The EMERGE project (Retreating glaciers and EMERGing Ecosystems in the Southern Alps) is an interdisciplinary and international project in cooperation
between the Free University of Bozen-Bolzano, Italy and the European Academy (EURAC), Italy. The project is funded by the Herzog-Sellenberg- and Dr. Erich Ritter Stiftung within the Stifterverband für die Deutsche Wissenschaft (Germany).

The EMERGE project aims to understand the dynamics of high mountain watershed ecosystems from an interdisciplinary point of view. A team of 3 PhD students contributes to the following workpackages (WP):

• “Analyzing the physical drivers of ecosystem changes: hydrology,
  geomorphology” (WP1)
• “Microbial ecosystem quality and biodiversity of the deglaciated high-mountain area” (WP2)
• “Vegetation and landscape changes, biodiversity of flora and fauna, and biomass production within newly emerged habitats in the catchment area” (WP3)

Beside a various interactions among the workpackages, the EMERGE project benefits of the strong contact to local stakeholders and to numerous national and international research institutes.