TY  - JOUR
A1  - Jeltsch, Florian
A1  - Blaum, Niels
A1  - Brose, Ulrich
A1  - Chipperfield, Joseph D.
A1  - Clough, Yann
A1  - Farwig, Nina
A1  - Geissler, Katja
A1  - Graham, Catherine H.
A1  - Grimm, Volker
A1  - Hickler, Thomas
A1  - Huth, Andreas
A1  - May, Felix
A1  - Meyer, Katrin M.
A1  - Pagel, Jörn
A1  - Reineking, Björn
A1  - Rillig, Matthias C.
A1  - Shea, Katriona
A1  - Schurr, Frank Martin
A1  - Schroeder, Boris
A1  - Tielbörger, Katja
A1  - Weiss, Lina
A1  - Wiegand, Kerstin
A1  - Wiegand, Thorsten
A1  - Wirth, Christian
A1  - Zurell, Damaris
T1  - How can we bring together empiricists and modellers in functional biodiversity research?
JF  - Basic and applied ecology : Journal of the Gesellschaft für Ökologie
N2  - Improving our understanding of biodiversity and ecosystem functioning and our capacity to inform ecosystem management requires an integrated framework for functional biodiversity research (FBR). However, adequate integration among empirical approaches (monitoring and experimental) and modelling has rarely been achieved in FBR. We offer an appraisal of the issues involved and chart a course towards enhanced integration. A major element of this path is the joint orientation towards the continuous refinement of a theoretical framework for FBR that links theory testing and generalization with applied research oriented towards the conservation of biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. We further emphasize existing decision-making frameworks as suitable instruments to practically merge these different aims of FBR and bring them into application. This integrated framework requires joint research planning, and should improve communication and stimulate collaboration between modellers and empiricists, thereby overcoming existing reservations and prejudices. The implementation of this integrative research agenda for FBR requires an adaptation in most national and international funding schemes in order to accommodate such joint teams and their more complex structures and data needs.
KW  - Biodiversity theory
KW  - Biodiversity experiments
KW  - Conservation management
KW  - Decision-making
KW  - Ecosystem functions and services
KW  - Forecasting
KW  - Functional traits
KW  - Global change
KW  - Monitoring programmes
KW  - Interdisciplinarity
Y1  - 2013
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.baae.2013.01.001
SN  - 1439-1791
VL  - 14
IS  - 2
SP  - 93
EP  - 101
PB  - Elsevier
CY  - Jena
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Schaldach, Rüdiger
A1  - Wimmer, Florian
A1  - Koch, Jennifer
A1  - Volland, Jan
A1  - Geissler, Katja
A1  - Köchy, Martin
T1  - Model-based analysis of the environmental impacts of grazing management on Eastern Mediterranean ecosystems in Jordan
JF  - Journal of environmental management
N2  - Eastern Mediterranean ecosystems are prone to desertification when under grazing pressure. Therefore, management of grazing intensity plays a crucial role to avoid or to diminish land degradation and to sustain both livelihoods and ecosystem functioning. The dynamic land-use model LandSHIFT was applied to a case study on the country level for Jordan. The impacts of different stocking densities on the environment were assessed through a set of simulation experiments for various combinations of climate input and assumptions about the development of livestock numbers. Indicators used for the analysis include a set of landscape metrics to account for habitat fragmentation and the "Human Appropriation of Net Primary Production" (HANPP), i.e., the difference between the amount of net primary production (NPP) that would be available in a natural ecosystem and the amount of NPP that remains under human management. Additionally, the potential of the economic valuation of ecosystem services, including landscape and grazing services, as an analysis concept was explored. We found that lower management intensities had a positive effect on HANPP but at the same time resulted in a strong increase of grazing area. This effect was even more pronounced under climate change due to a predominantly negative effect on the biomass productivity of grazing land. Also Landscape metrics tend to indicate decreasing habitat fragmentation as a consequence of lower grazing pressure. The valuation of ecosystem services revealed that low grazing intensity can lead to a comparatively higher economic value on the country level average. The results from our study underline the importance of considering grazing management as an important factor to manage dry-land ecosystems in a sustainable manner.
KW  - Sustainable management of Mediterranean grazing land
KW  - Land-use modeling
KW  - Climate change
KW  - Landscape metrics
KW  - Ecosystem service value
KW  - Human Appropriation of Net Primary Production (HANPP)
Y1  - 2013
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2012.11.024
SN  - 0301-4797
SN  - 1095-8630
VL  - 127
IS  - 9
SP  - S84
EP  - S95
PB  - Elsevier
CY  - London
ER  -