Alien species can have large impacts on ecosystems but their impact on polar ecosystem processes is poorly researched and thus not well understood. Polar ecosystems, especially those in Antarctica, include some of the most simplified food webs on Earth with only a few key species driving ecosystem processes. They are sensitive and vulnerable to invasion, with alien species likely to quickly seizing key roles and affect ecosystem functioning. Furthermore, established alien species may facilitate further establishment of others thereby creating a cascade of alien impacts, introducing novel traits for the ecosystem, and further changing these unique polar habitats. Although Arctic food webs are often more complex, similar principles apply, and potential impacts on ecosystem functioning are fundamental. Arctic tundra support massive soil carbon pools, whose mineralisation and release could be enhanced when aliens with novel traits invade. The aim of this study is to quantify impacts of alien vascular plants and mosses on ecosystem processes in the polar regions. In addition, we will assess the effect of climate warming on these alien impacts, and that of ‘invasion engineers’ that can facilitate alien establishment. This work will be achieved through a combination of laboratory and field translocation experiments utilising climate gradients along elevation. This robust comparison of the response of Arctic and Antarctic ecosystems to alien invasions will be one of the first to analyze in detail the impact of alien species on polar ecosystem functioning and service provision.

There are less than 4000 wild tigers alive and their habitats are under pressure due to climate change and anthropogenic activities. The Terai Arc Landscape (TAL) and the Duars at the foot of the Nepalese, Indian and Bhutanese Himalayas are the most important conservation area of tigers. Here, tiger habitats are affected through changing hydrological conditions that lead to deteriorating grasslands upon which free roaming deer rely for grazing. However, the natural and anthropogenic influences on grassland dynamics in these landscapes are poorly understood. Therefore, the overarching objective of this project is to characterise the temporal dynamics of the grasslands in the 23 nature reserves present. Particularly, the hydrology and river morphodynamics as abiotic factors become addressed as well as the pressures behind these two. This is not only a scientific, ecohydrological novelty but also crucial in combining preservation of the tiger habitat with sustainable water resources management in the TAL, the Duars and upstream Himalayas. We study the historical grassland dynamics in the floodplain over centuries and quantify the influence of climate change and contemporary anthropogenic interventions in the water system. We also assess the interrelationships between river dynamics, groundwater, landcover and land-use, and grazing ungulates. We take a dual approach: fundamental, multi-disciplinary research will be performed at Bardia National Park and the associated Karnali River in Western Nepal as ideal study area; applied research will identify similarities and essential differences in the current hydrological and ecological conditions of the grasslands in the 23 nature reserves. Landscape stewardship approaches and strategies for sustainable water resources management and tiger habitat conservation are developed in co-creation with local communities and authorities. Concurrently, public awareness is raised at local to global scale to stimulate conservation of the tiger habitat and educational material is established for students, park rangers and others.

In Antarctica, numbers of tourists and visited sites have been increasing for over 30 years. This is a concern for Antarctic biodiversity and wilderness values because the sum of effects (cumulative impacts) of these activities is unknown. This program aims - together with societal partners - to contribute to solutions by providing policymakers and the tourist sector the following knowledge: an Antarctic tourism forecast (20 years), maps of Antarctic biodiversity and wilderness values, an inventory of cumulative impacts, a monitoring system, and an identification of strategies and regulatory tools to minimize future cumulative impacts on Antarctic biodiversity and wilderness values.

VeenVitaal is a unique collaboration of scientists, nature managers/organizations, farmers and policy makers with the aim of making the peat meadow area in the Amsterdam region more sustainable. VeenVitaal investigates forms of nature-inclusive land use in the characteristic Dutch peat landscape that restores biodiversity, halt peat degradation, make business operation profitable for landowners and landscapes inspiring for citizens. VeenVitaal contributes new knowledge through integration of biodiversity, ecosystem and business data and aims to develop an integral set of simple/reliable indicators that quantifies the degree of landscape restoration with which we can monitor the transition to a sustainable peat bog landscape.

Title: The Antarctic biota count (ABC) Protection of Antarctic biodiversity through the Environmental Protocol is key to the Antarctic Treaty. However, Antarctica’s terrestrial ecosystems, especially their mosses and lichens, are poorly represented in any Systematic Conservation Plan due to a lack of spatially explicit data on vegetation composition and abundance and its associated biodiversity. This project will deliver such data along the Antarctic Peninsula to inform the evidence-based designation of new Antarctic Specially Protected Areas. This will be achieved by quantifying vegetation cover, and the functional groups supporting biodiversity, on the ground and linking this to satellite images for upscaling.