Towards more predictive and interdisciplinary climate change ecosystem experiments

• Published in: Nature climate change Vol. 9; no. 11; pp. 809 - 816
• Main Authors: Rineau, Francois, Malina, Robert, Beenaerts, Natalie, Arnauts, Natascha, Bardgett, Richard D., Berg, Matty P., Boerema, Annelies, Bruckers, Liesbeth, Clerinx, Jan, Davin, Edouard L., De Boeck, Hans J., De Dobbelaer, Tom, Dondini, Marta, De Laender, Frederik, Ellers, Jacintha, Franken, Oscar, Gilbert, Lucy, Gudmundsson, Lukas, Janssens, Ivan A., Johnson, David, Lizin, Sebastien, Longdoz, Bernard, Meire, Patrick, Meremans, Dominique, Milbau, Ann, Moretti, Michele, Nijs, Ivan, Nobel, Anne, Pop, Iuliu Sorin, Puetz, Thomas, Reyns, Wouter, Roy, Jacques, Schuetz, Jochen, Seneviratne, Sonia I., Smith, Pete, Solmi, Francesca, Staes, Jan, Thiery, Wim, Thijs, Sofie, Vanderkelen, Inne, Van Landuyt, Wouter, Verbruggen, Erik, Witters, Nele, Zscheischler, Jakob, Vangronsveld, Jaco
• Format: Journal Article Web Resource
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 01.11.2019; Nature Publishing Group
• Subjects: 631/158; 704/106/694/2739; 704/158/2165; 704/47; 704/844; Climate Change; Climate Change/Climate Change Impacts; Computer applications; Design of experiments; Earth and Environmental Science; Environment; Environmental Law/Policy/Ecojustice; Environmental sciences & ecology; Experimental design; Experiments; Life sciences; Perspective; Sciences de l’environnement & écologie; Sciences du vivant
• ISSN: 1758-678X; 1758-6798; 1758-6798
• DOI: 10.1038/s41558-019-0609-3

Despite great advances, experiments concerning the response of ecosystems to climate change still face considerable challenges, including the high complexity of climate change in terms of environmental variables, constraints in the number and amplitude of climate treatment levels, and the limited scope of responses and interactions covered. Drawing on the expertise of researchers from a variety of disciplines, this Perspective outlines how computational and technological advances can help in designing experiments that can contribute to overcoming these challenges, and also outlines a first application of such an experimental design. Ecosystem response to climate change will vary in amplitude and dynamically, which may not be captured in current experimental design. This Perspective presents experimental design improvements to better predict responses and thus facilitate understanding of future impacts.