(EU COST Action) The ability of forests to continue mitigating climate change depends on their ability to cope and adapt to global change drivers, such as more frequent climate extreme events and changes in atmospheric pollutants (namely carbon dioxide, reactive nitrogen and sulphur compounds). Different global change drivers could play a synergistic, antagonistic or predisposing role in affecting forest ecosystem functioning and health. All these drivers, however, are generally considered in isolation, and their effects on key processes (at tree, soil and ecosystem levels) are investigated separately in natural, periurban and urban forests, thus leading to uneven, un-coordinated and scattered information among different research communities. Without taking a holistic view on forest’s responses to global change, the future trajectory of Europe’s forests and their climate change mitigation potential can be fundamentally mis-assessed. CLEANFOREST will establish an inclusive and multidisciplinary pan-European network, which capitalizes on existing expertise and infrastructures (monitoring networks, manipulation experiments) to i) coordinate research efforts (e.g. data collection), ii) compare approaches and define common protocols to standardize measurements and methods used in global change studies, and iii) foster collaboration among different research groups to exchange and synthesize data, thus contributing to advancing scientific knowledge, identifying research gaps and providing suggestions for the next generation manipulation experiments and monitoring networks. Finally, CLEANFORST will benefit from the participation of key stakeholders (policymakers, small companies developing low-cost and effective instruments for environmental monitoring, citizen associations), by promoting mutual synergies to fulfil the urgent need of evidence-based solutions to policy, societal and technological challenges.

Action keywords

Forest functioning - Tree mortality - Manipulation experiments - Monitoring network - Global change driver interactions

PNRR Missione 6, Componente 2, Investimento 2.1 - "Rafforzamento e potenziamento della ricerca biomedica del SSN.

• Bando Ministero della Salute M6.C2.I2.1 Secondo bando Ministero della Salute M6.C2.I2.2

(POC Bando PNRR) verifies through nutritional studies the effect of a glucosinolate preparation on damage from neurodegenerative diseases.

FEM activity: untargeted and targeted metabolomic analysis (tryptophan metabolites, SCFA) on blood and urine samples, and extraction of glucosinolates from plant matrices.

(Horizon Europe MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships 2022)  The biodiversity hypothesis asserts there is a link between the diversity of environmental and host-associated microbes and ‘civilization diseases', such as asthma and allergies, the result of immune dysfunction and chronic inflammation. Using a well-studied rodent model, the bank vole, SOIL2GUT will test for the first time whether exposure to natural communities of soil microbes during development can improve individual health by promoting microbiota function at the host-microbiota interface (ileum and colon mucous layers) and reduce the risk of immune-related diseases. SOIL2GUT will take advantage of tissue samples generated by an ongoing intervention experiment, promoting the 3Rs policy, but also providing a unique opportunity for ‘omics integration (metataxonomics + MTX). Innovatively, this project will focus on the function of gut flora (not merely taxonomical characterization), in both bacteria and fungi (the latter is particularly unusual), using recent developments in metatranscriptonomics (MTX) to explore functional activity, and combining metadata and metatranscriptomes in statistical models to identify critical factors determining health. Since 68% of the human population will be urbanized by 2050, SOIL2GUT will contribute significantly to the WHO OneHealth framework. This project will also provide data that can be used to plan urban greenspaces, enhance rewilding interventions and improve domestic and zoo animal wellbeing. The researcher will build on his previous experiences and solid publications as a PhD/postdoc, receiving advanced personalized training in bioinformatics and soft skills, including writing grant applications for expanding to other tissues (lung, skin), and rendering him highly employable. In exchange, the researcher will bring methods for measuring individual health and immune gene expression to the hosting lab, among others. A synergy of expertise in microbiota research is envisaged, leading to future collaborative endeavors.

Keywords:

microbial ecology, ecosystem microbiota, metatranscriptomics, wild rodent model, conservation 'omics