Land use and precipitation are important drivers for shaping community diversity, and ecosystem function in grasslands worldwide, and are two of the main global change drivers. The main aim of this project is to improve our capability of predicting consequences of global change for grasslands through assessing the combined effects of nutrients and drought at the trait and whole plant performance level and integrating them with drought effects on community composition and productivity across land-use gradients in grasslands.
A project within the Biodiversity Exploratories, DFG Priority Programme 1374
[Details]Under conditions of climate change, water availability in temperate grasslands is projected to decrease, and extreme events – including droughts - to increase. A thorough understanding of species responses to drought, of the traits governing drought responses, and how they affect community assembly and ecosystem function is necessary for projections of consequences of climate change for the future. In this study, we comparatively assess whole-plant drought tolerance of 38 grassland species, and identify the key traits for differential drought responses, through directly linking physiological, anatomical and morphological traits that influence species water relations to the species’ drought tolerance.
A project within the Biodiversity Exploratories, DFG Priority Programme 1374.
[Details]The Caatinga Biome in Northeastern Brasil is severely threatened by climate change and chronic anthropogenic disturbance. In this project, we examine how key organisms respond to chronic anthropogenic disturbance and agricultural land use, the effect of disturbance-induced reactions of key organisms on the regeneration dynamic of the Caatinga, and the consequences for ecosystem function and services.
[Details]The goal of this German-Brazilian research cooperation is to understand how anthropogenic disturbance (including decreases of rainfall through Global Change) influence biological communities and ecological interactions. Toward this aim, we examine three key organism groups: plants, soil crusts, and leaf-cutting ants and their interactions along gradients of anthropogenic disturbance and rainfall in the Caatinga, one of the most threatened biomes of South America.
[Details]BayCEER Colloquium: |
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Th. 2023-10-19 Global change mycology: Towards understanding the role of climate for fruit body-forming fungal communities |
Dialog: |
Fr. 2023-10-06 Forum Zukunftswald: Biotope im Wald für seltene und bedrohte Arten |
Ecological-Botanical Garden: |
Su. 2023-10-01 now Führung | "Wilde Früchtchen: Essbares für Mensch und Tier" |
Su. 2023-10-15 Führung | "Den ÖBG kennenlernen: Allgemeine Gartenführung" |
Vortragsreihe "Die dünne Haut der Erde": |
We. 2023-10-11 Mikroorganismen im Boden – Abbau von Mikroplastik und anderen Bodenverschmutzungen |