One of the aims of P³ is to assess global change impacts on wildlife pathogens in alpine ecosystems and to understand the impact might have on ecosystem functioning. This is placed in a context "mountains as sentinels of change". The regional assessment report on BIODIVERSITY AND ECOSYSTEM SERVICES FOR EUROPE AND CENTRAL ASIA of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) makes two statements highly relevant to the research conducted in P³:
Alpine and subalpine systems show decreasing trends in biodiversity status
and
" Freshwater biodiversity trends are primarily driven by habitat destruction and modification caused by infrastructure for hydropower, navigation, flood protection, agriculture, urban development and water abstraction; pollution from agriculture and industry; the introduction of invasive alien species and their pathogens; and climate change (established but incomplete) "
P³ is therefore producing an important dataset for the future work programm of IPBES and will definitely be highly relevant for policy.
