Description: Biodiversity and ecosystem processes maintained by tropical mountain ecosystems are particularly threatened by the combined impacts of climate change and the conversion of natural to human-modified landscapes and as a result important ecosystem services are at risk. The Research Unit aims at the parallel assessment of biodiversity and ecosystem processes along altitudinal gradients in both natural and human-disturbed ecosystems at Mt. Kilimanjaro (Tanzania, Africa), capitalising on its worldwide unique range of climatic and vegetation zones. Main objectives are (1) to relate climatic conditions and anthropogenic disturbance to species diversity, biotic interactions and biogeochemical processes, (2) to quantify biodiversity-ecosystem functioning relationships along elevational gradients, (3) to estimate resilience and adaptive potential of natural and modified ecosystems to global change, and (4) to quantify temporal shifts in species distributions due to climate and land use change. The Research Unit is composed of seven closely linked subprojects, four focussing on biodiversity and biotic interactions of plants and animals and three on climate and biogeochemical ecosystem processes. Two central projects are responsible for coordination and the central database. All subprojects work on 60 joint study plots representing twelve major natural and anthropogenic vegetation types along an altitudinal range from tropical savannas up to afroalpine shrublands. On each plot climate variables, soil properties, water and carbon fluxes, primary productivity, diversity of plants, birds, bats, soil arthropods, selected insect taxa and related biotic interactions, i.e. seed dispersal, decomposition, pollination, herbivory and predation, will be quantified. Twelve focal sites among the 60 sites will serve for more elaborated measurements and experiments to quantify causal relationships between climate, land cover change, biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. Further, in three experimental gardens at different altitudes, transplant experiments will be performed to study species adaptability under modified climatic conditions.
SupportProgram
Origins: /Bund/UBA/UFORDAT
Tags: Fledermaus ? Insekt ? Biogeochemie ? Arthropoden ? Entomologie ? Messstation ? Pflanzenökologie ? Tierökologie ? Vegetation ? Vogel ? Bodenzoologie ? Vegetationszone ? Pflanzensamen ? Befruchtung ? Botanik ? Klimatologie ? Pflanzengesellschaft ? Saatgut ? Strauch ? Zoologie ? Bestäubung ? Habitat wildlebender Tiere und Pflanzen ? Tansania ? Resilienz ? Bodenkunde ? Bodenwasser ? Landnutzungsänderung ? Tropisches Ökosystem ? Pflanzenart ? Tierart ? Topographie ? Prädator ? Gehölzpflanze ? Pflanzenvielfalt ? Klimaresilienz ? Wirkungsanalyse ? Bodenqualität ? Quantitative Analyse ? Standortwahl ? Studie ? Feldstudie ? Flächennutzung ? Tropengebiet ? Biologischer Abbau ? Anpassungsfähigkeit ? Berg ? Tier ? Biologische Anpassung ? Artenvielfalt ? Ökosystemforschung ? Kausalzusammenhang ? Globale Veränderung ? Landbedeckung ? Afrika ? Bodenorganismen ? Klimafolgen ? Naturlandschaft ? Ökosystemleistung ? Ökosystemfunktion ? Ökosystemzustand ? Klimaforschung ? Biotischer Faktor ? Datenbank ? Risiko ? Globale Aspekte ? Biodiversität ? Diversität ? Klimawandel ? Aufbereitungstechnik ? Wasserressourcen ? Klimazone ? Stoffstrom ? Anthropogener Einfluss ? Klimadaten ? Ökosystem ? Naturpotential ? Produktivität ? Primärproduktion ? Zeitverlauf ? Kilimandscharo ? Höhenstufung [Vegetation] ? Wechselwirkung ? Interaktionsanalyse ? Savanne ? Klimaexperiment ?
Region: Bayern
Bounding boxes: 12.53381° .. 12.53381° x 47.795° .. 47.795°
License: cc-by-nc-nd/4.0
Language: Englisch/English
Time ranges: 2010-03-01 - 2013-03-31
Webseite zum Förderprojekt
http://gepris.dfg.de/gepris/projekt/107847609 (Webseite)Accessed 1 times.