Main research topics and selected grants
1) Ecological and socio-economic
consequences of land-use change
| 2) Ecology of arid systems
| 3) Spatial forest ecology
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| 1) Ecological and socio-economic consequences of land-use change |
Species richness is determined by evolutionary history, ecological processes, and land use. We are specifically interested in understanding how ecological processes at different spatial scales affect biodiversity and how this interacts with land use. A new line of this research topic will broaden the perspective by including the human dimension. We will investigate ecological and socio-economic trade-offs under different land-use scenarios.
| Selected grants related to ecological and socio-economic consequences of land-use change |
| Analysis of variations of ecological processes in space
funded by EU Marie Curie Host Fellowships for the Transfer of Knowledge (TOK), 2006-2010
Contact: Kerstin Wiegand
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| Towards a mechanistic understanding of biodiversity and its functional consequences - the biodiversity exploratory additional modeling component - BEAM . in cooperation with Thomas Hovestadt , Florian Jeltsch , Christian Wirth , and Markus Reichstein
within Biodiversity Exploratories
funded by German Science Foundation (DFG), 2008 - 2011
Contact: Jakob Gerstenlauer
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| Modellbasierte Untersuchung der lokalen und regionalen Steuerung funktioneller Biodiversität und von Ökosystemfunktionen im Grünland auf Landschaftsebene
funded by University of Jena (ProChance), 2008 - 2010
Contact: Jakob Gerstenlauer
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| Scales of bacterial interactions on the leaf surface
within Research Training Group 1644 Scaling problems in statistics
funded by German Science Foundation DFG, since 2010 Contact: Daniel Esser
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| Integrated modelling of land-use changes at rainforest margins in Indonesia funded by German Science Foundation (DFG)
– see ELUC , since 2011 Contact: Rodolphe Sabatier
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| 2) Ecology of arid systems |
Savannas are ecosystems where two contrasting life‐forms, trees and grasses, co‐dominate. Looking for the mechanisms maintaining tree‐grass co‐dominance, we have developed the hypothesis that tree‐grass coexistence can be explained by viewing savannas as patch‐dynamic systems composed of many patches in different states of transition between woody and grassy dominance (Wiegand et al. 2005). Now, we are following up on this hypothesis with simulation modeling and spatial statistics in order to test the patch dynamics hypothesis for different systems and to explore the consequences of patch dynamics for savanna management.
Some related work has a focus on population dynamics of
Acacia trees in the Negev desert of Israel.
| Selected grants related to the ecology of arid systems |
| Analyzing desertification processes in arid and semiarid rangelands in Southern Africa from plant to landscape scales
in cooperation with Klaus Kellner and Thorsten Wiegand
funded by German Ministry of Science (BMBF) and South African Science Foundation (NRF) , 2008 - 2011
Contact: Sebastian Hanss
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| Bush encroachment - from mechanistic models to mitigation strategies for communal and commercial ranchers along a xeric-mesic rainfall gradient in southern Africa with David Ward funded by German Ministry of Science (BMBF) and South African Science Foundation (NRF) , 2008 - 2011
Contact: Kerstin Wiegand
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| Collaborative ecological modelling and experimentation to uncover the causes of bush encroachment in African savannas with David Ward funded by Volkswagen foundation, program of partnership, 2003-2006
Contact: Kerstin Wiegand
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| Ecology of arid savannas based on the patch dynamics paradigm by means of simulation modelling
funded by German Science Foundation (DFG) , 2002-2007
Contact: Katrin Meyer
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| 3) Spatial forest ecology |
With the goal to reconstruct and predict ecological processes in forests, we analyze small‐ and large‐scale forest structures of fully‐mapped forest stands. Our work includes comparison of chronosequences under homogeneous and heterogeneous environmental conditions, study of asymmetric tree growth by comparing the stem and crown pattern, the detailed assessment of competition from snap‐shot and long‐term data, and prediction of biodiversity on the forest floor from the pattern of tree crowns and gaps.
| Selected grants related to spatial forest ecology |
| The effects of land-use and structural heterogeneity on biodiversity: A new assessment method using cost-effective remote sensing and fine-scale pattern analysis - STRUCTURE within Biodiversity Exploratories funded by German Science Foundation DFG, 2008 - 2010
Contact: Stephan Getzin
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| Modelling the role of complementarity, species identity, and neutrality for diversity maintenance in deciduous forests
within Research Training Group 1086 The role of biodiversity for biogeochemical cycles and biotic interactions in temperate deciduous forests
funded by German Science Foundation DFG, since 2011
Contact: Nina Heymann
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| The role of heterogeneity in spatial plant population dynamics
within Research Training Group 1644 Scaling problems in statistics
funded by German Science Foundation DFG, since 2010 Contact: Clara van Waveren
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