WILDCLIM – Quantifying Impacts of Large Wild Herbivores on Carbon Cycling and Climate Forcing
WILDCLIM – Quantifying Impacts of Large Wild Herbivores on Carbon Cycling and Climate Forcing
Name of applicant
Jonas Trepel
Title
Postdoctoral Fellow
Institution
Harvard University
Amount
DKK 2,854,606
Year
2026
Type of grant
Internationalisation Fellowships
What?
Large herbivores such as elephants, bison and wild horses can reshape ecosystems in ways that influence carbon storage, greenhouse-gas emissions, fire activity and surface energy reflectance. This project investigates how these animals collectively affect climate processes across ecosystems and whether wildlife can contribute to climate mitigation.
Why?
Nature-based climate solutions usually focus on plants and soils, largely ignoring animals. Yet emerging evidence suggests that large herbivores can significantly alter ecosystem carbon dynamics and climate forcing. Clarifying their role could reduce major uncertainties and help develop solutions that address climate change and biodiversity loss simultaneously.
How?
The project combines three approaches: a global synthesis of studies on animal impacts on carbon, fire, surface energy reflectance and greenhouse gases; large-scale analyses of elephant-driven vegetation change across African protected areas; and field experiments in Kenya manipulating herbivore communities to measure ecosystem carbon storage and exchange.