@article{WernerWernerWielandetal.2014,
  author    = {Werner, Andrea and Werner, Andreas and Wieland, Ralf and Kersebaum, Kurt-Christian and Mirschel, Wilfried and Ende, Hans-Peter and Wiggering, Hubert},
  title     = {Ex ante assessment of crop rotations focusing on energy crops using a multi-attribute decision-making method},
  series = {Ecological indicators : integrating monitoring, assessment and management},
  volume    = {45},
  journal   = {Ecological indicators : integrating monitoring, assessment and management},
  publisher = {Elsevier},
  address   = {Amsterdam},
  issn      = {1470-160X},
  doi       = {10.1016/j.ecolind.2014.03.013},
  pages     = {110 -- 122},
  year      = {2014},
  abstract  = {The cultivation of plants for use as energy resources is an agricultural and industrial sector with potentially synergistic benefits related to protecting the environment and generating income. Against the background of increasing land-use changes and new agricultural approaches to the production of energy crops, we present a method for identifying future-oriented crop rotations that supports both the economic and environmental components of decision-making strategies with respect to agriculture-related policy decisions (regional mission statements). The conflicting aspects of these objectives can be addressed with the analytic hierarchy process (AHP), a multi-attribute decision-making method that was integrated here. Three models are used to generate simulations of the defined objectives over a planning period of 30 years under the current climate scenario and provide input data for the multi-attribute assessment of several crop rotations. Based on the entire evaluation process, dimensionless global priority vectors are used to indicate how well the crop rotations meet the requirements of the defined mission statement. The method is tested in a municipality in NE Germany. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.},
  language  = {en}
}
@article{PfestorfWeissMuelleretal.2013,
  author    = {Pfestorf, H. and Weiss, L. and M{\"u}ller, J. and Boch, Steffen and Socher, S. A. and Prati, Daniel and Sch{\"o}ning, Ingo and Weisser, W. and Fischer, M. and Jeltsch, Florian},
  title     = {Community mean traits as additional indicators to monitor effects of land-use intensity On grassland plant diversity},
  series = {Perspectives in plant ecology, evolution and systematics},
  volume    = {15},
  journal   = {Perspectives in plant ecology, evolution and systematics},
  number    = {1},
  publisher = {Elsevier},
  address   = {Jena},
  issn      = {1433-8319},
  doi       = {10.1016/j.ppees.2012.10.003},
  pages     = {1 -- 11},
  year      = {2013},
  abstract  = {Semi-natural grasslands, biodiversity hotspots in Central-Europe, suffer from the cessation of traditional land-use. Amount and intensity of these changes challenge current monitoring frameworks typically based on classic indicators such as selected target species or diversity indices. Indicators based on plant functional traits provide an interesting extension since they reflect ecological strategies at individual and ecological processes at community levels. They typically show convergent responses to gradients of land-use intensity over scales and regions, are more directly related to environmental drivers than diversity components themselves and enable detecting directional changes in whole community dynamics. However, probably due to their labor- and cost intensive assessment in the field, they have been rarely applied as indicators so far. Here we suggest overcoming these limitations by calculating indicators with plant traits derived from online accessible databases. Aiming to provide a minimal trait set to monitor effects of land-use intensification on plant diversity we investigated relationships between 12 community mean traits, 2 diversity indices and 6 predictors of land-use intensity within grassland communities of 3 different regions in Germany (part of the German 'Biodiversity Exploratory' research network). By standardization of traits and diversity measures, use of null models and linear mixed models we confirmed (i) strong links between functional community composition and plant diversity, (ii) that traits are closely related to land-use intensity, and (iii) that functional indicators are equally, or even more sensitive to land-use intensity than traditional diversity indices. The deduced trait set consisted of 5 traits, i.e., specific leaf area (SLA), leaf dry matter content (LDMC), seed release height, leaf distribution, and onset of flowering. These database derived traits enable the early detection of changes in community structure indicative for future diversity loss. As an addition to current monitoring measures they allow to better link environmental drivers to processes controlling community dynamics.},
  language  = {en}
}
@article{KoenigUthesSchuleretal.2013,
  author    = {K{\"o}nig, Hannes Jochen and Uthes, Sandra and Schuler, Johannes and Zhen, Lin and Purushothaman, Seema and Suarma, Utia and Sghaier, Mongi and Makokha, Stella and Helming, Katharina and Sieber, Stefan and Chen, Le and Brouwer, Floor and Morris, Jake and Wiggering, Hubert},
  title     = {Regional impact assessment of land use scenarios in developing countries using the FoPIA approach - findings from five case studies},
  series = {Journal of environmental management},
  volume    = {127},
  journal   = {Journal of environmental management},
  publisher = {Elsevier},
  address   = {London},
  issn      = {0301-4797},
  doi       = {10.1016/j.jenvman.2012.10.021},
  pages     = {S56 -- S64},
  year      = {2013},
  abstract  = {The impact of land use changes on sustainable development is of increasing interest in many regions of the world. This study aimed to test the transferability of the Framework for Participatory Impact Assessment (FoPIA), which was originally developed in the European context, to developing countries, in which lack of data often prevents the use of data-driven impact assessment methods. The core aspect of FoPIA is the stakeholder-based assessment of alternative land use scenarios. Scenario impacts on regional sustainability are assessed by using a set of nine regional land use functions (LUFs), which equally cover the economic, social and environmental dimensions of sustainability. The cases analysed in this study include (1) the alternative spatial planning policies around the Merapi volcano and surrounding areas of Yogyakarta City, Indonesia; (2) the large-scale afforestation of agricultural areas to reduce soil erosion in Guyuan, China; (3) the expansion of soil and water conservation measures in the Oum Zessar watershed, Tunisia; (4) the agricultural intensification and the potential for organic agriculture in Bijapur, India; and (5) the land degradation and land conflicts resulting from land division and privatisation in Narok, Kenya. All five regions are characterised by population growth, partially combined with considerable economic development, environmental degradation problems and social conflicts. Implications of the regional scenario impacts as well as methodological aspects are discussed. Overall, FoPIA proved to be a useful tool for diagnosing regional human-environment interactions and for supporting the communication and social learning process among different stakeholder groups.},
  language  = {en}
}