Understanding the Impact of Climate Change on Ecosystem Structure in Mediterranean Open Forest

Ecosystem structure exhibits sensitivity to climate change. Monitoring ecosystem structure allows researchers to assess the impact of climate change on different aspects of biodiversity and provides valuable information and a baseline for adaptation strategies. In addition, establishing a baseline through ongoing monitoring schemes lays a foundation for conservation planning and contributes to our understanding of ecological processes. Remote sensing experts have extensively explored 'Ecosystem Structure as an Essential Climate Valiable (EBV )class. All EBV candidates that fall under the 'Ecosystem Structure' class could be retrieved using remote sensing biodiversity products generated from various remote sensing platforms. However, examining the contribution of terrestrial Essential Climate Variable (ECVs), such as Land Surface Temperature (LST), as a proxy for climate change (and abiotic stressors) and land cover change due to anthropogenic activities on 'Ecosystem Structure' remains relatively limited. For instance, elevated LST is frequently linked to extreme weather, such as heatwaves and droughts. Monitoring LST aids in pinpointing areas susceptible to intense heat events, enhancing early warning systems, and planning climate resilience measures. This task will focus on assessing the change in ecosystem structure in vulnerable ecosystems (e.g., grassland and forest) by evaluating their susceptibility to various stressors, such as biotic (e.g., invasive species, bark beetle infestation) and abiotic stressors or natural disasters (e.g., drought, heatwaves), by means of remote sensing-enabled EBV candidates.