ENVIRONMENTAL STABILITY OR CHANGE ? COMBINING METHODOLOGIES FROM A BIODIVERSE AREA

Understanding ecosystem response to environmental variability, how this impacts on ecosystem dynamics, and how this may develop over the past, present and an uncertain future requires novel approaches. Although information is available to demonstrate the responsive nature of tropical montane ecosystems to climate change, principally from pollen, biogeographical data and / or future model scenarios, this is generally not available from the same location, and rarely in a format suitable for policy development. For the Eastern Arc Mountains of Tanzania and Kenya, an area regarded as one of the world's hotspots of plant biodiversity, an overview is presented of a new research initiative - The York Institute of Tropical Ecosystem Dynamics (http://www.york.ac.uk/res/kite/index.htm). The presentation will outline tools to be employed to investigate ecosystem response to past, present and future climate scenarios, in particular methodological implications of combining information on past environmental change, present-day species ranges and modelling initiatives to explore past, present and future ecosystem dynamics. In addition to understanding ecosystem functioning, KITE is fostering new international relationships by encouraging knowledge transfer between Europe and East Africa. Such research is increasingly important as improved forecasting impacts of climate variability on ecosystem functioning is used as a platform for conservation under a changing climates as policy on managing the consequences of global climate change move from the national to the international political arena.