Ecology of the past

Institute for Biodiversity & Ecosystem Dynamics (21/08/2015)

The final working day of the XPERT summer school focused on projects, grants and careers.

Encarni, Carmen and Will

First thing in the morning Encarni Montoya reported the key findings from her NERC funded fellowship project, entitled: Evaluation of tropical forests sensitivity to past climate changes. Her presentation focused on new multi-proxy palaeoecological data from two lakes in Ecuador (high elevation Laguna Banos, and low elevation Laguna Pindo). Based on the palaeoecological proxies Encarni demonstrated the buffering capacity of different ecosystem structures in preventing/mitigating the environmental impacts of volcanic eruptions. Following Encarni, Carmen Luzuriaga (Director of the Pindo Mirador Research Station [PMRS], Universidad Tecnológica Equinoccial) presented modern ecological information and conservation efforts in the region of Laguna Pindo. Two key impacts were identified from the dialogue with the PMRS and the project team:

• The proposed opening and dredging of Lake Pindo…