Plant root systems have two key functions: they acquire water and nutrients and transport them to aboveground plant parts. As a single root segment cannot be fully efficient at both functions, plants face a trade-off in optimising whole-root-system functioning which is largely unexplored in herbs. Clonal growth, being common in herbs and widespread over the angiosperm phylogeny, offers an alternative transport pathway via horizontal stems, while adventitious roots formed on these stems shorten the transport distance from roots to leaves. I thus hypothesise that clonal growth allows for a higher acquisition efficiency of root systems. To test this hypothesis, I will apply a novel comparative experimental approach using pairs of phylogenetically related species differing in the extent of clonal growth. The main comparative test will be preceded by method optimisation and complemented by experimental manipulation of two model clonal species to estimate phenotypic plasticity of root functions. To investigate the acquisition-transport trade-off in root systems, I will combine an ecophysiological approach of stable isotope labelling to estimate acquisition efficiency with root morphology and anatomy to provide mechanistic insights. I will integrate my experience in plant clonality and stable isotope labelling with the host's deep knowledge of root functional traits. The project aims to establish methods to study root acquisition vs. transport in herbs of different growth forms and to determine the cross-organ belowground functional diversity and root phenotypic plasticity that underpins the ability of species to adjust to different environmental conditions. The results will significantly contribute to our understanding of basic principles of plant functions hidden belowground. Those functions, related mechanisms and consequences are fundamental to ecology, plant physiology and agriculture, and relevant to increasing drought and nutrient enrichment under global change.

In sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), attaining food security is crucial for the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal of 'Zero Hunger'. Despite this, malnutrition rates of SSA in 2022 have deteriorated compared to 2010. Climate change further compounds this challenge, as it affects the SSA cropping system—the bedrock for the local food system but highly vulnerable to environmental shifts. The condition seems more severe here in the future: not only a higher frequency of extreme weather events occurring but also more outbreaks of pests and diseases. Surprisingly, most agricultural risk analyses on SSA have overlooked the impact of pests because few regional crop models can address its simulation. Moreover, most studies about SSA focused on quantifying yield loss risk but the overarching goal of agriculture risk assessment should be to elucidate the associated economic ramifications as a basis for policy responses. This project, IRACS, seeks to answer: "What is the integrated risk of crop failures in SSA under climate change, and what are its subsequent economic implications?" To tackle this, the IRACS will first develop a new pest model. This will be integrated with an enhanced crop model to better predict crop failure risks. Subsequently, applying future scenario datasets, this coupled model will assess potential yield loss in SSA. An integrated assessment model, GLOBIOM, will then be employed to assess the associated economic impacts. Ultimately, the IRACS initiative aims to not only deepen understanding of the interplay between climate change, cropping systems, and farmer livelihoods in SSA but also show how to combine biophysical models with economic models to investigate climate change impact effectively.

Given increasing attention on the importance of agrobiodiversity in agricultural landscapes, we identify integrative landscape-level planning as a promising approach to incentivize more widespread adoption of agro-ecological measures. Our project aims to develop an interdisciplinary methodology to facilitate data-based collaborative landscape planning, with the goal of characterizing agrobiodiversity and enhancing resilience and multifunctionality across farms, at a landscape level. This approach prioritizes the integration of agrienvironmental and socio-economic perspectives, and will be grounded in site-specific data representing five regional case-studies in France, Germany, Italy, Poland and Scotland. For the first step, we propose to carry out an evaluation of promising diversification practices across different EU contexts, with specific focus on enhancement of agrobiodiversity at farm / landscape scales. Practices will be selected to represent the range and distribution of agricultural management approaches applicable in each case study region, e.g. agroforestry establishment, hedgerow planting & management, crop rotation, crop-livestock integration, or the establishment of flower strips along field margins. We will then blend participatory methods and ground-truthed data to identify and validate relevant and measurable agrobiodiversity indicators, selected to facilitate performance assessments of evaluated farming practices on agrobiodiversity and related ecosystem functions/services (e.g., carbon sequestration, economic profitability, nutrition). The multifunctionality of different practices will be evaluated through identification of trade-offs and synergies between different indicators. Finally, the project will assess opportunities for enhanced valorisation and incentivization of market- or policy-based collaborative approaches at the landscape scale. Expected outcomes will include scientific publications, technical support material (e.g., for farm extension networks), and stakeholderrelevant policy recommendations. Ultimately the proposed research will lead to concrete policy recommendations which will support collaborative planning of resilient agricultural landscapes that reconcile biodiversity conservation and food security under global change.

Europe will face increasing pressure on agricultural systems due to increasing global food demands, competing claims on land resources and decreasing possibilities to displace production outside Europe. Moreover, increasing societal demands for a wide range of ecosystem services and biodiversity protection call for transitions towards intensive agricultural systems that have minimal detrimental environmental effects. As a response to these major societal challenges, sustainable intensification (SI) is gaining attention. SI cannot be implemented through a generic, single development pathway for all agricultural systems. Alternative trajectories and actions to achieve SI depend on the local and contextual agronomic, environmental and socio-economic conditions. The project VITAL explores transition processes of European agricultural systems towards sustainably intensified production. VITAL identifies how differences in agricultural systems, their spatial frameworks and the role of actors, lead to, or inhibit, alternate transition processes of SI. The feasibility of different SI pathways is upscaled across Europe, hence moving beyond the level of individual farms and regions. Suitable spatial configurations of SI across land use systems are identified, accounting for the landscape and regional context. VITAL aims to: • Identify key conditions of agricultural land systems that allow systems to shift toward sustainable intensification states; and triggers and transition pathways towards such states. • Develop and operationalize sustainability indicators that reflect a land system’s position in a space of production intensity, ecological resilience and socio-economic viability, which together determine a region’s adaptive capacity towards sustainable intensification. • Draw upon real-world, operational exemplars, to understand how conditions, triggers and pathways interact, and how they link to value chains and valorisation. • Embed regional developments in sustainable intensification trajectories in larger contexts (national, EU and global) to understand the potential of up- and out-scaling of regional best-practice examples. By working with stakeholders at farm, regional and European level VITAL will deliver 1) an analytical framework that allows determining feasible future states of sustainable intensification; 2) assessment tools and indicators to evaluate alternative SI trajectories; 3) an assessment of the suitability of SI trajectories across different European land use systems and locations; 4) novel land system architectures based on SI; and 5) insights in the role of social networks of transition in adopting SI.