TY  - JOUR
A1  - Schmidt, Martin
A1  - Lischeid, Gunnar
A1  - Nendel, Claas
T1  - Microclimate and matter dynamics in transition zones of forest to arable land
JF  - Agricultural and forest meteorology
N2  - Human-driven fragmentation of landscapes leads to the formation of transition zones between ecosystems that are characterised by fluxes of matter, energy and information. These transition zones may offer rather inhospitable habitats that could jeopardise biodiversity. On the other hand, transition zones are also reported to be hotspots for biodiversity and even evolutionary processes. The general mechanisms and influence of processes in transition zones are poorly understood. Although heterogeneity and diversity of land use of fragments and the transition zones between them play an important role, most studies only refer to forested transition zones. Often, only an extrapolation of measurements in the different fragments themselves is reported to determine gradients in transition zones. This paper contributes to a quantitative understanding of agricultural landscapes beyond individual ecotopes, and towards connected ecosystem mosaics that may be beneficial for the provision of ecosystem services.
KW  - Edge effects
KW  - Environmental gradients
KW  - Fragmentation
KW  - Ecosystem services
KW  - Carbon
KW  - Nitrogen
Y1  - 2019
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agrformet.2019.01.001
SN  - 0168-1923
SN  - 1873-2240
VL  - 268
SP  - 1
EP  - 10
PB  - Elsevier
CY  - Amsterdam
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Schmidt, Martin
A1  - Nendel, Claas
A1  - Funk, Roger
A1  - Mitchell, Matthew G. E.
A1  - Lischeid, Gunnar
T1  - Modeling Yields Response to Shading in the Field-to-Forest Transition Zones in Heterogeneous Landscapes
JF  - Agriculture
N2  - In crop modeling and yield predictions, the heterogeneity of agricultural landscapes is usually not accounted for. This heterogeneity often arises from landscape elements like forests, hedges, or single trees and shrubs that cast shadows. Shading from forested areas or shrubs has effects on transpiration, temperature, and soil moisture, all of which affect the crop yield in the adjacent arable land. Transitional gradients of solar irradiance can be described as a function of the distance to the zero line (edge), the cardinal direction, and the height of trees. The magnitude of yield reduction in transition zones is highly influenced by solar irradiance-a factor that is not yet implemented in crop growth models on a landscape level. We present a spatially explicit model for shading caused by forested areas, in agricultural landscapes. With increasing distance to forest, solar irradiance and yield increase. Our model predicts that the shading effect from the forested areas occurs up to 15 m from the forest edge, for the simulated wheat yields, and up to 30 m, for simulated maize. Moreover, we estimated the spatial extent of transition zones, to calculate the regional yield reduction caused by shading of the forest edges, which amounted to 5% to 8% in an exemplary region.
KW  - edge effect
KW  - transition zone
KW  - solar irradiance
KW  - crop growth
KW  - maize
KW  - wheat
Y1  - 2019
U6  - https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture9010006
SN  - 2077-0472
VL  - 9
IS  - 1
PB  - MDPI
CY  - Basel
ER  -