Utökar och förbättrar ett unikt "molnreduceringsexperiment" för att mäta klimatförändringens effekter på tropisk moln skogsekologi.

Tropical cloud forests provide vital ecosystem services such as biodiversity, water regulation and carbon sequestration. However, as part of climate change there is likely to be a large rise in the height at which clouds form along mountains, meaning that large areas of cloud forest may suddenly face unusually dry, cloudless conditions.

Since these systems have rarely experienced any water shortage they may not be able to adapt, with poorly understood but probably large consequences for forest ecosystem services. To fill this knowledge gaps, we will capitalize on the first ever large-scale "cloud reduction experiment” to examine the effects of these predicted future conditions in a patch of cloud forest in the Peruvian Andes. Specifically, we propose to extend the original measurement program with a detailed program of plant and community traits measurements and modeling to link shifts in species with ecosystem processes. This work will give us the first complete picture of the likely future effects of rising cloud base on cloud forest biodiversity, hydrology and carbon sequestration. This information is important for both local populations and many tropical nations, and central to Sweden´s government policy of Environmental Climate Issues in Development Cooperation.