ENHANCE

ENHANCE – a CCES project

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CCES Project page

Enhancing ecosystem connectivity through intervention – a benefit for nature and society?

The inter- and transdisciplinary ENHANCE project tests and evaluates ecosystem connectivity with state-of-the art molecular genetical experiments and popoulation-dynamic analysis. ENHANCE uses the expertise of WSL, ETHZ, EAWAG and EPFL teams to quantify species-specific population viability in aquatic and terrestrial habitats prior and after structural connectivity is enhanced with experimental interventions. The findings are used to link structural connectivity measures (metrics) with species-specific responses and to calibrate a set of models to up-scale local empirical findings to various biotic and spatial scales. Since enhancing ecosystem connectivity is a nature conservation and management issue of highest priority we will provide a societal and economic assessment of recently perfomed and future interventions that aim at increasing structural connectivity. Special emphasis is given to evaluating people’s attitudes and perception towards ecosystem enhancement.

Innovation: Molecular genetic methods combined with landscape-scale ecological and modeling approaches offer a unique and new setting to test emerging questions of species dispersal, migration, (re)colonisation and gene flow in relation to land-use and intervention.

Societal relevance: Successful development and implementation of emerging land management options require knowledge of (a) people’s attitudes towards ecosystem enhancement, (b) economic and societal costs and benefits of ecosystem enhancement and (c) effective and efficient (participatory) planning measures and corresponding institutional settings.

Added value: Link of structural and functional connectivity; test connectivity in different habitats; connect ecological knowledge with engineering skills; valuate economic benefits/losses of the connectivity paradigm; merge scientific findings with current conservation and restoration activities of local, cantonal, and federal agencies; inter-and transdisciplinarity (natural science-social, science-economic science).