Environmental connectivity as the keystone to ecological restoration of degraded European mountains

Mountains in Europe are highly valued as they provide diverse living and recreational opportunities and unique landscape sceneries, are key economic assets, and because they are treasures of unique flora and fauna. Their vulnerable environment is, however, threatened by the frequent occurrence of shallow landslides and water erosion which produce large amounts of sediment during floods. The urgency to mitigate natural hazards calls for an improved understanding of how physical and biological dimensions of ecological restoration interact. Hence, the ECO-MOUNTAIN project proses an environmental connectivity framework as the keystone to the ecological restoration degraded mountains. A study area was selected in the Pyrenees, where I will benefit from the support of local stakeholders engaged the restoring degraded mountain slopes. Special focus is given to developing a novel sediment source fingerprinting method using environmental DNA (eDNA). As strong interrelations exist between vegetation, soils and geomorphology, plants leave an eDNA signature on sediments which reflects the degradation status of the area. It will allow to define erosion hotspots at unprecedented precisions and serve as a tool to monitor the impact of ecological restoration schemes in large catchments. The validity of the novel eDNA fingerprint methods will be evaluated against conventional fingerprinting method (carbon/nitrogen) and soil mineralogy. I will be hosted by Dr. Stokes at the AMAP joint research group in Montpellier (France). Having access to excellent training and laboratory facilities at AMAP, I will be able to grow as a multiskilled soil restoration scientist. Guidance will also be given by Prof. Cammeraat (geomorphologist) and Dr. Evrard (geochemist) and they will host me in their state-of-the art laboratories during short research stays. From this fellowship project, I expect to grow as an independent scientist and reap the rewards for years to come in my future career.