Increasing population pressure is leading to unsustainable land use in North Vietnamese highlands and destruction of natural habitats. The resulting loss of biodiversity includes plant genetic resources - both wild (= non-cultivated) species and cultivated landraces - adapted to local conditions, and local knowledge concerning the plants. A particularly important group among endangered plants are the legumes (1) because Southeast Asia is a major centre of genetic diversity for this family, and (2) because the potential contribution of legumes to sustainable land use is, due to their multifunctionality (e.g., soil improvement, human and livestock nutrition), especially high. The project aims to contribute to the conservation and sustainable use of genetic resources of legumes with an integrated approach wherein a series of components are combined: (1) A participatory, indigenous knowledge survey complemented by information from the literature; (2) germplasm collection missions (for ex situ conservation) complemented by field evaluation and seed increase; (3) genetic diversity analysis of selected material by molecular markers; and (4) GIS based analysis of generated data to identify areas of particular genetic diversity as a basis for land area planning and in situ preservation recommendations. Project results are expected to be also applicable to similar highlands in Southeast Asia.
The vegetation of East and South African savannahs has been shaped by the complex interaction of geo-biophysical processes and human impact. For both regions a controversial discussion is pertinent, as to whether massive degradation threatens the sustainability of livelihoods in these regions. Rangeland vegetation is mainly affected by environmental conditions (soil and climate) and by livestock management. Extent and interaction of these drivers are not well understood but have profound impacts on the resilience and vulnerability of these systems to be shifted toward unfavourable degraded or bush encroached states. The project aims to analyse and model rangeland vegetation in response to range management including livestock, soil quality and climatic conditions and to assess the impacts of changes in these conditions on the resilience and vulnerability of rangeland systems. Field measurements, remote sensing of vegetation patterns and dynamics and simulation modelling will be used to understand the dynamics of rangeland vegetation. We will use the 'fast' or 'state' variables potential of pastures to produce palatable biomass, the variability of this production, and the system's potential to recover from disturbance impact as indicators of resilience. 'slow' variables that control (or drive) the 'fast' variables such as management, climate and soil variables are recorded in cooperation with other subprojects as with A1 for soil variables. Results of the project will show which management activities are most favourable for individual regions to sustain plant production in the long term.
Das Auerhuhn ist eine stark gefährdete Brutvogelart der Schweiz. Veränderungen in der Zusammensetzung und Nutzung des Waldes haben dazu geführt, dass sich die Bestände dieses Raufusshuhns in den letzten drei Jahrzehnten halbiert haben. Deshalb sollen die Lebensraumansprüche des attraktiven Waldvogels vermehrt in der Planung und Umsetzung von Waldreservaten und der Bewirtschaftung von Wäldern der höheren Lagen berücksichtigt werden. Auf der kleinen räumlichen Ebene sind die Habitatsansprüche der Art durch Untersuchungen in West- und Mitteleuropa (Storch 1993, 2002, Schroth 1994) und Skandinavien relativ gut bekannt. Dagegen werden die Populationsprozesse auf der Ebene der Landschaft erst in Ansätzen verstanden (Sjöberg 1996, Kurki 2000). Entsprechend konnte man die Bestandsrückgänge in den meisten Gebieten Europas noch nicht stoppen, da einerseits genauere Kenntnisse über das Zusammenspiel und die relative Bedeutung der einzelnen Faktoren fehlen (Habitatqualität, Störungen, Prädatoren, Witterung-Klima, Huftierkonkurrenz), und andererseits noch nicht versucht wurde, die Bestandsentwicklung im grossen landschaftlichen Massstab als Metapopulationsdynamik zu verstehen. Es ist das primäre Ziel dieses Projekts, ein räumlich explizites Metapopulationsmodell des Auerhuhns für einen grossen Landschaftsausschnitt der Schweizer Alpen zu erarbeiten. Dabei sollen die erwähnten Einflussfaktoren möglichst umfassend berücksichtigt werden. Die Arbeit soll modellhaft zeigen, dass für das Verständnis von Populationsvorgängen von raumbeanspruchenden Wildtierarten eine Analyse und Bewertung von lokal bis überregional wirksamen Einflussfaktoren notwendig sind. Die Ergebnisse sollen zudem als konzeptionelle Grundlage für den Nationalen Aktionsplan Auerhuhn und für regionale Artenförderungsprojekte dienen. Folgende Fragen und Themen sind für das Projekt von zentraler Bedeutung: Wie gross ist das landschaftsökologische Lebensraumpotenzial für das Auerhuhn in den Alpen, wie ist es räumlich verteilt? Wie verteilen sich die lokalen Auerhuhnpopulationen in diesen Potenzialgebieten? Wie gross sind die Bestände? Welche Faktoren beeinflussen den Status von Lokal- und Regionalpopulationen? Welche Populationen haben abgenommen oder sind verschwunden, welche sind stabil (Source-Sink-Mechanismen)? Zwischen welchen räumlich getrennten Populationen besteht ein Austausch? Welche Landschaftselemente wirken als Barrieren? Entwickeln einer nicht-invasiven Methode für die genetische Differenzierung von Populationen, sowie für Bestandsschätzungen und Monitoring.
Traditional Indonesian homegardens harbour often high crop diversity, which appears to be an important basis for a sustainable food-first strategy. Crop pollination by insects is a key ecosystem service but threatened by agricultural intensification and land conversion. Gaps in knowledge of actual benefits from pollination services limit effective management planning. Using an integrative and agronomic framework for the assessment of functional pollination services, we will conduct ecological experiments and surveys in Central Sulawesi, Indonesia. We propose to study pollination services and net revenues of the locally important crop species cucumber, carrot, and eggplant in traditional homegardens in a forest distance gradient, which is hypothesized to affect bee community structure and diversity. We will assess pollination services and interactions with environmental variables limiting fruit maturation, based on pollination experiments in a split-plot design of the following factors: drought, nutrient deficiency, weed pressure, and herbivory. The overall goal of this project is the development of 'biodiversity-friendly' land-use management, balancing human and ecological needs for local smallholders.
Forest structure is altered by humans for long times (Bramanti et al. 2009). The long lasting modification of forests pursuant to human demands modified the living conditions for birds as well as for many other animals. This included changes in resource availability (e.g., food, foraging, nesting sites) and changes of interspecific interactions, e.g., parasitism and predation (Knoke et al. 2009; Ellis et al. 2012). Also species compositions and the survivability of populations and even species are affected. The loss of foraging sites and suitable places for reproduction, the limitation of mobility due to fragmented habitats and the disturbances by humans itself may lead to more stressed individuals and less optimal living conditions. In certain cases species are not able to deal with the modified requirements and their populations will shrink and even vanish. Depending on the intensity of management and the remaining forest structure, biodiversity is more or less endangered. Especially in systems of two or more strongly connected taxa changing conditions that affect at least one part may subsequently affect the other, too. One system of interspecific communities that recently attracted the attention of biologists includes birds, blood parasites (haemosporidians) and their transmitting vectors. For instance, avian malaria (Plasmodium relictum) represents the reason for extreme declines in the avifauna of Hawaii since the introduction of respective vectors (e.g. Culicidae) during the 20th century (van Riper et al. 1986, Woodworth et al. 2005). With the current knowledge of this topic we are not able to predict if such incidences could also occur in Germany. All in all, different management strategies and intensity of forest management may influence the network of birds, vectors and blood parasites and change biodiversity. To elucidate this ecological complex, and to understand the interactions of the triad of songbirds as vertebrate hosts, dipteran vectors and haemosporidians within changing local conditions, I intend to collect data on the three taxa in differently managed forest areas, the given forest structure and the climatic conditions. I will try to explain the role of abiotic factors on infection dynamics, in detail the role of forest management intensity. Data acquisition takes place at three spatially divided locations: inside the Biodiversity Exploratory Schwäbische Alb, at the Mooswald in Freiburg, and inside the Schwarzwald.
In my Phd-study, I examine the resource conflict over industrial logging in the South Moresby area on Haida Gwaii (former Queen Charlotte Islands) from 1974 to 1993. On this remote archipelago on British Columbias west-coast, a fierce dispute over logging practices, land rights, Aboriginal land claims and environmental issues had emerged in the face of devastating logging practices were not only threatening to destroy large parts of Moresby Island but also resulted in the destruction of salmon streams. The two major natural resources available on the islands were at stake during the 'war in the woods.' Together with environmentalist, the Haida First Nation successfully fought for the preservation of Gwaii Haanas (South Moresby Island) with blockades, protests, environmental campaigns, lobbying and legal action. The area is now protected as the 'Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve.-' Using a cultural approach combining aspects of 'storytelling,' the 'cultural memory' and 'actor-network-theory' (ANT), the core question arises whether the (Western) dualisms between 'nature' and 'culture' and between 'fact' and 'fiction' should be dissolved. Latour argues that such dualisms and even the separation between the human and non-human world (i.e., the world of things) do not exist. Assmann claims that we do not necessarily remember what has really happened', but what was repeatedly told us to have happened. Along with Thomas King, J. Edward Chamberlin and William Cronon, I stress the point that stories - fictitious or based on facts - do matter. The effect of stories on the way we understand our past, might often be more important than that of 'hard' facts: Stories shape both a societys concept of the past and its present identity. Canada, with its heterogeneous population, is a particularly interesting place to conduct research about different concepts of 'nature' and culture'. Analyzing the different stories that evolved around South Moresby, and taking into account diverging messages of native and non-native stories, offers a new perspective on similar resource conflicts that continue to exist and arise all over the world.
Responding to the twin crises of global warming and biodiversity loss requires a deep understanding of how climate affects the processes that generate and destroy biodiversity, primarily through its effects on the ecology and distribution of species. Recent improvements in our ability to reconstruct the history of biodiversity through timed phylogenies, estimate changes in genetic diversity, and predict the potential distribution of selected species with ecological niche models (ENMs) now allow us to infer the evolution of ecological preferences and distributional ranges at different temporal scales. Our two case studies focus on alpine/arctic regions, because they are among those most endangered by global warming. The first study will use, for the first time, a combination of ENM and phylogeny to test the model of hybrid, polyploid speciation by secondary contact in arctic/alpine plants. We selected Primula sect. Aleuritia (simply Aleuritia, from here on), because our previous phylogenetic work provided clear hypotheses for the parental origins of polyploids, yet the distributions of the inferred progenitors do not currently overlap. Did the ranges of the proposed parents overlap at the time of allopolyploid origins, as predicted by the secondary contact model? To answer this question, we will produce a high-resolution, dated phylogeny of Aleuritia, optimize the ecological preferences of the hypothesized progenitors onto the dated phylogeny, and project their past distributional ranges onto the fine-resolution climatic scenarios recently developed for the Pleistocene. In the second case study, we will try to explain how small populations persisted on summits in the past and how they are affected by current and future climate change. Here we selected Saxifraga florulenta, a rare, endemic species of the Maritime Alps, because hypotheses of its phylogenetic relationships are available from our previous work, it occurs exclusively above 2000 m, and has very narrow ecological requirements. Consequently, if current trends of global warming continue, the strict ecological adaptation of S. florulenta to siliceous substrates at the highest altitudes of the Maritime Alps may represent a serious extinction risk. We will investigate whether the phylogeographic history, genetic diversity, climatic niche and dispersal mode of S. florulenta can explain its long persistence in the Maritime Alps, a hot spot of biodiversity, and predict its future survival or extinction on mountain tops. We will use a combination of genetic analysis and niche modeling to reconstruct changes in the niche, geographic distribution, and genetic diversity of this cold-adapted species.
In spite of a variety of efforts, tropical forests are still threatened by exploitation and conversion to agricultural land-use. Besides legal protection, sustainable management concepts are essential for stable conservation of these ecosystems. This project aims at identifying and optimizing the potentials for forest management for three different ecosystems (Dry Forest, Tropical Mountain Rain Forest, Paramo) along a height- and climate gradient in Southern Ecuador. Therefore, multiple and locally differentiated aspects of forest management have to be considered: the direct provision of goods (timber and non-timber forest products) as well as ecosystem services (carbon sequestration, water regulation), which are of increasing importance; moreover, the effects of forest management on biodiversity and the impacts of climate change on resilience indicators and the potential distribution of selected species with high potential for sustainable management or conservation should be investigated. First of all, the most important forest structure types and possible improvements of management alternatives have to be identified at the three sites for the assessment of different management concepts. The alternatives will be tested on experimental field plots and consequently monitored for their impacts on the locally most important criteria of forest management. A sound decision support tool will be developed, taking into account uncertainties with regard to input parameters and the relevance of different criteria of forest management. Therefore, Multi Criteria Decision Analysis will be used to generate locally adapted management concepts for the different ecosystems. Those concepts should be able to consider the multiple functions of forest management and will represent the forestry component in sustainable land-use models. The comprehensive studies will be carried out in close cooperation with other scientific teams from Germany and Ecuador as well as local institutions of relevance for forest management. The direct involvement of Ecuadorian students and young academics and the integration of the investigations in educational concepts will contribute to capacity building and local efforts for the enhancement of environmental competencies. Moreover, the experimental field plots will serve in parts as demonstration objects for the implementation of sustainable forest management concepts.
Die Flussperlmuschel (Margaritifera margaritifera) ist als vom Aussterben bedrohte Art einzustufen. Die Nachzucht der Muschel gelang in den letzten Jahren mittels einer eigens errichteten Nachzuchtstation jedoch durchaus sehr erfolgreich. Um für die Wiederansiedelung der Flussperlmuschel in Fließgewässern zu gewährleisten gilt es vorab geeignete Lebensraumbedingungen zu finden. Dabei ist die Habitatmodellierung als geeignetes Instrument für eine Bewertung bzw. eine Vorauswahl anzusehen. Diese Modellierung beruht auf Eingangsparametern, die in intakten Flussperlmuschelgewässern erhoben werden müssen. Solche intakten Gewässer mit reproduktiven Flussperlmuschelpopulationen existieren aktuell nur noch in Nordeuropa (z. B. Schweden, Finnland, Norwegen) und in einem deutschen Heidebach, der Lutter, in der ein umfangreiches, das gesamte Einzugsgebiet umfassendes Sanierungs- und Wiederansiedelungsprojekt sehr erfolgreich umgesetzt wurde. Ziel des Projektes ist es, in verschiedenen österreichischen Gewässern jene (Lebensraum-)Parameter zu erfassen, welche von der Flussperlmuschel genutzt bzw. auch nicht genutzt werden, um funktionale Zusammenhänge für ein zukünftiges Management zu erkennen, bzw. auch jene Nutzungskurven abzuleiten, die für mögliche hydraulische Modellanwendungen zur Habitatevaluierung benötigt werden. Um dieses Ziel zu Erreichen wird eine Charakterisierung der Gewässermorphologie mittels tachymetrischer Vermessung von genutzten und nicht genutzten Gewässerprofilen durchgeführt als Grundlage für die eindimensionale numerische Modellierung (HEC-RAS). Weiters werden Kornverteilungskurven mittels volumetrischer Beprobung aus Deck- und Unterschicht erstellt mit einer Bestimmung der Feinsedimentanteile (kleiner als 0,063 mm, kleiner als 0,125 mm, kleiner als 0,250 mm) durchgeführt.
In Mecklenburg-Vorpommern ist der Bestand des Schwarzstorchs akut gefährdet. Nur noch wenige Areale kommen als Lebensraum für den Schwarzstorch im Nordosten von Deutschland infrage. Der Brutbestand sank in den letzten fünf Jahren alarmierend, von 16 Brutpaaren (BP) im Jahr 2009 auf 8 BP im Jahr 2013. Dies war Grund und Anlass, die Situation innerhalb der verbliebenen Schwarzstorch-Lebensräume in M-V mittels eines Forschungsprojektes intensiv zu analysieren. Spezielle Untersuchungen wurden vorgenommen, um praktikable Maßnahmen zur Stabilisierung und Verbesserung der Lebensraumsituation des Schwarzstorchs in M-V zu initiieren. In einem ersten Projektabschnitt wurde zunächst der aktuelle Zustand der Brut- und Nahrungsplätze im nähren Umkreis der Brutreviere untersucht. Dazu wurden vier spezielle Untersuchungsebenen festgelegt (Radius vom Nest bis 3 km). Neben einer umfassenden Analyse der Brut- und Nahrungsareale wurden ferner aktuelle anthropogene Störungen ausgewertet (am Brutplatz, z. B. Umsetzung gesetzlicher Nestschutz, Waldentwässerung, Windkraft). Für die jeweiligen Brutplätze sind dann zunächst die Hauptdefizite und Vorschläge für Schutzmaßnahmen erarbeitet worden. Es hat sich deutlich gezeigt, dass ein wesentliches Problem in den begrenzt verfügbaren Nahrungsquellen und deren Zustand liegt. Daher erfolgten im zweiten Projektabschnitt 2013 tiefgründige Analysen zum ökologischen Zustand der essentiellen Nahrungshabitate des Schwarzstorches. Sämtliche Defizite sind beispielgebend für ein Monitoringgebiet in Südwestmecklenburg (einem Kernbereich der Population) herausgearbeitet worden. Alle Ergebnisse des Projektes mündeten in konkrete Lösungs- und Maßnahmenvorschläge für die jeweiligen Brutplätze. Sie sind daher wichtige Instrumente für den praktischen Nestschutz und zugleich für die essentiellen Nahrungshabitate. Mit Hilfe der Ergebnisse dieses Forschungsprojektes können zielgerichtet die vorliegenden Maßnahmenvorschläge innerhalb der Schwarzstorchlebensräume bei entsprechender Bereitschaft und Motivation der Landnutzer umgesetzt werden. Entsprechende Fördergelder für die praktische Realisierung beschleunigen eine Umsetzung.
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