The project is funded by the Aarhus University Research Foundation starting grant from 2018-2022

Earths environmental and biological setup is changing due to human activities, a transformation that is leaving lasting impacts on ecosystems processes and services. These changes would result in the emergence of novel ecosystems when the environmental and biological step transformations cross a tipping point. While much work has focused on establishing the most likely causes for the recorded biological reorganization of ecosystems over the last decades, we have limited knowledge of how these responses take place and the rates at which they occur. BIORATES aims to provide the first systematic evaluation of the links between changes in environmental composition and multiple aspects defining the biological structure of an ecosystem. By doing this, BIORATES will establish the anthropogenic and ecological factors that have the most substantial influence in determining shifts in different levels of biological organization (Fig 1). This project will contribute to theme [1] Fundamental Biodiversity Dynamics and theme [2] Global Challenges of BIOCHANGE.