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<H4><FONT size=2><EM>Not sure if this made the LISTSERV previously -- apologies if it did. Laurie</EM></FONT></H4>
<H4>EU funded ALARM project reaches global dimensions in biodiversity risk assessment</H4>
<P class=date>[Date: 2007-02-20]</P><IMG class=right src="http://cordis.europa.eu/news/images/20070220_3.jpg">
<P align=justify>The largest European research project in the area of terrestrial biodiversity continues to expand with 12 new partners joining the team to look into the causes of species decline <BR><BR>Researchers from Bolivia, Guatemala, Mexico, China, the Philippines, Russia, Belarus, the Ukraine, Serbia and South Africa now form part of the €24 million EU-funded ALARM project. Coordinated by the German Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ), the research operation will now involve over 200 scientists from 67 institutions in 35 countries around the globe. <BR><BR>The ALARM (Assessing LArge-scale environmental Risks for biodiversity with tested Methods) project is investigating four areas believed to contribute to the decline in biodiversity. These are global climate change; loss of pollinators such as bees, bumblebees and butterflies; harmful substances in the environment; the invasion of foreign animal and plant species; and the combined impacts of these factors. <BR><BR>By integrating cutting-edge science with socio-economic and politically relevant scenarios, the project is developing risk assessment tools so as to derive outcome-oriented policy measures to mitigate these threats to biodiversity. <BR><BR>The preliminary results of the five-year project have been published online in the form of an 'Atlas of Climate Change Impacts on European Biodiversity', which provides important data for the planning of protected areas. It contains forecasts for the distribution of amphibian and reptile species in Europe in the year 2050, according to different climate change scenarios. <BR><BR>According to Josef Settele, the project coordinator, 'this Atlas of climate change impacts on biodiversity is one of the key outputs of ALARM, a project that aims to provide an easy to use toolkit to assess large scale environmental risks for biodiversity in Europe and elsewhere.' <BR><BR>During 2007, ALARM will also release projections of current and future distributions of European plants, and by the end of the project in 2009, similar data will be available for birds and mammals. <BR><BR>'This is the first comprehensive set of projections concerning the potential impacts of climate change on species distributions that is made publicly available for any part of the world,' said Miguel Araújo, the lead researcher responsible for the Atlas. <BR><BR>A 'European Pollinator Database' containing more than 180,000 specific plant pollination records will also follow soon. That data will be used for assessing the threats posed by potential declines in pollinator species. According to Dr Araújo, these are critical for food production in more than 80% of all agricultural crops and as such represent a major threat to global food security. <BR><BR>A 'Field Site Network' across Europe will also come into existence to facilitate strategic, integrated European-wide research into environmental threats to biodiversity.</P>
<P align=justify>For more information, please visit: <BR><A href="http://www.biochange-lab.eu/projects-alarm-/data">http://www.biochange-lab.eu/projects-alarm-/data</A> <A href="http://www.alarmproject.net/alarm/">http://www.alarmproject.net/alarm/</A></P>
<P><STRONG>Category:</STRONG> Projects<BR><STRONG>Data Source Provider:</STRONG> Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ)<BR><STRONG>Document Reference:</STRONG> Based on information from the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ)<BR><STRONG>Programme or Service Acronym:</STRONG> <A href="http://cordis.europa.eu/fetch?CALLER=PROGLINK_FP6&QM_EN_PGA_A=MS-D C&ACTION=R">MS-D C</A>, <A href="http://cordis.europa.eu/fetch?CALLER=PROGLINK_FP6&QM_EN_PGA_A=FP6-INTEGRATING&ACTION=R">FP6-INTEGRATING</A>, <A href="http://cordis.europa.eu/fetch?CALLER=PROGLINK_FP6&QM_EN_PGA_A=FP6-SUSTDEV&ACTION=R">FP6-SUSTDEV</A>, <A href="http://cordis.europa.eu/fetch?CALLER=PROGLINK_FP6&QM_EN_PGA_A=FRAMEWORK 6C&ACTION=R">FRAMEWORK 6C</A><BR><STRONG>Subject Index:</STRONG> Earth Sciences; Environmental Protection </P>
<P class=smalltext>RCN: 27171</P>
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<DIV><FONT lang=0 color=#004000 size=3 FAMILY="SANSSERIF" PTSIZE="12">Laurie Davies Adams<BR>Executive Director<BR>Coevolution Institute<BR>423 Washington St. 5th<BR>San Francisco, CA 94111<BR>415 362 1137<BR>LDA@coevolution.org<BR><A title=http://www.coevolution.org/ href="http://www.coevolution.org/">http://www.coevolution.org/</A></FONT><FONT lang=0 color=#004000 size=3 FAMILY="SANSSERIF" PTSIZE="12"><BR><A title=http://www.pollinator.org/ href="http://www.pollinator.org/">http://www.pollinator.org/</A></FONT><FONT lang=0 color=#004000 size=3 FAMILY="SANSSERIF" PTSIZE="12"><BR><A title=http://www.nappc.org/ href="http://www.nappc.org/">http://www.nappc.org/</A></FONT><FONT lang=0 color=#004000 size=3 FAMILY="SANSSERIF" PTSIZE="12"><BR><BR></FONT><FONT lang=0 color=#000000 size=2 FAMILY="SANSSERIF" PTSIZE="10">Bee Ready for National Pollinator Week: June 24-30, 2007. Contact us <BR>for more information at www.pollinator.org </FONT><FONT lang=0 color=#004000 size=3 FAMILY="SANSSERIF" PTSIZE="12"><BR><BR><B><I>Our future flies on the wings of pollinators.</B></I></FONT></DIV><BR><BR><BR><DIV><FONT style="color: black; font: normal 10pt ARIAL, SAN-SERIF;"><HR style="MARGIN-TOP: 10px">AOL now offers free email to everyone. Find out more about what's free from AOL at <A title="http://www.aol.com?ncid=AOLAOF00020000000339" href="http://www.aol.com?ncid=AOLAOF00020000000339" target="_blank"><B>AOL.com</B></A>. </FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>