond trees using cultural, morphological, and molecular approaches and assessed their variability and pathogenic potential.

Colony growth, pigmentation, mycelial morphology, and sporulation were evaluated on PDA-based media under controlled conditions. Genomic DNA was extracted, and the ITS, LSU, TEF1-α, and β-tubulin regions were amplified by PCR and sequenced using the Sanger method. Sequence data were compared to evaluate genetic variability. Pathogenicity tests were also conducted on different almond cultivars to assess isolate virulence and host response.

All isolates showed rapid mycelial growth but differed markedly in colony density, radial growth pattern, surface and reverse pigmentation, concentric colour zoning, and sporulation. Acidified PDA generally enhanced pigmentation. Two isolates produced conidia under near-UV light, whereas the third remained non-sporulating. Differences in conidial size and morphology further demonstrated substantial phenotypic variability. Molecular analysis of the four loci revealed genetic variation among all isolates, consistent with their distinct cultural traits and suggesting biologically differentiated genotypes or strains. Pathogenicity assays are ongoing to clarify isolate virulence, host susceptibility, disease aetiology, and host–pathogen interactions.

Keywords: Biscogniauxia mediterranea; almond canker; genetic variability; pathogenicity

Reference

Faustino, A., Marinho, C., Oliveira, M.M., Félix, M.R. & Marum, L. (2025). Phytopathologia Mediterranea*, 64(2), 191–197.

Speaker: Dr Toufic El Beaino (CIHEAM BARI)

15:00 Coffee break and poster viewing

Session 3: Forest Ecosystems under Pressure: Forest Ecosystems under Pressure

How do forests respond to environmental stressors such as drought, pollution, and what is their resilience? This session integrates experimental forest research and ecosystem modeling.

Keywords: forest ecology, carbon sequestration, biodiversity, climate adaptation, phenology

17 Forest Ecosystems under Pressure

How do forests respond to environmental stressors such as drought, pollution, and what is their resilience? This session integrates experimental forest research and ecosystem modeling.

Speaker: Bart Muys (KU Leuven)

18 Scots pine drought adaptation: δ13C evidence from tree-ring laser ablation

Understanding drought-induced changes in tree carbon dynamics is crucial, as forests play a significant role in regulating the global carbon cycle. Tree-rings can serve as detailed archives of intra-seasonal environmental changes, such as intrinsic water-use efficiency (iWUE) in their stable carbon isotope composition (δ13CRing). However, it remains unclear how multiple, simultaneous physiological responses to drought affect these records. In a controlled greenhouse manipulation experiment, we exposed seven-year-old Pinus sylvestris to drought and subsequent recovery, and traced associated physiological responses from leaves to phloem, roots, and tree-rings using δ13C analysis of sucrose, high-resolution δ13CRing analysis by laser ablation and leaf gas exchange. Although sucrose captured leaf-level processes, intra-annual δ13CRing was intermittently uncoupled from leaf-level processes over time. When scaled to the conventional approach in δ13CRing research—analysing whole annual rings or distinguishing between earlywood and latewood sections—the drought event was not detectable. This study emphasises the need for cautious interpretation when using conventional δ13CRing analysis to study plant stress responses, while demonstrating the potential of high-resolution intra-annual δ13CRing for uncovering tree adaptation mechanisms in the context of climate change.

Speaker: Dr Katja Rinne-Garmston (Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke))

19 Ozone pollution and plant ecosystem health

Ozone is a major concern for people and ecosystem health. It is toxic to plants only when uptaken via stomata. The European Community has recently changed the ecosystem protection metric from how much ozone is in the air to how much ozone is uptaken into plants, the so-called stomatal ozone uptake or phytotoxic ozone dose (POD). A threshold y is suggested, above which no significant damage to plants is expected. POD is species-specific and depends on maximum stomatal conductance and on the environmental and plant parameters that modulate stomatal absorption. Species-specific or plant-type specific critical levels are then estimated based on PODy to assess the actual ozone risk to plant ecosystems under real world conditions. The National Emission Ceiling (NEC) Directive recommends estimation of PODy and critical levels for relevant ecosystems, and suggests monitoring of leaf visible injury. Research is thus developing species-specific stomatal conductance parameterization as well as characterization of leaf visible injury for field use. A traditional limitation to experimental studies with ozone and plants is due to the high ozone reactivity, so that the use of closed chambers requires high ventilation which may results in artifacts due to wind impact on stomata. Phytotron experiments are useful for mechanistic understanding of plant responses to ozone, while open-air facilities are required for ozone risk assessment studies. The free-air controlled exposure (FACE) facility in Florence (Italy), called FO3X, is part of the Analysis and Experimentation on Ecosystems (AnaEE) research infrastructure, and is at present the only ozone FACE facility able to work with plants up to a 2-m height in Europe. In this presentation, we aim at presenting FO3X and its contribution to the European legislation on ozone and plants within the context of the international debate on ozone impacts on plant ecosystem health and productivity.

Speaker: Elena Paoletti (IRET CNR)

20 Analysis of harvest effect on boreal forest resilience in Finland

Background and objectives: Boreal forests are important carbon stocks, but their stability is increasingly challenged by climate change and forest harvests. Detecting long-term harvest effects on resilience is difficult because they are mixed with changes in forest resilience due to climate change. We asked whether long-term harvest induces a detectable resilience shifting after accounting for this changing climate baseline, and whether structural and functional vegetation indicators provide consistent evidence.

Methods: We combined kNDVI, CCI, NIRv, GOSIF and GPP with ERA5-Land meteorological variables, including temperature, evapotranspiration, vapor-pressure deficit and radiation, and spatially explicit Finnish harvest records at 0.05° resolution for 2001–2020. We used lag-1 temporal autocorrelation (TAC) as a proxy for inferred resilience, with higher TAC indicating slower recovery and lower resilience. Because harvest at 0.05° scale represents cumulative management pressure, we excluded grid cells exceeding an annual clear-cut threshold, quantified long-term resilience change, and compared harvested forests with nearby non-harvested forests as a local climate baseline. Climate controls on this baseline were assessed using machine-learning attribution.

Preliminary results: Climate strongly shaped resilience dynamics in nearby non-harvested forests. Greenness-based resilience, represented by kNDVI, was mainly linked to mean temperature and trends in actual evapotranspiration, whereas photosynthesis-related resilience, represented by GOSIF, was more sensitive to vapor pressure deficit trends and mean solar radiation. After accounting for this baseline, harvest-associated resilience signals were identified, and these signals were modest and differed among vegetation indicators. Greenness and photosynthetic indicators including kNDVI, NIRv, and GOSIF, tended to show faster recovery after cumulative harvest, especially where thermal conditions favored regrowth, while GPP-based ecosystem carbon uptake suggested weaker stability in warmer regions. These divergent responses indicate that harvest may promote rapid ecosystem recovery. Overall, climate-driven resilience change formed a coherent regional background, whereas harvest-associated responses were more spatially patchy.

Keywords: boreal forest resilience, forest management, climate change, remote sensing, ecosystem stability

Speaker: Ms Shihan Tang (Nanjing-Helsinki Institute in Atmospheric and Earth System Sciences, Nanjing University; Institute for Atmospheric and Earth System Research, University of Helsinki)

21 Nitrogen Deposition and Altered Plant Resource Inputs Restructure Soil Dissolved Organic Matter Composition in Old-Growth Forests: New Insights from Two Field Experiments

As the most active and bioavailable fraction of soil organic matter (SOM), dissolved organic matter (DOM) plays a key role in microbial transformations and the stabilization and accumulation of SOM. However, it remains unclear how nitrogen (N) deposition and alterations in plant resource alter soil DOM composition and their interactions with microbes, especially in old-growth tropical forest ecosystems. Here, based on a long-term (18 years) simulative N deposition experiment with four N addition levels (0, 5, 10, and15 g m-2 yr-1) and the adjacent short-term (eight months) manipulative Detritus Input and Removal Treatments (DIRT) experiment, the quantity, optical properties, and molecular-level characteristics of soil DOM were measured and the relationships of soil DOM with soil microbes were fully explored. Results showed that N additions significantly altered soil DOM composition, with an increasing trend in soil dissolved organic carbon (C) content. Medium- (10 g m-2 yr-1) and high-N addition (15 g m-2 yr-1) markedly elevated DOM average molecular weight by 12% and aromaticity, with specific ultraviolet absorbance at 254 nm increasing by 17%, modified aromatic index by 35%, and condensed aromatics by 67%. Medium- and high-N addition also increased recalcitrant DOM components but decreased other DOM components. Changes in plant inputs significantly altered soil DOM’s optical properties, and the most pronounced changes were observed in the humification index and fluorescent components. In litterfall removal and no-input plots, molecular characteristic values increased greatly, such as O/C, double-bond equivalent, aromaticity index, and proportion of carboxyl-rich alicyclic molecules, while bioavailable compounds decreased. Importantly, alterations in DOM composition significantly correlated with soil microbial activities, which reflected by soil microbial biomass C, N, phospholipid fatty acids, and enzyme activities, and further affected the formation of mineral-associated SOM and SOM heavy fraction through influencing recalcitrant DOM components. These findings suggest that long-term N additions and short-term DIRT may alter soil DOM composition in a way to benefit soil C storage in the primary tropical forests. It merits focusing on the mechanisms to association of DOM dynamics with C sequestration.

Speaker: Guoxiang Niu (Senckenberg Museum für Naturkunde Görlitz)

22 Soil nutrient regulation of forests under climate change

Abstract
Forests play a crucial role in regulating the global carbon cycle and mitigating climate change by acting as major terrestrial carbon sinks. However, rising atmospheric CO₂ concentrations, increasing temperatures, more frequent drought events, and nutrient enrichment through fertilization and nitrogen deposition are simultaneously altering forest productivity and carbon cycling. Although numerous studies have examined the individual effects of these drivers, comprehensive cross-scale assessments of their interactions in forest ecosystems are limited. We conducted a global synthesis to evaluate the combined effects of climate change drivers and nutrient availability across different organizational levels, while accounting for nutrient types, forest age, nutrient types, climatic zones, and broad tree taxonomic groups. Our synthesis revealed that elevated CO₂ and nutrient availability synergistically enhance above- and belowground productivity, particularly in young forests, most likely by enhancing the photosynthate production and structural development. In contrast, warming appears most beneficial (or least detrimental) under low soil nutrient availability across physiological, productivity, and carbon-pool responses due to enhanced transpiration, nutrient mineralization (more leaching), and heat stress. Nevertheless, warming and nutrient interaction stimulated soil respiration in forests, indicating accelerated carbon turnover. Despite that high availability of N improves water use efficiency (as is the case for base cations), at stand scale interactive effects of water deficit with N and also P are often neutral or even negative, indicating increased drought vulnerability under high nutrient availability, e.g. of biomass production. Collectively, our findings suggest that while nutrient enrichment may enhance forest productivity under elevated CO₂, it is likely to be increasingly offset by warming- and drought-induced stresses. Consequently, nutrient addition alone is unlikely to mitigate future climate-change impacts on forests and may accelerate carbon loss.
Keywords: Climate change; Forest ecosystems; Meta-analysis; Carbon cycle

Speaker: Baig Abdullah Al Shoumik (Department of System Earth Scienec, Maastricht University)

23 Natural Disturbances and Climate Change Impacts on Forest Ecosystems in Southeastern Europe

Forest ecosystems in Southeastern Europe have experienced increasingly frequent and severe natural disturbances over recent decades, particularly wildfires, windstorms, and ice storms. Climate change, manifested through rising average temperatures, prolonged drought periods, and more frequent extreme weather events, has significantly increased the vulnerability of forests to various types of damage. The resulting impacts include timber loss, reduced stand stability, an increased risk of secondary pest outbreaks, and a decline in the ecological, protective, and economic functions provided by forests.

This paper provides an overview of the most significant natural disturbances affecting forests in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Slovenia, and examines their common characteristics and consequences. In Croatia, the most severe damage is caused by wildfires in the coastal region, as well as by windthrow and ice damage in continental and mountainous forests. Bosnia and Herzegovina faces frequent wildfires in the Mediterranean and sub-Mediterranean regions of Herzegovina, while windthrow and snow damage periodically affect mountainous areas, creating additional challenges for sustainable forest management. In Slovenia, the catastrophic ice storm of 2014 stands out as one of the most significant natural disturbance events, followed by extensive outbreaks of bark beetles that further increased ecological and economic losses.

The analysis indicates that natural disturbances increasingly occur in combination, with one disturbance often increasing the likelihood of another. For example, windthrow and ice damage create large volumes of weakened and fallen timber that provide favorable conditions for bark beetle infestations, while prolonged drought significantly increases the risk of wildfire occurrence and spread. These trends highlight the need to adapt forest management practices by enhancing forest resilience, developing early warning systems, improving wildfire prevention and response measures, and implementing sustainable restoration approaches that account for projected climate change. Maintaining the stability and resilience of forests in Southeastern Europe is therefore one of the major challenges of contemporary forestry and a prerequisite for conserving biodiversity, maintaining carbon storage, and ensuring the sustainable use of forest resources.

Speaker: Domagoj Trlin (University of Zagreb Faculty of Forestry and Wood Technology)

17:30 Aperitif + Poster Viewing

Wednesday 30 September

Session 4: Experimental Approaches to Global Change Ecology

Highlighting the value of ecotrons - inside the future climate - ecosystems in ecotrons. This session explores how ecotrons and other controlled-environment facilities enable precise manipulation of global change drivers-such as elevated CO₂, warming, drought, and nutrient inputs-to reveal ecosystem functioning and resilience under future climate scenarios.

Keywords: mesocosms, ecotrons, metatrones, enclosed facilities

24 Keynote: Experimental Approaches to Global Change Ecology

Highlighting the value of ecotrons - inside the future climate - ecosystems in ecotrons. This session explores how ecotrons and other controlled-environment facilities enable precise manipulation of global change drivers-such as elevated CO₂, warming, drought, and nutrient inputs-to reveal ecosystem functioning and resilience under future climate scenarios.

Speaker: Nadia Soudzilovskaia (Environmental Biology, Centre for Environmental Sciences, Hasselt University, Diepenbeek, Belgium)

25 High rainfall followed by high continentality induces conversion from heathland to grassland and alters ecosystem functioning

European heathlands are unique natural landscapes, providing a wide range of ecosystem services, however ongoing climate change threatens plant health and ecosystem functioning. Without conservation management, heathlands would slowly be replaced by successional forests. However, under high N deposition, heather (Calluna vulgaris) dieback has been followed by increased growth of pioneer grass species including Molinia caerulea shifting from a shrub-dominated to a grass-dominated ecosystem. M.caerulea litter is less lignified than C.vulgaris litter and has lower C:N ratios making it easier decomposable. Pioneer species often have a lower nutrient use efficiency, further enhancing potential nutrient losses. It remains unclear how future climatic conditions will affect heathlands, potential succession, and their ecosystem functioning.
To investigate the effect of climate change on heathland ecosystem dynamics, a long-term experiment was established in the Ecotron Research Facility of Hasselt University, Belgium. Six heathland monoliths (2 m diameter, 1.5 m depth) were extracted from the Hoge Kempen national park in Belgium and subjected to a gradient of distinct past or future climate scenarios ranging from 1950 to 2070. Carbon, nutrient and water cycles, and vegetation ecophysiology of heathland ecosystem were continuously monitored.
We observed heather dieback in one experimental unit in the middle of the climate gradient after a period characterized by particularly high rainfall followed by high continentality. C.vulgaris died and M.caerulea filled the gaps in the vegetation until the whole monolith was dominated by grasses. No changes in vegetation were documented in the other units, indicating that reasons for vegetation shifts were more complex than increased climate forcing. In the shifting unit, the change in vegetation was further visible in root images acquired with minirhizotrons where grass roots appeared thicker and mainly in the upper soil layer (10 cm), while heathland-dominated units were characterized by dense fine root networks to depths of 35 cm.
We further assessed how this vegetation shift affected ecosystem functioning including C fluxes, soil water nutrient concentrations, litter decomposition rates, and microbial communities. In this presentation, we will present the main results of this long-term experiment and discuss their potential implications for our understanding on tipping points.

Speaker: Pauline Sophie Rummel (Environmental Biology, Centre for Environmental Sciences, Hasselt University, Diepenbeek, Belgium)

26 Impacts of warming and seawater intrusion on microbial loop components and carbon dynamics in coastal ecosystems: a mesocosm study

Coastal lake ecosystems are vulnerable to climate warming and consequent salinity changes driven by seawater intrusions. Microbial loop is an important component of coastal food webs and plays a crucial role in carbon cycling within these lakes. However, little is known about how microbial communities respond to environmental stressors associated with climate change. Bacteria, heterotrophic nanoflagellates, and ciliates are key components of the microbial food web, transferring carbon and energy to higher trophic levels. Previous studies suggest that dissolved organic carbon (DOC) processing through the microbial loop may influence carbon sequestration which in turn regulates the global climate.

This study aims to assess the individual and combined effects of warming and salinization on microbial communities and their trophic interactions using mesocosm experiment, and to evaluate their effects on dissolved and particulate organic carbon fractions (DOC and POC). A factorial experiment was conducted at METU-IMS over a total period of 75 days, using six treatments comprising three seawater intrusion treatments (4, 7, and 10 ppt final salinities) and two temperature treatments (ambient and +2.5°C). Twenty-four high-density polyethylene mesocosm tanks (5 m³) were used, each equipped with a wavemaker, temperature and oxygen sensors, and an automated logging system. Half of the mesocosms were fitted with glass heaters controlled by a microprocessor-based system to maintain the warming treatment. Bacterial abundance was quantified using flow cytometry, while phytoplankton biomass was estimated from chlorophyll-a (Chl-a) concentrations measured spectrophotometrically on a fortnightly basis.

Preliminary results indicate that salinity is a strong driver of bacterial abundance, Chl-a, and POC (p < 0.001). Warming had a weaker but significant effect on bacterial abundance before salinization (p < 0.05), and significantly affected DOC following salinization (p < 0.05). A significant interaction between warming and salinity was detected only for DOC (p < 0.05). These findings contribute to our understanding of ecosystem responses to climate change and may help inform future management and conservation strategies for coastal lake ecosystems.

Speaker: Archana Manjunath (Middle East Technical University- Institute of Marine Sciences)

27 Experiments and science with the ANAEE terrestrial and aquatic metatrons in Moulis

In this presentation, I will first present the research possibilities offered by the experimental ecology facilities of the Theoretical and Experimental Ecology Station of (SETE) Moulis, from the terrestrial and aquatic metatrons part of ANAEE France to microcosms, greenhouse, animal facilities, molecular and microbial labs supporting the scientific project conducted on the metatrons. I will then showcase some of the main results obtained over the last few years, outlining their unique potential for scientific discovery on the effects of climate change and fragmentation on ecosystems, biodiversity and ecosystem services, merging evolutionary and ecological perspectives and linking experiments with theory. Finally, as future head of the station, I will describe some ongoing or planned technical and organizational evolutions for the years to come to encourage the submission, and hosting of new ambitious French and European projects at SETE.

Speaker: François Rincon (SETE, CNRS)

28 Constrains and solutions for the design of a long-term Ecotron experiment to study long term effects of climate change on agro-ecosystems

The aim of the next Terra-Ecotron experiment, ECO³, is to assess short term and long term effect of the climate change on the crops and on the agro-ecosystem in general. This require to follow the plants development and to record the evolution in soil biology, chemistry and hydrology during a period of height years. But there are few, height, Controlled Environent Rooms (CERs) available and about 2 m² in each. The question of the experimental design is thus of utmost importance. Three points will be considered, the size and number of lysimetres, the samplings and the climates.
Two lysimeter size are available one main lysimetres or nine smaller cubic ones. The main ones are 1,5 m depth, enough to be realistic with most crops and thus suitable for long term experiments. The smaller cubes have so far been proven realistic only for fast development crops with limited rooting such as grass or broccoli. Selecting the main ones comes at the expense of soil conditions, only one can be studied. But taking into account a border a border effect of 5 to 10 cm, the available area of the main one is 30 % to 330% higher. They were favoured since they gives the possibility for plants and soil samplings while an area could be preserved to assess the final yield.
Some parameters can be followed by non destructive measurements such has chlorophyll fluorescence, 3D imaging, or in-situ root imager. For others proxies such as soil electrical conductivity can be used. But for the soil microbiology, soil chemistry and plant reference measurements, plant, soil or soil solution samples are required. The paper present repartition of around 160 measuring and sampling spots, covering epigeal parts, the roots, soil samplings for the chemistry, hydrology and microbiology, spatially and in time. This take into account the three instrumented profiles, the root imagers, the border and an area for the harvest.
Finally, the selection of the meteorological conditions was a choice between either a comparison of climates with repetitions or a gradient approach to fit models on the data and try to find tipping points. While the former may return more sound statistics about two particular conditions, the later gives better result for the trends, to deal with non linear responses, for the possibility to cover both the inter-annual variability and the climate change drift. The proposed selection process of the height time series (8 CERs) of height years is described.

Speaker: Vincent Leemans (Terra - Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech - Université de Liège)

29 Warming and precipitation manipulation in the open air: results from the Antwerp FATI

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

Speaker: Hans De Boeck (University of Antwerp)

30 Effects of light gradients and ozone on plant development in a newly established Ecotron

Background and objectives
Global tropospheric ozone concentrations have increased over the past two to three decades, especially in the Northern Hemisphere, tropical regions, and rapidly developing areas such as East Asia and India. Absorbed ozone can negatively affect plant growth by generation internal oxidative stress. Light is important for plant growth and can in theory modify ozone effects. To little light might increase ozone effects due to less energy for the ozone damage repair processes, too much light might also increase ozone effects due to oxidative stress created by the high light input while medium light might give enough energy for growth and damage repair only by giving little additional stress. Plant leaves are usually exposed transient to variable light levels in nature over the day and season, due to solar angle and direction, weather, leaf angles, shading by other leaves, movements by wind, etc. This study experimentally examines, across two separate experiments, the ecophysiological responses and dry-matter accumulation of several crop species exposed ozone along a light gradient

Methods
In a newly rebuilt Ecotron (Ecotron DTU) five different species (tomato, soybean, potato, beetroot and radish) were grown in 9 l well-watered pots with nutrient-enriched peat soil from seed/seed potato to maturity. The pots were positioned on tray tables and up to 18 pots were exposed to PAR light ranging from 200 to 1100 μmol m⁻² s⁻¹ in two large chambers. The ozone concentrations averaged 100 ppbv in the ozone-enriched treatment and 8 ppbv in the control. The day/night environmental conditions were kept constant across treatments, with a 16/8 h photoperiod, 22/19 °C temperature regime, and 50/50 % relative humidity. Only artificial LED lighting was used in the chambers. Leaf-level measurements of gas exchange, chlorophyll fluorescence, and pigment composition were conducted throughout the experiment.

Preliminary results
The experiments indicate clear interactions between light intensity and ozone responses, showing that chronic ozone exposure reduces yield even under moderate irradiance. They also reveal substantial inter-crop variation in physiological sensitivity to ozone.

Keywords: Ecotron DTU, gas exchange, leaf pigments, ozone, PAR gradient.

Speaker: Prof. TN Mikkelsen (DTU Sustain, Technical University of Denmark)

31 Long-term experimental insights into ecosystem resilience and carbon cycling under global change in a temperate Danish grassland/heathland

Long-term ecosystem experiments are essential for capturing immediate responses to environmental change, assessing ecosystem resistance and resilience, and identifying persistent legacy effects. At the AnaEE experimental facility Brandbjerg (CLIMAITE) in Denmark, we investigated how elevated atmospheric CO₂ and prolonged drought altered ecosystem carbon and nitrogen dynamics.
In the first study, we revisited a temperate grassland/heathland ecosystem seven years after the termination of a multi-factorial Free-Air CO₂ Enrichment (FACE) experiment. While elevated CO2 initially drove a significant increase in soil carbon and nitrogen stocks, these pools normalized rapidly following the cessation of the treatments. However, the current soil carbon pool retained detectable legacy signals of the former CO₂ enrichment, indicating that a substantial fraction of the new carbon accumulated during the FACE experiment was stabilized while older carbon pools were partially decomposed due to priming. These findings indicate a highly dynamic carbon turnover in the system providing new insights into the stability and resilience of soil carbon under climate change.
In the second study, we examined ecosystem carbon flux responses to long-term drought and incorporated drought effects into a stepwise ecosystem carbon balance modelling framework. Gross primary productivity (GPP) and ecosystem respiration (Reco) exhibited asymmetric responses, indicating different sensitivities of carbon uptake and carbon release processes to prolonged drought stress. Furthermore, our modelling results demonstrated the importance of allowing key ecosystem parameters to vary under environmental stress, thereby improving projections of ecosystem carbon dynamics under future climate scenarios.
Together, our findings highlight that ecosystem legacy effects and metabolic asymmetries are key determinants of carbon cycling in a changing climate. By integrating long-term observations, this work underscores the essential role of AnaEE research infrastructures in capturing the complex, time-lagged, and non-linear ecosystem responses to undergoing global change.

Keywords:
Climate change, carbon dynamics and balance, modeling

Speaker: Qiaoyan Li (Department of plant and environmental sciences, University of Copenhagen, Taastrup, Denmark)

32 Workshop 2: From Local Datasets to Interoperable Resources: Metadata, Vocabularies and Domain-Specific Standards

From Local Datasets to Interoperable Resources: Metadata, Vocabularies and Domain-Specific Standards

Purpose: This workshop will introduce the technical principles for organising metadata standards and controlled vocabularies in environmental research. It will present how data families can be described through appropriate metadata profiles, semantic resources and existing community standards, supporting data harmonisation, interoperability and reuse across facilities, platforms and domains.

Format: The session will consist of a technical presentation followed by Q&A. It will illustrate how different types of data — including geospatial, environmental, soil, flux, genomic, experimental management, phenotyping and modelling data — can be linked to suitable standards and vocabularies, and how these choices can support infrastructure-level data harmonisation.

Expected outcomes: Participants will gain a clearer understanding of how metadata standards and vocabularies make data scientifically understandable, interoperable and reusable. The session will provide a technical basis for mapping data families to relevant standards and identifying domain-specific metadata needs.

Announcement: AnaEE Environmental Rising Star Competition Winner

Winner and runner-ups awards

Conveners: Biljana Đorđević (AnaEE-ERIC), Dr Michel Boer (AnaEE-ERIC)

33 Understanding soil carbon sequestration through perennialization: insights from long-term experiment and methodological evaluation

With the accelerating transition toward a low-carbon bioeconomy, diverse biomass crops are increasingly introduced into traditional agricultural systems to support biorefinery or provide renewable bioenergy. However, how different crops and different cropping systems impact soil organic carbon (SOC) across the soil profile remains poorly understood, partly because few long-term field experiments exist and SOC stock changes are often quantified using inconsistent approaches. Using a decade-long field experiment (Biobase) comprising annual monocultures, annual rotations, and perennial cropping systems, we quantified changes in SOC stocks using both the equivalent soil mass (ESM) and fixed-depth (FD) approaches, along with total soil nitrogen (TN) and nitrogen balance. Based on the ESM method, the topsoil SOC stock change after conversion from traditional rotation to perennial cropping systems (+2.6 Mg ha-1, 7%) was significantly higher than the conversions to annual crop monoculture (-0.9 Mg ha-1) and optimized annual crop rotation (-0.9 Mg ha-1). None of the cropping systems significantly affected SOC stocks below 20 cm. In contrast, the FD approach indicated that optimized rotation, together with most perennial cropping systems, increased topsoil SOC stocks by 9–17% (3.2–6.0 Mg ha-1). The changes in SOC stocks were highly associated with dynamics in soil TN, suggesting coupled carbon and nitrogen accumulation under perennial systems. Except for the two annual crop monocultures, all perennial cropping systems and crop rotations increased topsoil TN content by 8–30%, which could be linked to the mitigated nitrate leaching. These findings indicate that the carbon sequestration benefits of perennialization are largely confined to topsoil. The difference between the ESM and FD approaches highlights how calculation methods influence SOC stock assessment, and quantifying SOC stocks should account for variations in soil bulk density and consider the entire soil profile. Overall, our findings improve the understanding of long-term SOC dynamics following the conversion from annual to perennial cropping systems and highlight the importance of robust SOC stock estimation for climate impact evaluation.

Speaker: Dr YIWEI SHANG (Aarhus University)

11:05 Coffee break and poster viewing

34 Workshop 3: Transnational Access in Action: Supporting Agroecology and Climate Change Adaptation Research

Objectives: Showcase the real impact of Transnational Access on research in agroecology and climate change adaptation. Give voice to researchers who have directly benefited from TNA in both projects. Attract new applicants to AgroServ and Microbes4Climate. Foster connections between the plant science, agroecology and soil microbiome research communities. Demonstrate the complementarity of AgroServ and M4C in addressing climate challenges.

Target audience:

• Researchers in plant science, agroecology, soil science and
  microbiology
• Potential future TNA applicants across and Beyond Europe
• Research infrastructure managers and stakeholders
• Science policy makers and funders

Chaired by: Heba Sophia Ibrahim and Roland Pieruschka

• AgroServ
• Microbes4Climate

Speakers: Heba Sofia Ibrahim (Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH), Roland Pieruschka (PHENET/Microbes4Climate)

Session 5: Nature-based Solutions for Climate Adaptation and Mitigation: A

Translating scientific insights into action: how AnaEE's results support ecosystem management and restoration for climate goals, biodiversity conservation, carbon sequestration, and disaster risk reduction. Policy related abstracts are encouraged.

Keywords: science-policy interface, ecosystem services, SDGs, land use, policy impact, Nature-based Solutions

35 Keynote: Nature-based Solutions for Climate Adaptation and Mitigation

Translating scientific insights into action: how AnaEE's results support ecosystem management and restoration for climate goals, biodiversity conservation, carbon sequestration, and disaster risk reduction.

Speaker: Nathalie Hilmi (Monaco Scientific Centre)

36 JoNeF: Bringing Fungi into Biodiversity Monitoring and Environmental Decision-Making

Fungi play essential roles in ecosystem functioning, nutrient cycling, soil health, plant interactions and habitat quality, yet they remain largely underrepresented in biodiversity monitoring systems and environmental decision-making processes. Across Europe, monitoring frameworks have traditionally focused on flora and fauna, while fungal diversity has received limited operational use despite its ecological relevance.
JoNeF (Joint Network for wild Fungi), developed within the IMPEL network, aims to address this gap through cooperation among environmental authorities, agencies and scientific experts. The project promotes the integration of fungi into environmental governance by supporting harmonised approaches to data collection, monitoring methodologies, information exchange and indicator development.
In 2026, a key focus of JoNeF is the development of three fungal indicator concepts designed to support practical environmental assessment and evidence-based decision-making. These concepts aim to translate fungal ecological knowledge into operational tools applicable to habitat quality evaluation, ecosystem functioning and responses to environmental pressures.
This contribution presents the JoNeF approach and the rationale behind the indicator concepts, with a focus on their potential for testing and validation within experimental and monitoring infrastructures. It specifically addresses their relevance for the AnaEE community, highlighting opportunities to apply and evaluate fungal indicators in soil-plant systems, ecosystem experiments and long-term monitoring platforms.
The contribution aims to foster collaboration to support the integration of fungi into biodiversity monitoring frameworks and environmental decision-making.

Speaker: Francesca Floccia (ISPRA)

37 Translating Science into Policy: Plan Bleu's Approach to Nature-based Solutions in the Mediterranean

Background and objectives
The Mediterranean is one of the world's most climate-vulnerable regions, facing increasing pressures from biodiversity loss, land degradation, water scarcity and extreme climate events. Although research has significantly advanced the understanding of ecosystem functioning and Nature-based Solutions (NbS), integrating this knowledge into environmental policies and management remains a persistent challenge. As the Regional Activity Centre of the UNEP/MAP Barcelona Convention, Plan Bleu works at the science- policy interface to support evidence-based decision-making across the Mediterranean. This contribution presents the organisation's approach to translating scientific knowledge into policy action and strengthening regional environmental governance.

Methods

Plan Bleu combines scientific assessments, environmental indicators, foresight studies and policy analysis with participatory stakeholder engagement. Through regional cooperation initiatives and collaborative projects, researchers, public authorities, practitioners and civil society are brought together to identify policy needs, synthesise scientific evidence and co-produce practical recommendations. This approach supports the integration of NbS into climate adaptation, ecosystem restoration and sustainable territorial planning while fostering dialogue between science and decision-makers.
The approach is illustrated through recent Mediterranean initiatives, including collaborative actions on Nature-based Solutions and ecosystem resilience developed with European research infraestructures and regional stakeholders, like Adapt-Pielagos Project.

Results
Plan Bleu's science -policy approach has strengthened collaboration between scientific and policy communities and contributed to the development of evidence-based recommendations addressing Mediterranean environmental challenges. By producing policy-relevant assessments, indicators and strategic recommendations, the organisation facilitates the uptake of scientific knowledge within regional governance processes. Ongoing initiatives demonstrate the value of collaborative science- policy partnerships for advancing climate adaptation, biodiversity conservation and the implementation of Nature-based Solutions across the Mediterranean.

Keywords: Science/Policy interface; Nature-based Solutions; Mediterranean; Environmental governance; Climate adaptation.

Speakers: Ms Eloise Eguerinel (Plan Bleu), Pilar Montaner Pastor (Plan BLeu)

12:45 Lunch break

Session 5: Nature-based Solutions for Climate Adaptation and Mitigation: B

Translating scientific insights into action: how AnaEE's results support ecosystem management and restoration for climate goals, biodiversity conservation, carbon sequestration, and disaster risk reduction. Policy related abstracts are encouraged.

Keywords: science-policy interface, ecosystem services, SDGs, land use, policy impact, Nature-based Solutions

38 Old-growth and Primary Forests as Nature-based Solutions for Climate Mitigation and Adaptation

Old-growth and primary forests are essential Nature-based Solutions for climate mitigation, biodiversity conservation, ecosystem resilience, and disaster risk reduction. Although afforestation and reforestation are widely promoted as carbon offset measures, protecting existing mature and undisturbed forests should be recognized as an equally important, and often more reliable, climate action. These forests store large amounts of carbon in biomass, deadwood, soils, and complex ecosystem structures developed over decades or centuries. If degraded or destroyed, their carbon stocks cannot be replaced within short policy or climate neutrality timeframes. Newly planted forests may need decades to reach comparable carbon storage levels, and their benefits depend on species selection, site conditions, management, and long-term protection. Beyond carbon sequestration, old-growth and primary forests provide key ecosystem services for climate adaptation. They regulate water cycles, reduce erosion, moderate local climate extremes, support biodiversity, and increase resilience to floods, droughts, pests, and wildfires. From a science-policy perspective, forest-based climate measures should move beyond simplified carbon accounting. Avoiding the loss of carbon-rich and biodiverse forests provides immediate mitigation benefits, while afforestation often delivers delayed and uncertain outcomes. Therefore, policies should prioritize the strict protection of remaining old-growth and primary forests, restoration of degraded forests, and carefully planned afforestation.
The key message is that old-growth and primary forests cannot be easily replaced by tree planting initiatives. Their protection should be central to Nature-based Solutions for climate adaptation, mitigation, biodiversity conservation, and long-term ecosystem stability.

Speaker: Stjepan Mikac (Univeristy of Zagreb, Faculty of forestry and wood technology, Institute of forest ecology and silviculture)

39 Introducing BIOFORMA: Nature-Based Solutions for Climate Adaptation in Mountain Norway Spruce Forests of the Dinaric Alps

Mountain Norway spruce-dominated forests are highly sensitive to climate warming, drought, windthrow and bark beetle outbreaks, while providing key ecosystem services such as carbon storage, biodiversity conservation, timber production and soil protection. BIOFORMA examines how adaptive forest management can act as a nature-based solution for climate adaptation and mitigation in these vulnerable mountain landscapes.

The project covers four European case study areas, from marginal and relict spruce populations in the Croatian Dinaric Alps and Bulgarian Rhodopes to core distribution areas in the Romanian Carpathians and Swiss Alps. This presentation provides a first-year overview of BIOFORMA, with emphasis on the Croatian case study area on the Northern Velebit massif. This area includes one of the southernmost marginal populations of Norway spruce in Europe, where drought, insect outbreaks and warming have contributed to forest decline and increasing competition from broadleaved species.

BIOFORMA combines standardized forest inventories, biodiversity assessments, dendroecology, remote sensing and forest growth modelling. Forest structure will be assessed in 500 plots within 100 stands representing unmanaged forests and different management systems. Biodiversity will be evaluated across several taxonomic and functional groups, including vascular plants, bryophytes, fungi, soil microorganisms, insects and birds, and linked to structural attributes such as canopy openness, deadwood, regeneration, microhabitats and stand heterogeneity.

The central hypothesis is that continuous-cover forest management, combined with small set-aside patches that maintain microhabitat diversity, can enhance landscape-level biodiversity while sustaining forest functions and increasing resilience under future climate conditions. By linking forest structure, biodiversity and future climate-management scenarios, BIOFORMA will identify trade-offs and synergies between production forestry, habitat suitability, biodiversity conservation and ecosystem service provision.

By integrating field inventories, biodiversity monitoring, dendroecology, remote sensing and modelling, BIOFORMA aims to provide a science-based framework for climate-smart and biodiversity-oriented management of mountain spruce forests, supporting nature-based climate adaptation across the alpine biogeographical region of Europe

Speaker: Marko Orešković (University of Zagreb Faculty of Forestry and Wood Technology)

40 Strengthening agroecological research infrastructures through social and behavioural sciences: Understanding decision-making for sustainable transitions

The agroecological transition is not only a technical and environmental challenge but also a societal transformation driven by the decisions, interactions, and values of actors across agri-food systems. While technological and ecological innovations are essential to address climate change, biodiversity loss, food security, and rural sustainability, their successful development and implementation depend on the behaviours, motivations, capacities, and interactions of farmers, industries, policymakers, rural communities, consumers, and other stakeholders.
This position paper argues that the social sciences are indispensable to the development, implementation, and impact of research infrastructures (RIs) supporting agroecological transitions. By investigating the social, economic, behavioural, institutional, and cultural dimensions of decision-making, social sciences provide evidence to understand how innovations are adopted, adapted, or resisted across diverse territorial, socio-economic, and governance contexts. They also identify synergies and trade-offs within social-ecological systems, assess barriers to innovation, support participatory governance, and evaluate societal impacts.
Building on the Horizon Europe INFRA project AgroServ (Integrated Services Supporting Sustainable Agroecological Transition), the paper shows how integrating social and behavioural sciences into RIs complements biophysical and technological research through transdisciplinary transnational access (TNA) services. Four strategic contributions are identified: (i) strengthening multi-actor communities by revealing diverse values, perceptions, and pathways for consensus; (ii) delivering tailored socio-economic services that assess perceived costs and benefits, societal impacts, and decision-making under uncertainty; (iii) supporting the design and implementation of Living Labs through participatory approaches enabling knowledge co-creation; and (iv) enhancing societal readiness for innovations by fostering stakeholder engagement and co-design of place-based and value chain-specific knowledge and innovation systems.
We conclude that integrating social and behavioural sciences into agroecological RI is not merely complementary to biophysical and technological research but key to understanding human decision-making, designing socially robust innovations, and promoting equitable, context-sensitive, and sustainable agroecological transitions across Europe and beyond.

Speaker: Livia Madureira (CETRAD (Centre for Transdisciplinary Development Studies); UTAD (Universidade de Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro))

Session 6: Aquatic-terrestrial and coastal ecosystem interactions: A

Investigating the role of water in ecosystem health, with sessions on hydrological cycles, aquatic-terrestrial linkages, and drought experiments.

Keywords: water fluxes, evapotranspiration, drought stress, wetland experiments, hydrology

41 Keynote: Aquatic-terrestrial and coastal ecosystem interactions

Investigating the role of water in ecosystem health, with sessions on hydrological cycles, aquatic-terrestrial linkages, and drought experiments.

Speaker: Amélie Saunier (StellaMare)

42 Beyond snapshots: integrating spatial and temporal scales to understand Mediterranean coastal wetlands functioning

Coastal wetlands are worldwide valuable ecosystems that provides numerous ecosystem services, including flood regulation, carbon storage, water purification, and habitat provision. They are however increasingly threatened by anthropogenic pressures and climate change which are altering hydrological regimes, soil processes and ecological dynamics. Mediterranean coastal wetlands are biodiversity hotspots, hosting diverse and specialized plant communities shaped by strong environmental gradients such as soil salinity, soil moisture, and water table depth. These gradients result from site-specific geomorphology and historical land management and allow for the structuration of contrasted plant communities across spatial scales.
Mediterranean coastal wetlands are also highly dynamic ecosystems, with processes operating across multiple temporal scales, from seasonal hydrological fluctuations to long-term changes driven by vegetation succession, land management, geomorphological evolution, and climate change. This combination of spatial and temporal variability makes them complex systems to understand and manage, as different areas of a single wetland may follow distinct ecological trajectories.
Despite this complexity, many ecological studies still rely on punctual sampling of surface soil properties to explain vegetation distribution patterns. Although this approach provides valuable insights, it overlooks environmental variability through space (including depth) and time.
Here, we argue that a better understanding of Mediterranean coastal wetlands requires studies integrating spatial and temporal dimensions of environmental variability. We highlight how experimental approaches can be conducted at different scales to help improve our understanding of wetland functioning. We consider spatial scales from soil profiles and plant distribution within plots to habitats and to landscapes, and temporal scales from seasonal hydrological fluctuations to decadal ecosystem changes. This approach helps identify species associated with early community shifts, characterize the intensity and duration of specific plant stress dynamics, and understand landscape trajectories under the combined influence of climate change, past land use, and management.
Ultimately, spatio-temporal multi-scale approaches are essential for developing robust ecological interpretations and for designing effective management strategies explicitly accounting for dynamic processes.

Speaker: Laurane Hennequin (Institut Agro Montpellier)

43 Workshop 4: Translating Ecosystem Research into Policy

Enhancing Resilience in Mediterranean Forests through Nature-based Solutions (NbS)

Purpose: This workshop aims to strengthen the interface between ecosystem research and policy development by bringing together researchers, policymakers, forest managers, and regional stakeholders working on Mediterranean forest resilience. Discussions will focus on identifying 2–3 concrete policy-relevant priorities related to Nature-based Solutions (NbS) and climate adaptation that AnaEE-ERIC could support through coordinated research, infrastructure services, or stakeholder collaboration in the coming years.

Format: The workshop will be organised as an interactive multi-stakeholder exchange involving participants from across the Mediterranean region, including representatives from research institutions, national and regional forest authorities, environmental agencies, NGOs, local communities, and forest managers. Through moderated discussions and knowledge exchange, participants will identify shared regional challenges, research gaps, and opportunities to translate scientific knowledge into practical and policy-oriented actions for Mediterranean forest resilience.

Goal:
- Identify 2-3 concrete policy topics
- Produce one concise policy brief (2-3 pages)
- Prepare and distribute a targeted questionnaire to participants in advance to facilitate focused discussion and gather relevant input

Chaired by: Janko Arsić, AnaEE-ERIC & Pilar Montaner, Plan Bleu

Speakers: Janko Arsić (AnaEE-ERIC), Pilar Montaner (PlanBleu)

15:00 Coffee break and poster viewing

Session 6: Aquatic-terrestrial and coastal ecosystem interactions: B

Investigating the role of water in ecosystem health, with sessions on hydrological cycles, aquatic-terrestrial linkages, and drought experiments.

Keywords: water fluxes, evapotranspiration, drought stress, wetland experiments, hydrology

44 Using the Aquatic Metatron to improve eDNA methods and eDNA degradation models

Environmental DNA (eDNA) has become a powerful tool for monitoring freshwater biodiversity. However, its reliability remains strongly influenced by methodological choices throughout the analytical workflow and by the degradation and transport of environmental nucleic acids (eNAs) after their release. Within the PEPR One-Water ALIQUOT project, we aim to better understand the eNA life cycle and improve freshwater biomonitoring. Because these questions are difficult to study in the field, we conducted two complementary experiments at the SETE Aquatic Metatron (Moulis, France), an AnaEE experimental infrastructure dedicated to freshwater ecology.

The first experiment focused on optimizing targeted eDNA workflows. To do so, a lentic mesocosm contained a semi-controlled community of fishes and isopods, supplemented with synthetic amphibian DNA at different concentrations. We compared three filtration approaches (Waterra capsules, Sylphium capsules, and open membrane filters), two membrane pore sizes, and various eDNA preservation protocols. Each combination was tested in triplicate, and analysed by species-specific digital PCR. We then identified workflows maximizing detection. Our results also challenge the general assumption that filtering larger water volumes always improves eDNA recovery.

The second experiment investigated eDNA and environmental RNA (eRNA) degradation in flowing water, with the Metatron's controlled lotic platform, to experimentally test eDNA degradation expected models. Five artificial streams combined contrasting organism biomass, water temperature and sediment conditions. Various assemblages of Phoxinus phoxinus and Asellus aquaticus were exposed to ambient summer temperatures (25–30°C) or cooled conditions (-3°C and -7°C), with or without sediment. eNAs were sampled repeatedly over one week to quantify them and identify how these parameters drive their degradation. According to degradation models we expect eNA production to increase with biomass, whereas higher temperatures accelerate enzymatic and thermal eNA degradation, and sediment enhances the removal of eNAs from the water column through adsorption and physical settling.

Together, these experiments demonstrate how controlled freshwater infrastructures can improve both eDNA methodologies and our understanding of eNAs dynamics.

Speaker: Chiara Mercier (CRBE)

45 Are parasites capable of reducing the effects of pollutants in fish?

Aquatic ecosystems are particularly exposed to urban and agricultural pollution. Importantly, some intestinal parasites, acanthocephalans, have the remarkable ability to accumulate pollutants from their host. These parasites could prove beneficial to their fish host if the benefits associated with pollutant sequestration, and thus the mitigation of ecotoxicological effects, outweigh the costs of parasitic infection. However, environmental pollution could also affect host-parasite interactions by inducing deleterious effects on parasite life history traits. We are studying the effect of pollutants on acanthocephalans, on chubs (Squalius cephalus, a widespread river fish) whether parasitized or not, as well as on host-parasite relationships between these two organisms. Experimental studies have been conducted in aquatic mesocosms of the CEREEP-ECOTRON IleDeFrance, adults chubs being exposed to different concentration of various pollutants, including pesticides (imidacloprid, carbendazim), and pharmaceuticals (paracetamol, diclofenac). We investigate how the presence of acanthocephalan parasites modifies pollutant accumulation in fish hosts, revealing contrasting responses depending on the pollutant considered. While these parasites can accumulate certain contaminants to the extent of reducing their concentrations in host tissues, this sequestration is not always sufficient to mitigate their adverse physiological and behavioral effects. Additionally, pollutants exposure induces damages in parasites, including potential effect on growth and reproduction. Overall, our results highlight that the role of acanthocephalans in polluted environments is more complex than simple pollutant sequestration. These findings emphasize the need to integrate host-parasite interactions into ecotoxicological risk assessment, as parasites can simultaneously alter contaminant dynamics and be themselves affected by pollution, with potential consequences for aquatic ecosystem functioning.

Key-words: Host-parasite interactions; Freshwater fish; Physiology; Pollutants

Speaker: Léa Lorrain-Soligon (Sorbonne univeristé; CEREEP-ECOTRON IDF)

46 Global Warming and Genomic Diversity Loss Alter the Biomass and the Size Distribution of Experimental Fish Populations

Abstract
Warming and the loss of genetic diversity are two major components of global change for which the combined effects on the productivity and the size distribution of ectotherms have rarely been investigated. However, because genetic diversity should make populations more resilient to environmental changes, the loss of genetic diversity within populations could amplify the impacts of warming on ectotherm populations. Here, we fill this gap by using freshwater mesocosms in which we manipulated for 1 year both the genomic diversity of experimental fish populations minnows, Phoxinus dragarum) and climatic conditions (ambient and warmed climates). We estimated across conditions the productivity (total fish biomass) and the size distribution (CV and size spectrum) of fish populations, as well as the individual growth rate and the survival rate of juvenile and adult fish. The productivity of minnow populations was not altered by climate warming, but decreased with the loss of genomic diversity (estimated using thousands of SNPs) within populations. However, populations were more homogeneous in body mass (lower CV and lower size spectrum exponent) under warm climate and when their genomic diversity was low. These impacts at the population level were underlined by contrasted effects of warming and genomic diversity on juveniles and adults. Specifically, adult survival was lower in warmer conditions, whereas juvenile individual growth rate was higher in the warmer treatments. Our study demonstrates that warming and the loss of genetic diversity have combined effects on the productivity and size distribution of fish populations. Although these combined effects are difficult to predict, we show that genetic diversity could play a crucial role in organism responses to climate warming, emphasizing the importance of intraspecific diversity for ecosystem resilience and adaptation.

Keywords: aquatic ecosystems | biodiversity loss | climate change | genomic diversity | intraspecific diversity | productivity | size spectrum

Speaker: Maxime STANISLAWEK (SETE - CNRS)

16:15 Short Break

AnaEE Annual Network summit: Strategy and developments

Mainly for AnaEE Network - new, potential and old members welcome!

• 30 min intro of AnaEE Nodes and widening countries
• 10 min AnaEE-ERIC gives updates on upcoming working group activities
• 10 min Common protocols for Facility Managers
• 40 min presentation of AnaEE's new 5-year strategy and action plan
• 30 min general discussion based on feedback from Facility Manager questioner

19:30 Conference dinner

Location TBA

Thursday 1 October

Session 7: Digital Ecosystems – Data Integration and Modeling

From field data to forecasts: tools, models, and databases supporting predictive understanding of ecosystem responses.

47 Keynote: Digital Ecosystems – Data Integration and Modeling

From field data to forecasts: tools, models, and databases supporting predictive understanding of ecosystem responses.

Speaker: Dr Alessandro Oggioni (National Research Council of Italy (CNR))

48 Impact of grain size and spatial extent in Deep Species Distribution Models

Adult emerging aquatic insects provide ecosystem services at the landscape scale. Their emergence from water areas represents a transfer of energy from aquatic to terrestrial ecosystems. In particular, their carcasses and excreta subsidize terrestrial systems with organic matter. Agricultural intensification is reshaping aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems, impacting sensitive taxa, such as Plecoptera and Trichoptera, and the services they provide. Mapping their terrestrial distribution is therefore a major challenge, both for environmental management and for ecosystem services mapping.
Species Distribution Models (SDMs) correlate field occurrence data with environmental data to predict species distribution. DeepSDMs, a recent branch of SDMs relying on deep learning, are increasingly used as the quality of their predictions often outperforms that of traditional SDMs (e.g., GLM, Random Forest, MaxEnt). These DeepSDMs often use raw remote sensing products, like satellite or LiDAR imagery, as input data. A key methodological choice is the grain size (i.e., the spatial resolution) of the environmental data. While the impact of grain size is well studied for traditional SDMs, it remains underexplored for DeepSDMs.
In this study, we develop DeepSDMs for 2 emerging aquatic insects with contrasting dispersal capacities (Plecoptera and Trichoptera). We compared predicted distributions across 6 remote sensing products with different grain sizes: drone multispectral data (32 cm), drone LiDAR (40 cm), public LiDAR (50 cm), drone multispectral data resampled to 2.5 m to mimic high-resolution satellite, super-resolved multispectral data (2.5 m), and medium-resolution satellite multispectral data (10 m). We also varied the spatial extent of the environmental context using image patches centered on each species sampling location. Patch sizes were 40×40 m, 70×70 m, and 100×100 m.
The best results for Plecoptera were achieved at 40 m using 2.5 m multispectral data (resampled from drone imagery), while adding LiDAR degraded performance. The best results for Trichoptera were achieved at 100 m using 2.5 m multispectral data combined with public LiDAR. These results suggest that the choice of sensors, extent, and grain size should be tailored to each species. Moreover, the optimal combination of these parameters is not obvious a priori and only emerges after testing several of them. This approach provides practical guidance for implementing DeepSDMs across multiple taxa.

Speaker: Augustin de la Brosse (CNRS)

49 Towards Semantically FAIR Earth Observation Products for Ecological Research Infrastructures

Ecological research infrastructures increasingly require environmental context to support ecosystem experiments, biodiversity analyses and cross-site syntheses. Open satellite archives and cloud platforms now provide unprecedented access to Earth Observation (EO) data. However, these products often remain difficult to integrate into ecological workflows because they require substantial technical expertise, implicit modelling assumptions and dedicated infrastructure services to become ecologically interpretable and reusable.
We propose an accessible framework for transforming EO products into analysis-ready, FAIR and semantically interoperable ecological variables. The framework comprises four components: an EO computing platform, cloud storage, Zenodo, and Data Management Centres (DMCs). Within this workflow, we introduce semantic FAIRification as a complementary layer to existing geospatial metadata standards (e.g. STAC, OGC/ISO), making explicit the provenance, ecological interpretation, uncertainty, and modelling context of EO-derived variables.
Sentinel-2 phenological metrics provide a practical example. Annual NDVI trajectories can be classified into phenological classes, from which metrics such as phenological diversity, evenness, and edge density can be derived. These variables may represent candidate proxies for habitat heterogeneity, resource continuity, or temporal ecosystem variability. Importantly, semantic annotation does not validate ecological mechanisms, but formalises transparent and testable ecological hypotheses.
An ongoing Danish case study based on long-term insect occurrence data illustrates how Sentinel-2 temporal metrics can be connected to ecological observations through reproducible workflows and semantic documentation. The study is presented as a demonstrative integration framework, rather than ecological validation, showing how EO-derived variables may become interpretable, reusable and testable components of biodiversity inference.
We argue that the next frontier for EO in ecological research infrastructures is not producing more satellite products, but making their meaning, assumptions and reuse conditions explicit. Semantic FAIRification may transform EO products from downloadable raster layers into reusable ecological variables and future DMC-enabled services.
Keywords: Earth Observation, FAIR Data, Semantic Interoperability

Speaker: Marco Bascietto (CREA - Council for Agricultural Research and Economics)

50 From Fragmentation to Integration: A Strategic Framework for Advancing African Palynology through Continental Collaboration and Data Integration

Africa made significant advances in palynological research, spanning multiple research fields such as paleoecology, palaeoclimatology, archaeology, petroleum exploration, aerobiology, melissopalynology, biodiversity conservation, and environmental management. However, research capacity and disciplinary focus vary across the continent. In Southern Africa, South Africa hosts the most comprehensive research programme in palynology. Nigeria leads West African/tropical palynology, while Ghana and adjacent countries are advancing tropical forests, mangroves, and forest–savanna transitions studies. In Eastern Africa, Kenya is globally recognised for paleoenvironmental lacustrine and Afromontane reconstructions, and Ethiopia, Tanzania, and Uganda contribute significantly. North Africa has strong multidisciplinary programmes, particularly in Morocco, Egypt, Tunisia, and Algeria, whereas Central Africa, has the least published palynological studies in the continent. Despite these advances, African palynology remains geographically fragmented compared with Europe, where coordinated and well-funded scientific societies and research networks have promoted methodological standardization, data sharing, funding, and collaboration. In Africa, expertise is concentrated in relatively few institutions, limiting knowledge exchange, student training, methodological harmonization, funding, and continent-wide syntheses of vegetation history, climate change, biodiversity resilience, and ecosystem dynamics. Although the African Pollen Database (APD) Network was established to facilitate data sharing, its momentum has declined, leaving valuable datasets dispersed across laboratories and institutional archives rather than in an accessible continental repository. We therefore propose a framework comprising an African Palynological Society to coordinate research, training and advocacy; a revitalized open-access African Pollen Database supported by standardized contributions from all African regions; thematic working groups and regional hubs to coordinate training, maintain reference collections and promote collaborative research; and a peer-reviewed African Journal of Palynology. Collectively, these could transform African palynology into a coordinated, digitally connected research community, and deliver continent-scale syntheses to inform biodiversity conservation, climate adaptation, ecosystem restoration, and sustainable environmental management.

Speaker: Dr Glory Oden (North West University Potchefstroom)

51 Transferring Intelligent Assistant Concepts to Ecosystem Research Infrastructures

Recent advances in manufacturing environments have stimulated the development of intelligent assistants that support human decision making through natural-language interaction, AI-assisted analytics, and seamless access to complex data ecosystems. Meanwhile, Research Infrastructures (RIs) and experimental ecosystem science are becoming increasingly data-intensive, generating large volumes of heterogeneous observations, measurements, models, and metadata. Despite advances in FAIR data management and interoperability, researchers still face challenges in discovering, integrating, and exploiting distributed resources. This study examines how such concepts can be transferred to RIs and experimental ecosystem science.

A conceptual transfer analysis was conducted using recent advances in intelligent assistants, data-centric AI, workflow composition, and human-centered analytics developed in manufacturing environments as the starting point. Particular attention was given to approaches enabling natural-language interaction with distributed data ecosystems and dynamic discovery, composition, and execution of data resources and research workflows. These capabilities were mapped against the characteristics and requirements of modern environmental RIs.

Preliminary results indicate that several architectural principles developed for intelligent assistants are directly transferable to RIs. Based on these principles, a five-layer framework is proposed: (1) Data layer: FAIR datasets, observations, models, and metadata; (2) Knowledge layer: semantic annotations, ontologies, provenance, and domain knowledge; (3) Discovery layer: AI-assisted identification of datasets, tools, workflows, and computing resources; (4) Orchestration layer: dynamic composition and execution of research workflows; (5) Interaction layer: natural-language interfaces providing human-in-the-loop support. In the proposed framework, intelligent assistants function as orchestration and interaction mechanisms between researchers and ecosystem data infrastructures. Researchers formulate information needs in domain language, while the underlying system discovers, combines, and executes appropriate data and modelling resources, exposing results and provenance. Such assistants have the potential to facilitate data discovery, support experiment planning, accelerate knowledge synthesis, and lower technical barriers to the reuse of increasingly complex environmental RIs.

Speaker: Prof. Federica Mandreoli (University of Modena and Reggio Emilia)

52 From Digital Phenotyping to Digital Ecosystems: Bridging Research Infrastructures and Operational Agricultural Applications

High-throughput plant phenotyping has generated unprecedented volumes of heterogeneous data originating from field platforms, drones, proximal sensors and controlled-environment facilities. While research infrastructures have made remarkable progress in developing standards, data management practices and interoperable digital ecosystems, an important challenge remains: transforming these scientific advances into operational solutions that deliver value to end users.
Drawing on HIPHEN's experience as a European provider of digital phenotyping solutions, this presentation will illustrate how industrial actors can contribute to this transition. Through concrete examples ranging from variety testing and crop monitoring to decision-support tools for breeding and agronomy, we will discuss the importance of integrating high-quality phenotyping data, metadata standards, FAIR principles and scalable analytical pipelines into operational digital ecosystems.
We will also share our perspective on the complementary roles of research infrastructures and industrial partners in accelerating innovation. Research organizations generate scientific knowledge, datasets and methodological advances, while companies play a critical role in industrializing technologies, deploying them at scale and collecting feedback from operational users. Strengthening this continuum is essential for developing robust predictive models, digital twins and next-generation decision-support systems capable of addressing the challenges posed by climate change and sustainable agriculture.
Finally, we will discuss how open standards and interoperable data infrastructures can foster stronger collaboration between academia and industry, ultimately increasing the societal impact of plant and ecosystem research.

Speaker: Alexis Comar (Hiphen)

53 From Tree Signals to Forest Intelligence: Digital Biomonitoring in the Dinaric Alps

This contribution presents a digital biomonitoring network developed to monitor forest growth dynamics in the Dinaric Alps, a mountain region of the Western Balkans where Adriatic, montane and continental climatic influences meet over short distances. This strong spatial heterogeneity makes the region suitable for studying how forest ecosystems respond to local differences in temperature, precipitation, soil water availability and elevation.
The network is designed to connect high-frequency field measurements with environmental data and derived ecosystem indicators. It integrates dendrometer measurements, meteorological observations, site-level information and digital analytical tools to support the interpretation of tree growth, tree water status and carbon dynamics. Instead of relying only on periodic field observations, the approach enables continuous monitoring and comparison of forest responses across plots, species, elevations and habitat types.
A pilot implementation in Plitvice Lakes National Park is used as the first operational case study. During the first monitoring year, data from ten research plots, 90 dendrometers and ten meteorological stations were harmonised, quality-checked and integrated into a WebGIS-based platform for data visualisation, management and analysis. The workflow links raw dendrometer signals with meteorological variables and converts them into indicators such as cumulative radial growth, daily growth dynamics, Tree Water Deficit (TWD), annual biomass increment and CO2-equivalent carbon sequestration.
A key advantage of this approach is the separation of reversible water-related stem fluctuations from irreversible growth, allowing a more precise interpretation of tree responses to precipitation, temperature and drought stress. By transforming field measurements into harmonised, modelling-ready indicators, the network provides a basis for future modelling of forest ecosystem responses to climatic stress.
Conceptually aligned with the AnaEE-ERIC approach, which connects ecosystem observations, data integration and predictive understanding, this network represents a practical step towards regional digital ecosystem infrastructure. It can support long-term assessment of forest resilience, carbon dynamics and climate sensitivity in protected mountain landscapes of Croatia and comparable forest ecosystems across the Dinaric region.

Speaker: Laura Miketin (Faculty of Forestry and Wood Technology)

54 Integrating in-field Positron Emission Tomography imaging data in agrocecological modelling

Background and Objectives - Crop growth models are essential for modern Decision Support Systems (DSS) to optimize water and nitrogen (N) management. However, conventional models rely strictly on macro-scale inputs (weather, soil, and satellite imaging), ignoring the rapid metabolic and biophysical pathways that trigger within 5 to 120 minutes of fertilizer application. This research aims to bridge this gap by integrating high-resolution, real-time data from mobile Positron Emission Tomography (PET) into traditional agroecological models to enable early detection of treatment effectiveness and improve agricultural sustainability.

Methods - We utilize scalable and mobile PET systems designed for both controlled laboratories and open-field conditions. By deploying these non-invasive imaging systems in the field, we capture real-time quantitative biophysical transport and metabolic phenomena within crops immediately following nitrogen treatment. This high-frequency physiological data is then coupled and integrated with traditional, large-scale agroclimatic variables and satellite remote sensing data to enrich existing crop biophysical models.

Preliminary Results - Our integration demonstrates that combining in-field PET imaging with traditional models provides unprecedented insight into the crop’s immediate phenological state. In wheat and spinach examples we demonstrate that proper modeling of time-dynamic PET can (1) visualize and predict the correct fertilizer to be used (2) predict with accuracy a phenologic state and steer the administration of fertilizers.

Keywords: Positron Emission Tomography (PET); Agroecological Modelling; Precision Agriculture; Nitrogen Management; Biophysical Transport

References:
[1] E. Antonecchia, N. D’Ascenzo, S. Cantalamessa, W. Chang, M. Ciardiello, M. Kattan, A. Nematpour, G. Pagnani, F. Palazzo, D. Punzet, G. Shen, F. Zhou, M. Pisante, Q. Xie, Development and Evaluation of a Prototype of Shape-Adaptable and Portable All-Digital PET System for In-Lab and In-Field Plant Imaging, IEEE Trans. Nucl. Sci. 71 (2024) 113–120.
[2] E. Antonecchia, G. Pagnani, A. Nematpour, D. Passaretti, N. D’Ascenzo, M. Pisante, Assessing the effects of biostimulants on spinach through a Field-to-Lab approach for PET imaging, Smart Agric. Technol. 12 (2025) 101298.
[3] N. D'Ascenzo, M. Rafecas, Potential and challenges of Positron Emission Tomography beyond conventional preclinical and clinical imaging, Zeit. Med. Phys.,2026(Accepted,Online).

Speaker: Nicola D'Ascenzo (RE IMAGING)

10:45 Coffee break and poster viewing

Session 8 - TechUp!: Demonstration of innovations in experimental ecology research

AnaEE TechUp! is a concept where companies and research innovators present their latest technologies and methodologies that may help you enhance your research capabilities within experimental ecology. Three distinct companies will join us for this session and present their latest innovations.

Conveners: Nanna Heinz (AnaEE-ERIC), Rachel Burns

12:45 Lunch Break

Announcement: Best Poster and Oral presentation

Winner and runner-ups awards

Conveners: Biljana Đorđević (AnaEE-ERIC), Dr Michel Boer (AnaEE-ERIC)

55 FAREWELL: Goodbye message

Speakers: Dorra Gharbi (AnaEE-ERIC), Dr Michel Boer (AnaEE-ERIC)

14:15 Refreshments

Extended Management Board Meeting: (EMB members)

AnaEE Internal Meeting