Awarded the second Frontiers of Knowledge Award in Ecology and Conservation Biology, ecologist Peter Reich analyzes in this interview how forests respond to climate change and what mechanisms determine their adaptive capacity. Reich explains how factors such as increased CO₂, temperature, nutrient availability, and functional diversity influence plant growth and the balance of terrestrial ecosystems. Based on pioneering field and growth chamber experiments, he details how small environmental variations can transform the structure and function of forests, affecting key processes such as the carbon cycle. His insights underscore the importance of understanding these dynamics to predict the impacts of global warming and design more effective conservation strategies.
The BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award in the Ecology and Conservation Biology category goes in this second
Awarded the second Frontiers of Knowledge Award in Ecology and Conservation Biology, ecologist Peter Reich analyzes in this interview how forests respond to climate change and what mechanisms determine their adaptive capacity. Reich explains how factors such as increased CO₂, temperature, nutrient availability, and functional diversity influence plant growth and the balance of terrestrial ecosystems. Based on pioneering field and growth chamber experiments, he details how small environmental variations can transform the structure and function of forests, affecting key processes such as the carbon cycle. His insights underscore the importance of understanding these dynamics to predict the impacts of global warming and design more effective conservation strategies.
The BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award in the Ecology and Conservation Biology category goes in this second edition to plant ecologist Peter B. Reich, for work that radically improves our understanding of and ability to predict terrestrial ecosystem compositional and functional responses to global environmental change, including climate change and biodiversity loss.
00:00 Introduction
00:07 You have found a universal relationship between the leaf and the tree, as well as between the tree and the forest itself. Could you explain these relationships and what this discovery implies?
01:03 What does this award mean for you at this stage of your career and for your area of research?
01:42 One of your goals is to predict how plant ecosystems will behave in our changing world. How are you doing this, and why is it useful?
