The Ministry of Ecological Transition (MTE) and the French Foundation for Research on Biodiversity (FRB) have launched the 2022 call for research projects on the “Impacts on terrestrial biodiversity in the Anthropocene”.
The call aims to characterize the positive, negative or non-existent impacts of human activities and induced pressures on the state and dynamics of terrestrial biodiversity.
The results of the research funded by the program should help to strengthen the actions of society as a whole, to halt the decline of biodiversity and promote sustainable human development.
Objectives
Projects are expected to meet at least one of these three objectives and primarily one of the first two:
That they demonstrate the links between human pressures and impacts on biodiversity;
That they characterize the coupling of such pressures to ecological impacts by highlighting parameters that explain these causal links and the underlying spatio-temporal evolutional factors (with the aim of using these parameters in the framework of operational monitoring). The projects will go as far as possible to propose indicators or protocols for monitoring these parameters;
That they provide a response to the gaps in current monitoring of human pressures or their impacts (metrics, indicators, spatial distribution, temporal frequency, types of pressure, type of biodiversity).
Themes
Projects should focus on at least one of these three themes:
highlight links between human pressures and the state of biodiversity;
characterize the links between pressures and impacts using new data processing technologies, new indicators, new protocols, etc. ;
response to gaps in current monitoring of human pressures or their impacts (spatial distribution, temporal frequency, types of pressure, type of biodiversity).
Human activities and direct or indirect pressures that have implications for terrestrial biodiversity on a territorial scale will be considered (ie pressures that have global impacts, such as climate change, cannot be considered on their own, unless they are coupled with other pressures). The geographical framework of this call concerns terrestrial biodiversity, including (but not limited to) French metropolitan and ultra-marine territories. Only pressures that have a significant impact on the biodiversity present on French territory will be considered.
Funding Information
This call will provide funding for:
3 data SYNTHESIS projects, for three years and a maximum amount of 200 K€ each,
4 to 6 SYNERGY projects, for one year and a maximum amount of 50 K€ each,
1 to 2 SYSTEMATIC REVIEW projects, for two years and a maximum amount of 100 K€ each.
Types of Projects
Project leaders can apply for several types of projects from this call.
The SYNTHESIS and SYNERGY research projects should enable actors and decision-makers to know which practices to abandon and which to favour. Two types of approaches, characterization or comparison, could be considered:
Systemic and multi-faceted approaches to biodiversity aimed at characterizing the impacts of human activities and their consequences on biodiversity. Systemic approaches crossing several impacts and practices will be encouraged.
Approaches based on the comparison of practices associated with one or more human activities in order to highlight those that should be favoured to preserve biodiversity, its evolutionary potential and the functioning of terrestrial ecosystems.
SYNTHESIS projects develop the syntheses of ideas, concepts and analyses of existing datasets to improve scientific knowledge on biodiversity to enable its protection. Participants share their scientific expertise, available data and modelling tools to answer a wide range of questions on biodiversity, at all scales, spatial and temporal, from the perspective of both natural sciences and humanities and social sciences.
SYNERGY projects allow for a more exploratory approach in order to deepen research work already underway: they provide complementary answers to a question emerging from a research project that is already funded. They allow the coordinator to reinforce his/her research action or to create a new dynamic through the financing of workshops, salaries, operating costs, missions, etc.
A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW is a rigorous scientific process consisting of several well-defined steps, including a systematic search of the literature, a quality assessment of each study considered and a synthesis, quantitative (i.e., meta-analysis) and/or qualitative (i.e., narrative), of the results obtained.
Eligibility Criteria
The geographical framework of this call concerns terrestrial biodiversity, including (but not limited to) French mainland and overseas territories.
Only pressures that have a significant impact on biodiversity present on French territories will be considered.
The use of international data or relevant case studies located outside the national territory is encouraged if it allows to characterize the impacts of human activities on the state of biodiversity on the French territory (metropolitan and ultra-marine).
Metrics and indicators produced in the framework of other monitoring systems (WFD, DCSMM) may also be studied.
