Professorship for Ecosystem Functioning and Services

Organisational unit: Professoship

Organisation profile

oing for multifunctionality as a path to sustainability:

The two main foci of the ecosystem functioning and services lab in­vol­ve ac­qui­ring a bet­ter un­der­stan­ding and fos­te­ring of ex­ten­si­ve­ly ma­na­ged bio­di­ver­se sys­tems and ma­king in­ten­si­ve­ly ma­na­ged sys­tems more sustainable.

Bio­di­ver­si­ty is a key com­po­nent of a func­tio­n­ing, sustainable pla­net, yet it is being lost at a rate ne­ver seen be­fo­re in the his­to­ry of the earth in the cur­rent 6th mass extinc­tion event. One of the main cau­ses of bio­di­ver­si­ty loss world­wi­de is land use chan­ge/ ha­bi­tat loss com­bi­ned with ex­cess nut­ri­ent in­put into our eco­sys­tems, as well as cli­ma­te chan­ge and in­va­si­ve spe­cies. Hence, key ques­ti­ons of our time on a crow­ded pla­net are:

  • How can we counter current biodiversity loss, whilst also allowing for food security and adequate livelihoods and social interactions?
  • What role can the restoration of biodiversity play in counteracting biodiversity loss, whilst helping to mitigate climate change and providing new forms of social and economic livelihood?

Pos­si­ble so­lu­ti­ons in­clu­de a com­bi­ned land sharing and land spa­ring ap­proach to land use, fo­cus­sing on both ex­ten­si­ve land use as well as a sustainable in­ten­si­fi­ca­ti­on of crop­ping sys­tems. Both bio­di­ver­si­ty and as­sem­bly re­se­arch in eco­lo­gy are of key re­le­van­ce to ad­dres­sing such ques­ti­ons, sin­ce in land sharing (e.g. na­tu­re-fri­end­ly far­ming) we need to main­tain or res­to­re high di­ver­si­ty whilst en­su­ring ade­qua­te agri­cul­tu­ral yield, and know­ledge from bio­tic in­ter­ac­tion re­se­arch will be es­sen­ti­al for im­pro­ving the ef­fi­ci­en­cy of in­ten­si­ve agri­cul­tu­re, as well as pro­vi­ding pos­si­ble le­ver­age in en­ab­ling both re­a­sonable yiel­ds as well as bio­di­ver­si­ty.

Main research areas

The two main foci of the ecosystem functioning and services lab in­vol­ve ac­qui­ring a bet­ter un­der­stan­ding and fos­te­ring of ex­ten­si­ve­ly ma­na­ged bio­di­ver­se sys­tems and ma­king in­ten­si­ve­ly ma­na­ged sys­tems more sustainable:  

  1. Extensive land use, land sharing and ecological restoration: testing the potential role of priority effects during assembly.
  2. Sustainable intensification: Improving the efficiency of nutrient-use in cropping systems by using functional diversity approaches.

 

Research topics

  • Testing priority effects (order of arrival of plant species and functional groups) in assembly as a potential tool for the restoration of biodiverse ecological communities.
  • Investigating the importance of weather conditions on the creation and persistence of priority effects during assembly of grassland plant communities. POEM project
  • Elucidating the mechanisms leading to priority effects during assembly.  POEM project
  • The role of nitrogen facilitation in ecosystem functioning and assembly – with particular focus on legume-non legume interactions
  • Using positive interactions (both between plants of different functional groups and in cropping systems) for the sustainable transformation of cropping and bioenergy systems. INPLAMINT projekt
  • Improving the integration and transfer of knowledge between ecology and policy at the science-policy interface.
  • Linking ecological know-how and knowledge based on the above topics with social and governance perspectives to help transform systems towards sustainability (including land sharing and land sparing).

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Researchers

  1. Evin Dalkilic

Publications

  1. Geschlechtsneutralität
  2. The Right to Liberty and Security, Public Health and Disease Control
  3. The Effect of Dislike on Accuracy and Bias in Person Perception
  4. Contributing to sustainable development pathways in the South Pacific through transdisciplinary research
  5. Planning nature-based solutions: Principles, steps, and insights
  6. Resisting foundations
  7. A Glance at the World
  8. Schreiben in der Fremdsprache lehren und lernen
  9. How to measure the substantive representation of traditionally excluded groups in comparative research
  10. De-hierarchization, trans-linearity and intersubjective participation in ethnographic research through interactive media representations: www.laviedurail.net
  11. Knowledge Production in Consulting Teams
  12. Mental fatigue and the control of cognitive processes
  13. Effect of laser peen forming process parameters on bending and surface quality of Ti-6Al-4V sheets
  14. Mindfulness-based interventions in the workplace
  15. Protocol
  16. Explorations in regional variation
  17. Optimal grazing management rules in semi-arid rangelands with uncertain rainfall
  18. Prior entry explains order reversals in the attentional blink
  19. Common Ground and Development
  20. Developing Carbon Accounting: Between driving Carbon Reductions and Complying with a Carbon Reporting Standard
  21. The continued relevance of compromissory clauses as a source of ICJ jurisdiction
  22. Gremlin fusion products with immunoglobulin Fc domains and their use as antiinflammatories or immunomodulators
  23. What Is Popular Art?
  24. unplugged
  25. Improving the surface quality of AlMgSi1 alloy with the selection of the appropriate vibration grinding stones
  26. Are Si–C bonds formed in the environment and/or in technical microbiological systems?
  27. Decolonizing RFMOs