PEACE

Coordinating institution : CNRS

Project leader : Liudmila Shirokova
Project duration : 60 months | January 1st 2024 → December 31th 2028

Grant : 1 484 532 €

 

Institutional partnerships : INRAE - Sorbonne Université - Université Paris Saclay - Université de Paris Sciences et Lettres - Université Rennes

Associated institutions : Université de Toulouse - Institut Agro Montpellier - ENS

The PEACE project aims to address the following overarching question: How do permafrost degradation and vegetation changes induced by climate change affect the carbon–nitrogen–phosphorus (C–N–P) dynamics and transfers in Arctic ecosystems along the terrestrial–aquatic continuum?

To do so, the project seeks to:

• Characterise the different compartments of the terrestrial–aquatic continuum through field monitoring and sampling, and quantify C–N–P fluxes (dissolved, particulate, and gaseous) at the watershed scale.
• Develop a detailed understanding of the processes driving changes in C–N–P cycles under varying temperatures and organic‑matter (OM) composition through experimental approaches (in‑situ mesocosms and Ecotron), while improving modelling capacities.

The consortium will deploy a multidisciplinary approach—geomorphology, soil science, geochemistry, hydrology, climatology, microbiology—and will build directly on the team’s previous experience and research in northern ecosystems.

Keywords: Permafrost, Soils, Litter, Carbon, Nitrogen, Phosphorus, Carbon Stocks

 

The most intensive sampling, instrumented monitoring, and modelling efforts will be carried out at three observatories located in Canada (Churchill, Manitoba) and Europe (Zackenberg in Greenland and Abisko in Sweden). These sites enable the pooling of efforts with ongoing projects led by French and international partners.