Descripción del proyecto
LARGE SHORT-TERM CLIMATE OSCILLATIONS OCCURRING IN JUST A FEW DECADES ARE FUNDAMENTAL CHARACTERISTIC OF THE COMMON ERA (LAST 2,000 YR), OF THESE, THE MEDIEVAL CLIMATE ANOMALY (MCA, C, 900-1300 CE) AND THE LITTLE ICE AGE (LIA, C, 1350-1850 CE) SHOWED THESE OSCILLATIONS ASSOCIATED TO AN INTENSIFICATION OF EXTREME EVENTS SUCH AS DROUGHTS, FLOODS OR LARGE STORMS, AN INTENSIFICATION SIMILAR TO THAT PROJECTED BY THE INTERGOVERNMENTAL PANEL ON CLIMATE CHANGE (IPCC) FOR SEVERAL FUTURE SCENARIOS, EXTREME CLIMATIC EVENTS EXERT AN IMPACT ON VULNERABLE ECOSYSTEMS AROUND THE WORLD, AND AMONG THESE, MOUNTAIN AQUATIC ECOSYSTEMS, SUCH AS LAKES AND PEATLANDS, OR COASTAL ECOSYSTEMS, SUCH AS COASTAL WETLANDS, ARE AMONG THE MOST SENSITIVE TO THE EFFECTS OF GLOBAL WARMING, BESIDES THEIR IMPORTANCE FOR THE MAINTENANCE OF BIODIVERSITY, THEY PROVIDE FUNDAMENTAL ECOSYSTEM SERVICES SUCH AS THE ABSORPTION OF EXCESS ATMOSPHERIC CO2, IT IS THEREFORE NECESSARY TO ADOPT APPROPRIATE CONSERVATION MEASURES BASED ON SOUND SCIENTIFIC DATA,THE LONG-TERM PERSPECTIVE OF ECOSYSTEM CHANGE PROVIDES OBJECTIVE DATA ON THE RESPONSE THRESHOLDS OF VULNERABLE ECOSYSTEMS TO PAST CLIMATE-INDUCED EXTREME EVENTS SUCH AS DROUGHTS, FLOODS, OR STORM SURGES THAT CAN BE USED TO FORECAST THE REACTION OF THESE SYSTEMS UNDER THE DIFFERENT IPCC PROJECTIONS FOR THE FUTURE, IN THIS PROPOSAL, USING A MULTIDISCIPLINARY APPROACH WHICH INCLUDES GEOCHRONOLOGICAL, SEDIMENTOLOGICAL, GEOCHEMICAL AND MICROPALEONTOLOGICAL ANALYSES, WE WANT TO DETERMINE THE REACTION OF BOGS AND LAKES IN THE MOUNTAINS, AS WELL AS OF COASTAL PERCHED LAKES AND THEIR ASSOCIATED SAND BARRIERS, IN COASTAL ENVIRONMENTS, TO PAST CLIMATE EXTREME EVENTS DURING THE MCA AND THE LIA IN THE NW IBERIAN PENINSULA, OUR MAIN HYPOTHESIS IS THAT CHANGES IN THE PRECIPITATION REGIME AND STORM CONDITIONS OCCURRING DURING THE MCA AND THE LIA, INDUCED PROFOUND SHORT-TERM ECOLOGICAL TRANSFORMATIONS IN MOUNTAIN AND COASTAL ECOSYSTEMS, BUT THAT THEIR RESILIENCE PROMPTED RAPID RECOVERIES TO QUASI-SIMILAR PRE-IMPACTED CONDITIONS, OUR MAIN AIM IS TO PROVIDE SCIENTIFIC BASIS FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF CORRECT MANAGEMENT POLICIES FOR THE CONSERVATION OF THESE FRAGILE SYSTEMS IN THE LIKELY FUTURE OF AN INCREASE IN EXTREME CLIMATIC EVENTS,OUR PROPOSAL WOULD CONTRIBUTE TO RETO #5: CAMBIO CLIMATICO Y UTILIZACION DE RECURSOS Y MATERIAS PRIMAS AND TO THE OBJECTIVE #2 OF THE EUROPEAN UNION STRATEGY ON ADAPTATION TO CLIMATE CHANGE PROMOTING BETTER INFORMED DECISION-MAKING, CAMBIO GLOBAL\IMPACTOS ECOLOGICOS\HOLOCENO\PALEOLIMNOLOGIA\PALEOCLIMATOLOGIA\RESILIENCIA ECOLOGICA