ECOPOTENTIAL

Improving Future Ecosystem Benefits Through Earth Observations

Summary

This multi-partner project, led by Professor Antonello Provenzale at CNR, Italy, aims to improve terrestrial and marine ecosystem benefits in the face of increasing anthropogenic pressures. ECOPOTENTIAL will create a new unified framework for ecosystem studies and management of protected areas. The project will make best use of Earth Observation (EO) and monitoring data, and new modelling approaches will be developed able to include information from EO data; ecosystem services in current and future conditions will be assessed, and the requirements of future protected areas will be defined.

Reindeer population modelling
As part of the Horizon 2020 Ecopotential project and in collaboration with the University of Bergen and the National Research Council of Italy, CATS is working on modelling the wild reindeer population in Hardangervidda National Park in Central Norway. The research involves identifying the effect of hunting and weather conditions on the population with a view to understanding how the size of the population might be affected by climate change.

Publications
Bargmann, T., Wheatcroft, E., Imperio, S. and Vetaas, O.R. (2019) Effects of weather and hunting on wild reindeer population dynamics in Hardangervidda National Park. Population Ecology. 2019; 1-14. https://doi.org/10.1002/1438-390X.12030. 

Funded by
EU H2020

Lead Research Organisation
Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche

Principal Investigator at LSE
Professor Leonard Smith

Grant reference
641762

Grant value (to LSE)
£180,994

Project duration
June 2015 - October 2019

 

European_Union_Flag


Horizon 2020