Aim and objectives

ClimMani aims to provide an umbrella for coordinated activities bringing together researchers, data and knowledge from past and ongoing European climate manipulation research projects in order to synthesise the knowledge and improve ecosystem models.

The specific objectives of the programme are to:

• establish a comprehensive network of global change scientists in order to promote better communication and integration between researchers to assure and improve the benefit of the research activities for the society within global environmental problems.

• organise a series of workshops and working groups to present and discuss key ecosystem processes and the impacts and interactions by climate change factors and other important drivers and to supply better grounds for integrated work between experimentalists and modellers.

• generate a database on data from ecosystem manipulation studies for better comparisons, syntheses and modelling efforts.

• synthesise and assess the impact of climate change factors on key ecosystem processes and the interactions between the different climate change factors and with other drivers.

• provide a possibility for ecosystem researchers and modellers to work together in order to improve our mutual understanding of ecosystem processes and impacts of climate change drivers, to improve ecosystem models and to publish synthesis and review papers.

• facilitate European networking and coordination of research activities among Europe and US.

• identify important gaps in knowledge, research priorities and future research needs related to whole-ecosystem responses to key global change factors.