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Projekte
Laufende Projekte
DFG Research Unit 5064 | Synthesis – Kilimanjaro as an integrated social-ecological system | Phase 2
Project within the second phase of the DFG research unit 5064 The role of nature for human well-being in the Kilimanjaro Social-Ecological System (Kili-SES).
Applicants: Dirk Zeuss, Markus Fischer, Berta Martín-López, Susann Adloff, Katrin Böhning-Gaese
Participating partner: Neema Robert Kinabo, Angela Nyaki
Funding: 2025-2029, German Research Foundation (DFG)
Project staff: Netra Bhandari
Web: https://kili-ses.de/In the synthesis project we will integrate the information gained in other projects of the research unit to address to assess the relationship between multiple components of biodiversity, NCP, multiple constituents of human well-being and major social actor groups and their systems of governance. The arena of analysis of the synthesis project is the southern slope of Kilimanjaro. To generate system knowledge, we combine NCP data originating from the 65 study plots with data from household surveys and workshops covering the four social actor groups and conduct a Public Particpatory GIS for 14 villages. To generate target knowledge, we lay out data-driven scenarios as well as participatory Nature Futures for the Kilimanjaro SES. To generate transformation knowledge, we identify leverage points for transformation and link them to pathways for sustainable and just Nature Futures.
DFG project | Vegetation-microclimate feedbacks (VEMIE)
DFG project Vegetation-microclimate feedbacks under forest disturbance, management, and climate change in the Eastern Afromontane Biodiversity Hotspot (VEMIE).
Applicant: Temesgen Abera, PI
Project Co-PI: Dirk Zeuss
Participating partners: Binyam Tesfaw Hailu, Zenebe Mekonnen, Pantaleo Munishi, Chemuku Wekesa, Jonas Lembrecht
Participating collaborators: Jörg Bendix, Andreas Hemp, Kristoffer Hylander, Eduardo Maeda, Janne Heiskanen, Petri Pellikka, Aida Cuni-Sanchez, and Weyessa Garedew
Funding: 2025-2028, German Research Foundation (DFG)
Project staff: Temesgen AberaClarifying the vegetation-microclimate feedbacks under land use and climate change is central to the conservation and sustainability of biodiversity and ecosystem services. The VEMIE project aims to elucidate vegetation-microclimate feedbacks under forest disturbance, management, and climate change in the Eastern Afromontane Biodiversity Hotspot (EABH) in Africa. The project will use innovative methods that make use of in situ measurements from new installations of microclimate sensors in EABH, existing global networks of microclimate measurements, 3D forest canopy structure from airborne and spaceborne lidar, analysis-ready satellite time series, and advanced machine learning, among others. While the project results will provide insights on microclimate management for the sustainability of biodiversity and ecosystem services, the methodology can be applied to other montane biodiversity hotspots in tropical regions.
DFG project | Virtual 3D models as synthetic training (3DTRAB)
DFG project Virtual 3D models as synthetic training data for automated image analysis of insect biodiversity surveys (3DTRAB).
Applicants: Lea Heidrich, Michael Heethoff, Bernd Freisleben, Markus Mühling, Ivalyo Kostadinov
Participating partners: Nico Blüthgen, Jörg Müller, Wolfgang Weisser, Alexander Sczyrba
Project host: Dirk Zeuss
Funding: 2025-2028, German Research Foundation (DFG)
Project staff: Kalyan Kumar ManuriThe diversity of insects, both in terms of species and individual numbers, has decreased in recent decades, in some cases significantly. Current monitoring programs have to limit the spatial and temporal coverage and resolution, as the determination of bulk samples is too labor-intensive while the number of available taxonomists continues to decrease. Artificial intelligence (AI), especially deep learning, is increasingly used for insect identification, but requires large amounts of annotated training data. In this project, we will develop a user-friendly hardware and software system for the automatic detection and recognition of insects in order to automate the determination of bulk samples as far as possible. We will generate synthetic training data from 3D models, a workflow and image acquisition system to process collection samples as efficiently as possible and an AI model for the detection and identification of insects in collection samples. In addition, a web-based software system for user-friendly application and management of AI models for automated image analysis of insect biodiversity surveys will be developed.
Tree-M | Cross-section project D: Data management platform
Project within the LOEWE priority program Tree-M: Mechanisms of resilience and environmental impact of the tree leaf microbiome.
Applicants: Alexander Goesmann, Thomas Nauss, Dirk Zeuss
Participating partner: Kristian Peters
Funding: 2022-2026, Landes-Offensive zur Entwicklung Wissenschaftlich-ökonomischer Exzellenz (LOEWE)
Project staff: Lisa Bald
Web: https://www.uni-marburg.de/en/fb17/tree-mIn the data management platform subproject, we focus on the processing, integration, and standardization of experimental data and metadata collected across multiple spatial and temporal scales. To achieve this, we will consolidate the extensive datasets generated within the Tree-M project into a shared research data management platform. This platform will be designed in accordance with the FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable) principles, ensuring secure data storage and systematic management of both data and metadata.
DFG research unit 5571 | Phytoakmeter
Project within the DFG research unit 5571 Using clonal oak phytometers to unravel acclimation and adaptation mechanisms of long-lived forest tree holobionts to ecological variations and climate change (Phytoakmeter).
Applicants: Martin Goßner, Michael Eisenring, Dirk Zeuss
Participating partners: Lea Heidrich, Thomas Nauss
Funding: 2023-2027, German Research Foundation (DFG)
Project staff: Noah Just
Web: https://www.uni-marburg.de/en/fb17/phytoakmeterIn subproject 6 "links between environment, plant phenology and plant-herbivore interactions" we develop a monitoring platform, which captures time series image data of clonal oak leaves at high temporal resolution and analyses them automatically. Data are collected on a European transect, which encompasses oaks planted at 12 sites spanning from southern France to southern Finland, as well as a canopy exposition experiment, in which oak saplings are grown under varying microclimatic conditions. We use AI computer vision methods to automatically identify regions of interest in a given image and subsequently quantify leaf growth and leaf herbivore damage. This will enable near-real-time tracking of patterns in above ground endogenous rhythmic growth or leaf herbivory over time as well as across climatic and microclimatic gradients.
Alexander von Humboldt postdoctoral project | Tropical mountain microclimate buffering and water supply
Project within the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation postdoctoral research fund “Tropical mountain forest ecosystem service dynamics: impacts of land use and climate change on temporal trajectories of microclimate buffering and water supply” (MOFESD).
Applicant: Temesgen Abera
Project host and supervisor: Dirk Zeuss
Collaborators: Janne Heiskanen, Eduardo Eiji Maeda, Mohammed Ahmed Muhammed, Netra Bhandari, Ville Vakkari, Binyam Tesfaw Hailu, Petri K. E. Pellikka, Andreas Hemp, and Pieter G. van Zyl
Funding: 2023-2025, Alexander von Humboldt Stiftung (AvH)
Project staff: Temesgen AberaTropical mountain forest ecosystems (TMFE) are under growing pressure from agricultural expansion and global warming. Yet whether these changes will alter the capacity of TMFE to provide ecosystems services remains uncertain. MOFESD project investigates the impact of recent deforestation on macroclimate warming, water availability, and microclimate buffering in Africa. The project uses in situ meteorological and cloud base height measurements, satellite observations, airborne laser scanning, and microclimate modelling. The results of this research will provide improved approach in monitoring the dynamics of tropical mountain forest ecosystems and benefit informed decision making in sustainable use and management of ecosystem services as well as supports ecosystem restoration initiatives in Africa.
Alexander von Humboldt postdoctoral project | Biogenic Volatile Organic Compounds in Germany under Global Changes Using Multi-Sensor Remote Sensing and Modelling
Project within the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation postdoctoral research fund "Investigation of Biogenic Volatile Organic Compounds in Germany under Global Changes Using Multi-Sensor Remote Sensing and Modelling".
Applicant: Ayoub Moradi
Project host and supervisor: Dirk Zeuss
Funding: 2023-2025, Alexander von Humboldt Stiftung (AvH)
Project staff: Ayoub MoradiThis project investigates the dynamics of biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOCs) emissions of vegetation covers in Germany under climate and land-use change, using multi-sensor remote sensing and modeling. BVOCs, primarily emitted by vegetation, strongly influence air quality, tropospheric ozone formation, and climate through their roles in aerosol and secondary organic aerosol production. Germany’s forests, dominated by Norway spruce, represent a major European BVOC source; however, large uncertainties remain due to spatial, temporal, and environmental variability in emissions. This research will integrate satellite observations through vegetation indices, and modeling to improve emission estimates, evaluate long-term trends over recent decades, and quantify the contributions of climate change and anthropogenic drivers. By linking vegetation dynamics with BVOCs variability, the study aims to refine emission models, assess impacts on air quality and climate feedbacks, and provide a robust basis for predicting future BVOC-climate interactions across Germany and Europe.
EU H2020 FORGENIUS | UAV and phenology
Project within the EU Horizon 2020 project FORGENIUS – Improving access to forest genetic resources Information and services for end-users.
Applicants: Katrin Heer, Thomas Nauss, Lars Opgenoorth
Participating partner: Dirk Zeuss
Project staff: Christian Mestre Runge
Funding: 2021-2025, EU Horizon 2020
Web: https://www.forgenius.euFORGENIUS will develop methods and tools to conserve the characteristics and value of forest genetic resources currently linked in 35 European countries through the EUFGIS information system (http://portal.eufgis.eu). FORGENIUS will create novel services for users inside and outside the conservation communities and will significantly increase and improve the amount and quality of data in the European Forest Genetic Resources Information System. The newly developed services of the project will also enable end-users to characterise potential new genetic conservation units. We will quantify and predict the reproductive phenology of trees (beech, pine, poplar) at sites across Europe. Furthermore, we will characterize competition and drought stress using UAV and satellite data in a machine learning framework. Finally, we will contribute to the project’s overall data and sample acquisition.
DFG Research Unit 5064 | Synthesis – Kilimanjaro as an integrated social-ecological system | Phase 1
Project within the forst phase of the DFG research unit 5064 The role of nature for human well-being in the Kilimanjaro Social-Ecological System (Kili-SES).
Applicants: Thomas Nauss, Peter Manning, Markus Fischer
Participating partner: Neema Robert Kinabo, Berta Martín-López, Fortunata Msoffe, Dirk Zeuss
Funding: 2020-2024, German Research Foundation (DFG)
Project staff: Netra Bhandari
Web: https://kili-ses.senckenberg.deIn the synthesis project we will integrate the information gained in other projects of the research unit to address synergies and trade-offs between components of biodiversity, Nature’s contributions to people (NCP) and multiple constituents of well-being of major stakeholders, to address the natural and social drivers of these relations at the landscape-scale, and to identify opportunities for future decision-making. The arena of analysis of the synthesis project is the southern slope of Kilimanjaro. For some questions we will use comparative approaches between the 65 study plots and for other questions between the different stakeholder groups. Moreover, we will up-scale the supply of NCP and their drivers, as well as the demand, elicited values and well-being of stakeholder groups across the mountain. These different components will then be quantitatively combined by extending our approach to quantifying ecosystem-service multifunctionality.
DFG Priority Program 1374 | Instrumentation and remote sensing
Core project of the DFG Priority Program 1374 Exploratories for large-scale and long-term functional biodiversity research.
Applicants: Thomas Nauss, Christoph Kleinn
Participating partner: Dirk Zeuss
Funding: 2014-2023, German Research Foundation (DFG)
Project staff: Falk Hänsel, Stephan Wöllauer
Web: https://www.biodiversity-exploratories.de/The core project "Instrumentation and remote sensing" is responsible for both (i) the provision of systematic and large-scale measurements and recordings of meteorological and pedological parameters in all exploratories and (ii) the provision of remote sensing based, area wide information on the land cover and land use. Similar to the existing instrumentation infrastructure, a central archive of remote sensing products will be set up.
Abgeschlossene Projekte
Remote sensing-based habitat models for bats
Project for modeling the habitats of bats in Rhineland-Palatinate.
Applicants: Jannis Gottwald, Dirk Zeuss
Participating partner: Büro für Faunistik und Landschaftsökologie
Funding: 2022, Landesamt für Umwelt Rheinland-Pfalz
Project staff: Lisa BaldRemote sensing–based habitat models for the barbastelle bat (Barbastella barbastellus; Schreber, 1774), Bechstein’s bat (Myotis bechsteinii; Kuhl, 1818), and the brown long-eared bat (Plecotus auritus; Linnaeus, 1758) in Rhineland-Palatinate. Our contribution to this project includes the processing and analysis of remote sensing data, as well as the modeling of tree species distribution in Rhineland-Palatinate, which serves as input for habitat modeling. In addition, we are developing improved software for habitat modeling and conducting the modeling of the habitat of three bat species itself.
DAAD project | Mountain biodiversity in Pakistan
DAAD project Mountain biodiversity in Pakistan: from understanding to prediction.
Applicants: Christian Hof, Imran Khaliq
Participating partner: Dirk Zeuss
Funding: 2020-2023, German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD)The global loss of biodiversity threatens ecosystems and human well-being, with mountain regions offering unique opportunities to study its drivers, especially in under-studied areas like South and Central Asia. Building on earlier work on species’ abundances and thermal tolerances, this project investigates biodiversity patterns in Pakistan to predict future changes under climate and land-use scenarios. It also strengthens German-Pakistani collaboration, trains young scientists, provides international research opportunities, and contributes to long-term biodiversity monitoring in the region.
BMBF project | AI and Entrepreneurship
BMBF project Honour Degree Program „AI and Entrepreneurship“.
Applicants: Thomas Nauss, Martin Christian Hirsch, Carina Peter, Christoph Reudenbach, Wolfgang Meseth
Participating partner: Dirk Zeuss
Funding: 2020-2022, BMBF
Project staff: Kevin Frac
Web: https://ki-campus.orgThe project is part of the joint Honour Degree Program “AI and Entrepreneurship” within the BMBF pilot initiative AI-Campus. Together, several universities and partners develop a 24 ECTS programme that integrates scientific and entrepreneurial perspectives on AI for students from diverse disciplines. In the pilot phase, subject-specific modules are implemented in medicine, geo-/environmental sciences, and finance. Within this framework, the GeoAI module addresses the integration of geoinformation science with advanced machine learning methods for spatio-temporal prediction in human–environment research. Building on open digital teaching resources and research-based learning, students engage with remote sensing and in-situ data, apply and critically evaluate machine learning approaches for spatial modeling, and design robust validation strategies. Emphasis is placed on handling large, heterogeneous datasets, developing reproducible workflows, and using collaborative digital platforms for project management and software development. Through team-based projects, students gain hands-on experience in GeoAI applications while exploring pathways for translating scientific insights into innovative, societally relevant solutions.
Digital-supported teaching and learning in Hesse | Base R
Project funded by the Hessian initiative “Digital-supported teaching and learning in Hesse” on “Pure Base R: no statistics, no fancy packages, just plain R”.
Applicants: Dirk Zeuss
Participating partner: Severin Irl
Funding: 2020, Federal State of Hesse
Web: https://geomoer.github.io/moer-base-rThe project develops an open, English-language teaching resource for R programming that addresses the lack of consistent and thorough R training across natural science curricula. Drawing on over a decade of teaching experience, it provides a flexible, modular product usable in online, blended, or classroom settings, designed to ensure both foundational programming skills and applicability to diverse disciplines. The resource will be implemented in the Master’s programmes in Physical Geography in Marburg and Frankfurt and made broadly accessible via the digLL platform.
Nature 4.0 | Roost selection and hunting activity of bats
Project within the LOEWE priority program Natur 4.0 - Sensing Biodiversity.
Applicants: Thomas Nauss
Participating partner: Simon & Widdig GbR
Project staff: Jannis Gottwald
Funding: 2019-2022, LOEWE
Web: https://uni-marburg.de/natur40As a highly mobile species group, forest-dwelling bats depend on a network of functional habitat features. Forest structures create shelter and provide hunting grounds whose prey density depends on hunting frequency and phenology. Weather conditions also lead to changes in roosts. Bats as a group relevant to nature conservation and as a proxy for habitat relationships justify consideration in Nature 4.0.
Nature 4.0 | Remote sensing and spatial prediction
Project within the LOEWE priority program Natur 4.0 - Sensing Biodiversity.
Applicants: Thomas Nauss, Jörg Bendix, Hanna Meyer, Chris Reudenbach
Project staff: Nicolas Fries
Funding: 2019-2022, LOEWE
Web: https://uni-marburg.de/natur40In order to provide consistent, spatio-temporal data sets, the irregularly available sensor data in Nature 4.0 must be linked with area-wide, remotely sensed geodata sets. The derivation of ecosystem information from the heterogeneous remote sensing data requires the use of powerful machine learning methods. The monitoring of flying insects and birds also requires the inclusion of radar and acoustic information. However, radar methods for mobile insect detection in particular are still in their infancy and need to be further developed on the basis of miniaturised sensors.
Nature 4.0 | Nature 4.0 Lab
Core project of the LOEWE priority program Natur 4.0 - Sensing Biodiversity.
Applicants: Thomas Nauss, Jörg Bendix, Bernd Freisleben, Nina Farwig, Chris Reudenbach, Lars Opgenoorth
Project staff: Nicolas Fries
Funding: 2019-2022, LOEWE
Web: https://uni-marburg.de/natur40The objective of Nature 4.0 is the development of a prototype of Natur 4.0, a modular environmental monitoring system for the high-resolution observation of conservation-relevant species, habitats and processes. Nature 4.0 is based on the combination of nature conservation expert surveys and networked remote sensing and environmental sensors, which are attached to remote-controlled aircrafts, rover robots and animals and also used within educational science projects. Together with powerful data integration and data analysis methods, Nature 4.0 enables the differentiated and effective observation of landscape. The recorded time series also serve to develop early warning indicators. Nature 4.0 is thus breaking new ground in the field of comprehensive environmental monitoring. It condenses the in-situ investigations of experts and uses non-regular data collection with mobile platforms to model nature conservation information in the form of regular, small-scale differentiated raster maps.
DFG Research Unit 2358 | Central scientific services
Core project of the DFG research unit 2358 The Mountain Exile Hypothesis: How humans benefited from and re-shaped African high altitude ecosystems during Quaternary climate changes.
Applicants: Thomas Nauss, Georg Miehe, Lars Opgenoorth
Participating partner: Binyam Tesfaw Hailu
Funding: 2016-2023, German Research Foundation (DFG)
Project staff: Luise Wraase, Mohammed Ahmed Muhammed
Web: https://www.uni-marburg.de/en/fb19/dfg2358The major tasks of this core project cover (i) the management of the overall data storage and exchange which will also ensure a sustainable usability of the collected data sets after the project phase and the (ii) promotion of both advanced within project analysis and across-project synthesis through the compilation of higher-level comprehensive data sets and the development and implementation of analysis workflows. In addition, the project will coordinate the coring field activities and related laboratory analysis. Guided by scientific rationality, the labor and financial resources will be used to efficiently combine existing and new, offline and online solutions in order to get things done and to ensure a sustainable contribution to the present landscape of DFG-funded data service projects.
DFG Research Unit 2358 | Coordination
Core project of the DFG research unit 2358 The Mountain Exile Hypothesis: How humans benefited from and re-shaped African high altitude ecosystems during Quaternary climate changes.
Applicants: Georg Miehe, Thomas Nauss, Lars Opgenoorth
Participating partner: Sebsebe Demissew, Zerihun Woldu
Funding: 2016-2023, German Research Foundation (DFG)
Project staff: Katinka Thielsen, Awol Asefa
Web: https://www.uni-marburg.de/en/fb19/dfg2358Within our Research Unit - The Mountain Exile Hypothesis – we are working on a new perception of the Alpine Anthropocene. With our interdisciplinary approach for the reconstruction of Quaternary abiotic, biotic and cultural changes in the African model highland environments of southern Ethiopia we tackle three overarching questions of environmental research.
BMBF ProPraxis | Teacher student education from a Geographical science perspective
Project within the BMBF program ProPraxis Teacher education at Marburg - professional, practical, right.
Applicants: Thomas Nauss, Carina Peter and many others from different subjects
Funding: 2015-2018, German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF)
Project staff: Kerstin Anthes
Web: https://www.uni-marburg.de/de/zfl/projekte/propraxis
Geography lessons must be connected with scientific knowledge and the justified professional perspective on subjects of instruction and not with common knowledge. We postulate that the knowledge of subject-specific development modes can assist student teachers in the analysis of scientific contents which in turn form the basis for the modelling of teaching subjects which reflect the root of the scientific problem. As part of the BMBF- funded project "Qualitätsoffensive Lehrerbildung" the aim is to obtain empirical data and information about how development modes can help to structure and analyse subject contents and how formal modelling approaches can translate these subject contents into subjects of instruction. The results shall contribute to the teacher professionalization at universities.BMBF IDESSA | Satellite-based quasi-continuous monitoring of ecosystem dynamics in South African savannas
Project within the BMBF SPACES project Integrative decision support system for sustainable rangeland management in southern African savannas (IDESSA).
Applicants: Thomas Nauss
Participating partner: Kerstin Wiegand, Katrin M. Meyer (Georg-August-Universität Göttingen), Bernhard Seeger (Philipps-Universität Marburg), David Ward (University of KwaZulu-Natal), Klaus Kellner (North-West University)
Funding: 2014-2017, German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF)
Project staff: Hanna Meyer, Felix Stäps
Web: idessa.orgThe project establishes a high-resolution, satellite-based monitoring system for past and present atmospheric (precipitation and temperature) and land-cover parameters (woody density), which are relevant for assessing the status of savanna rangelands in the context of IDESSA. The monitoring system will be based on an eco-climatological approach that links operational, multi-source remote-sensing data with in-situ observations using machine learning approaches. The developed models operationally generate time series of climate and woody densities across the study area, which will be implemented into the integrative database and will serve the rangeland model as a baseline for short-term scenario computations.
DAAD Cape Verde | Biodiversity information system FOGO (Cape Verde)
Project within the DAAD bundle on establishing a biodiversity information system and corresponding school curricular for FOGO.
Applicants: Detlef Kanwischer, Thomas Naus
Participating partner: Corrine Almeida, Maria Estrela
Funding: 2014-2017, German Research Foundation (DFG)
Project staff: David Burger
Web: bisfogo.environmentalinformatics-marburg.de
BIS-Fogo encompasses two major domains: (i) an integrative biodiversity data and analysis system for which biodiversity data is collected in the field and by remote sensing and the data sets are included in an integrative and collaborative data base and analysis system as a one stop information recourse for the general public and decision makers and (ii) a learning resource system for which the information system component is complemented by educational resources providing self-learning modules from elementary to university level for selected topics on biodiversity, digital geomedia and citizenship.DFG Research Unit 1246 | Ecological climatology and remote sensing at Mt. Kilimanjaro
Project within the DFG research unit 1246 Kilimanjaro ecosystems under global change.
Applicants: Thomas Nauss, Tim Appelhans
Participating partner: Jörg Bendix, Leendert A. (Sampurno) Bruijnzeel, Andreas Hemp, Mark Mulligan, Bernhard Seeger
Funding: 2013-2016, German Research Foundation (DFG)
Project staff: Florian Detsch, Insa Otte, Ephraim Mwangomo
Web: kilimanjaro.biozentrum.uni-wuerzburg.de
With respect to the importance of the atmospheric water budget for the Kilimanjaro ecosystem and the mutual potential feedbacks between climate and ecosystem change, this project focuses on the remote sensing supported analysis of the state and change of ecoclimatological dynamics as a function of ecosystem disturbances along the elevation gradient from the savannah to the Helichrysum zone. The main objectives encompass (i) the measurement and analysis of baseline meteorological information for the characterization of the research plots and the local climate dynamics, (ii) the quantification and analysis of the atmospheric water budget with a special focus on rainfall, fog and evapotranspiration dynamics along the elevation and disturbance gradients and (iii) the remote sensing based prediction of ecosystem properties and biodiversity patterns using high resolution optical satellite data and aerial LIDAR information.DFG Research Unit 1246 | Central database and data synthesis of the Kilimanjaro Research Unit
Project within the DFG research unit 1246 Kilimanjaro ecosystems under global change.
Applicants: Ingolf Steffan-Dewenter, Thomas Nauss
Participating partner: Andreas Hemp, Markus Fischer, Thomas Nauss, Katrin Böhning-Gaese
Funding: 2013-2016, German Research Foundation (DFG)
Project staff: Jie Zhang, Marcell Peters
Web: kilimanjaro.biozentrum.uni-wuerzburg.de
Data documentation, storage in a central database, continuous information exchange, scientific coordination and interdisciplinary data synthesis are essential components for the success and synergistic value of collaborative projects. The central project Z2 aims at implementing a central database, at establishing a web-based communication platform, at coordinating the scientific implementation of the general study design and at actively fostering the integrative analysis and publication of data to reach the overall goals of the Research Unit. In accordance with current DFG regulations, data and metadata stored in the Ecological Metadata Language (EML) will ensure long-term public accessibility of results. Advantages of existing database systems and communication platforms will be combined and tailored to fit the requirements of the proposed research unit.DFG | Biodiversity transect studies of Mt. Victoria (Natma Taung national park, Myanmar)
Project within the DFG bundle Island biogeography of alpine biota in the southeast Himalayan biodiversity hotspot.
Applicants: Jürgen Kluge, Georg Miehe, Thomas Nauss
Participating partner: U Aye Myint Maung (Director General, Forest Department, Ministry of Environmental Conservation and Forestry), Win Naing Thaw (Director, Nature and Wildlife Conservation Division, Ministry of Environmental Conservation and Forestry)
Funding: 2012-2016, German Research Foundation (DFG)
Project staff: Phyo Kay Kine
Mt. Victoria is presumably an Ice Age refuge and one of the southermost isolated Holarctic mountain islands ranging from 400 to 3,050 m asl. The study area is located within the Natma Taung national park, Chin state, Myanmar. Presenting a little known niche for Himalayan plants, the hotspot is one of the most promising research sites for Quaternary Biogeography to unveil the evolution of the archipelago of Holarctic alpine biota in the Palaeotropic southeast Asian lowland forest. The project is a kick-off initiative for a long-term research program in the mountain archipelago of alpine biota in the southeast Himalayan periphery of Myanmar. The project intends to provide the foundations for future mountain ecology and functional biodiversity research in the only biodiversity hotspot of the Holarctic floristic domain.DFG Priority Program 1374 | Instrumentation
Core project of the DFG priority program 1374 Exploratories for large-scale and long-term functional biodiversity research.
PIs: Thomas Nauss, Markus Fischer
Participating partner: n/a
Funding: 2011-2014, German Research Foundation (DFG)
Project staff: Falk Hänsel, Insa Otte
Web: biodiversity-exploratories.de
The project maintains 300 climate stations distributed across the three biodiversity exploratories (biosphere reserve Schorfheide-Chorin, national park Hainich, biosphere reserve Schwäbische Alb, all Germany) and provides analyzed climate information for the project.DFG Research Unit 816 | Impacts of environmental change on climate and ecosystem in southern Ecuador
Project within DFG research unit 816 Biodiversity and sustainable management of a megadiverse mountain ecosystem in south Ecuador.
PIs: Jörg Bendix, Thomas Nauss
Participating partner: n/a
Funding: 2010-2014, German Research Foundation (DFG)
Project staff: Rütger Rollenbeck, Jens Stohl
Web: tropicalmountainforest.org
The main aim of the proposal at hand is (i) to unveil the impacts of climate and land use change on the regional climate of the ecosystem platform, (ii) to examine effects of climate change on biodiversity for selected organismic groups by testing two different approaches, (iii) to investigate atmospheric nutrient deposition from remote sources in the framework of the NUMEX experiment as well as its future development under environmental change, and (iv) to support the research unit by providing data on vegetation activity based on remotely sensed data.DFG Research Unit 816 | Data warehouse
Core project of the DFG research unit 816 Biodiversity and sustainable management of a megadiverse mountain ecosystem in south Ecuador.
PIs: Jörg Bendix, Thomas Nauss
Participating partner: n/a
Funding: 2010-2014, German Research Foundation (DFG)
Project staff: Thomas Lotz
Web: tropicalmountainforest.org
The overall objective of the proposal is the continuous provision of central data services to the DFG research unit 816. Based on our conceptual design and technical implementation of the data warehouse of the research unit (FOR816dw), which is already operational since the very beginning of phase one, further enhancements especially related to the powerful web-interfaces for data upload, query, download and visualization have been incorporated during the second phase. The FOR816dw system ensures that administrative and scientific datasets and corresponding meta-information are safely stored and long-term accessible at a single location. It also forms the centre of the overall integration concept of the research unit. Beside this computer-science services, the subproject acts as main help desk for all other subprojects.DFG Research Unit 1246 | Climate dynamics of the Kilimanjaro region
Project of the DFG research unit 1246 Kilimanjaro ecosystems under global change.
Applicants: Thomas Nauss, Jörg Bendix
Participating partner: Andreas Hemp
Funding: 2010-2013, German Research Foundation (DFG)
Project staff: Tim Appelhans, Ephraim Mwangomo
Web: kilimanjaro.biozentrum.uni-wuerzburg.de
With respect to the importance of the atmospheric water budget for the Kilimanjaro ecosystem and the mutual potential feedbacks between climate and ecosystem change, this project focuses on the remote sensing supported analysis of the state and change of ecoclimatological dynamics as a function of ecosystem disturbances along the elevation gradient from the savannah to the Helichrysum zone.DFG Priority Program 1374 | Satellite-supported generation of area wide climate and vegetation datasets
Project within the DFG priority program 1374 Exploratories for large-scale and long-term functional biodiversity research.
PIs: Thomas Nauss, Jörg Bendix
Funding: 2009-2011, German Research Foundation (DFG)
Project staff: Meike Kühnlein
Web: biodiversity-exploratories.de
Satellite supported generation of area wide climate and vegetation datasets for an integrative analysis of ecosystem biodiversity relationships on grassland areas.DFG Research Unit 816 | Central data services and SVAT modelling
Core project of the DFG research unit 816 Biodiversity and sustainable management of a megadiverse mountain ecosystem in south Ecuador.
PIs: Thomas Nauss, Jörg Bendix
Funding: 2007-2011, German Research Foundation (DFG)
Project staff: Dietrich Göttlicher
Web: tropicalmountainforest.org
The overall objective of the proposal is the continuous provision of central data services to the DFG research unit 816. Based on our conceptual design and technical implementation of the research unit"s data warehouse (FOR816dw) which is already operational since the very beginning of phase one, further enhancements especially related to the powerful web-interfaces for data upload, query, download and visualization have been incorporated during the second phase. The FOR816dw system ensures that administrative and scientific datasets and corresponding meta-information are safely stored and long-term accessible at a single location. It also forms the centre of the overall integration concept of the research unit. Beside this computer-science services, the subproject acts as main help desk for all other subprojects.