Archive

We have moved

[16.08.2013] In August 2013, we moved to the 5th floor of the new Geosciences building GEO I at Heisenbergstraße 2 (Mendelstraße/Corrensstraße). Please note, that some of our contact details have changed!

Nesting in the muck

[13.05.2013] Why do black larks in the Kazakh steppe move to abandoned cereal fields and why do they build large “pavements” of horse and cattle dung around their nests? Together with colleagues from Kazakhstan, England and the Netherlands, Dr Johannes Kamp (Working Group Ecosystem Research) investigates this question. From field experiments, the scientists hope to gain insight into the evolutionary reasons of using dung in animal nests. Updates from the field are given in the blog.
further information on projects on steppe ecosystems in Kazakhstan

SASCHA at the LAMA status conference 2013

[02.05.2013] Members of several SASCHA subprojects joined the Status Conference 2013 of the BMBF-Research Programme “Sustainable Land Management“ in Berlin from 17th to 19th of April 2013. The event provided an excellent opportunity for scientific exchange with members of other collaborative projects.
The SASCHA-"market stand" was visited not only by many colleages from other projects within the programme but also by Prof. Dr. Klaus Töpfer, Executive Director of the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies (IASS) in Potsdam and former german federal minister, who just returned from a journey to Siberia. He was very interested in the scientific work of SASCHA and emphasised the high relevance of the project for the bilateral relations.
photos of the Status Conference 2013

Successful Symposium for scientists and students

[30.04.2013] The symposium entitled "New developments in restoration research and applied ecology" was held from 26th to 28th of April 2013 to bring together international researches to discuss current reserach topics and to plan joint projects. Beside 16 talks and lively discussions all participants from the Czech Republic, Spain, France, and Germany attended an interesting excursion to the Ruhr region to visit outstanding locations of industrial nature. The symposium was also of geat interest for students of landscape ecology who got insight into several international reserach fields. Assumedly, the next meeting will be held in Spain, at the University of Bilbao.

SASCHA-staff moved to new Geo-building

[27.02.2013] The staff of the SASCHA-project of the Working Group Ecosystem Research moved to the new adress Heisenbergstr. 2, 5th floor.

Science at the end of the world

[20.12.2012] The German Research Foundation will fund a 3-year joint on south hemispheric peat bog ecosystems in Tierra del Fuego. The partners are the Working Groups Ecosystem Research (Till Kleinebecker) and Hydrology (Christian Blodau) of the Institute of Landscape Ecology and the Research Group Regional Hydrology (Lars Kutzbach) of Hamburg University. In the interdisciplinary project we will focus on carbon, water and nutrient dynamics of vascular plant- vs. Sphagnum-dominated bogs. In order to do this, we will utilize a broad range of approaches and methods which include gas flux measurements, peat core dating and measurements of the photosynthetic activity as well as field and laboratory experiments.

Successful dissertation!

The Working Group Ecosystem Research congratulates Valentin Klaus on his successful dissertation entitled Relationships between productivity, land-use intensity and plant species richness in agricultural grasslands.
[15.07.2012]

Successful dissertation!

The Working Group Ecosystem Research congratulates Johannes Kamp on his successful dissertation entitled Post-Soviet land-use change and conservation of avian biodiversity across the Eurasian steppe belt.
[28.06.2012]

Talk by Dr. Paul F. Donald
(Royal Society for the Protection of Birds)

Topic: Hyena dung and glass walls: recent research on threatened birds in southern Ethiopia
Date: 27.06.2012, 2.15 pm
For more information see the talk announcements or the following web page
[22.06.2012]

Start of the BMBF-project SASCHA

[08.09.2011] Since the 1st of august 2011, the German-Russian research project "SASCHA - Sustainable land management and adaptation strategies to climate change for the Western Siberian corn-belt" is funded by the BMBF. The ILÖK Working Groups Ecosystem Research, Community Ecology and Climatology are participating in the project coordinated by Prof. Norbert Hölzel. project homepage

Landscape ecologists from Münster analyse consequences of agricultural changes in the steppes of Kazakhstan

[16.08.2011] After a period of recovery over the past 20 years, indigenous bird populations of Kazakhstan's unique feather-grass steppe are now facing new declines. This is the conclusion arrived at by a team of scientists led by Prof. Norbert Hölzel and Johannes Kamp from the Institute of Landscape Ecology at Münster University. For the first time, the scientists have estimated the population densities of various steppe birds in relation to land use and vegetation in northern Kazakhstan. Drawing on these data they have made forecasts for developments in the future. more

 

Wide Steppe - Landscape Ecologists from Münster carry out research on the impact of post-soviet land use change in the kazakhian steppe

[15.07.2011] Three students from the University of Münster stayed for six weeks in the wide feathergrass steppe of northern Kazakhstan. Together with Johannes Kamp, PhD student from the Insititute of Landscape Ecology of the WWU, they carried out research on vegetation and bird communities of the vast areas of fallow land in the steppe zone. more

Research Results published in EU News Service

[27.07.2010] Recently published in Basic and Applied Ecology, the paper of Kathrin Kiehl, Anita Kirmer, Tobias W. Donath, Leonid Rasran & Norbert Hölzel (2010) Species introduction in restoration projects - method evaluation for the establishment of semi-natural grasslands has been choosen by DG Environment to be taken into the  News Service "Science for Environment Policy" and has been summed up and published under the title Restoring European grasslands takes more than just sowing seeds. pdf download

"Natur im Wandel" - studie on the effects of climate change on biodiversity in North Rhine-Westphalia published

Foto: Jan Ole Kriegs

[22.03.2010] The results of a pilot study on estimated effects of climate change on selected animal and plant species in North Rhine-Westphalia has been published as broschure for a wider audience now. The study has been conducted by the Working Groups Community Ecology and Ecosystem Research at ILÖK.
press release upm (german)
further information and broschure "Natur im Wandel" at MKUNLV (german)
Beside, the Bundesamt für Naturschutz has published a study on the effects of recent climate change on the fauna in Germany.
further information at BfN (german)

Congratulations!

[08.02.2010] We congratulate the diploma and bachelor students of our working group who were awarded their degree at the end of this semester and wish them all the best for their future!
A special congratulation goes to our diploma student Heidi Weber for the best diploma in landscape ecology of her semester!

Visit from Siberia

[01.02.2010] A delegation of two Western Siberian Universities, the Tyumen State University and the Tyumen State Agricultural Academy, visited the Faculty of Geosciences last week. The rectors and scientists were introduced to research, study programmes and structures at the Faculty and University.
During a meeting at Münster Castle with WWU rector Prof. Ursula Nelles, the representatives of the three involved universities signed a memorandum of understanding to promote scientific cooperation and student exchange.
The Working Group Ecosystem Research together with other working groups of the faculty of Geosciences discussed future research projects with the Russian colleagues. A joint application for a research project together with several working groups of the Institute of Landscape Ecology is already submitted and in decision. The meeting was very successfull and provided a basis for intense future cooperation.
Video of the joint signature of the memorandum of understanding (TSU 03.02.2010)

Working Group visited Exploratory

[23.11.2009] The Working Group Ecosystem Research visited the Biodiversity Exploratory Hainich-Dün. PhD student Valentin Klaus presented the study sites and introduced the concept of the Biodiversity-Exploratories, in wich the Working Group participates as the contributing project BIOCOMP. The picture was taken during a walk in the Hainich National Park.

SER Summer School Restoration Ecology 2009 

Species introduction and management of biodiversity in restoration projects

University of Münster, Germany
29th of June - 3rd of July 2009
www.uni-muenster.de/Restorationsummerschool
[22.07.2009] We enjoyed spending an inspiring week with this very nice group of young and engaged scientists! Thanks again also to all lecturers and field guides.

Mountain Timberlines

The book highlights the physiognomic and ecological variety of mountain timberlines, as well as their regionally and locally varying herterogeneity and temporal dynamics. This is the base for understanding the response of timberlines to climatically driven changes. The author, Prof. F.-K. Holtmeier, was teaching ecosystem research at the Institute of Landscape Ecology until 2004. Contact

BIOCOMP project started

Within the DFG Priority Programme 1374 "Biodiversity Exploratories" the Working Group Ecosystem Research has started the subproject Relating Biodiversity patterns and compositional features of grassland vegetation using near infrared reflectance spectroscopy - BIOCOMP
[04.03.2009]

new research project:
Effects of Climate Change on Biodiversity

In cooperation with the Working Group Community Ecology, we start a new pilot project funded by the MUNLV NRW on the effects of climate change on selected animal and plant species in North Rhine-Westphalia including elaboration of adaption strategies.
[06.08.2008]

Summer school scholarship

Our diploma student Sebastian Schmidt got a DAAD-scholarship for attending the summer school ‘Wetland Science and Management’ from July 31 to August 17 2008 at the University of Maryland at College Park (US). We congratulate and wish him a safe journey and an exciting stay!
[15.07.2008]

Congratulations!

Eight diploma students of our working group are awarded their diploma degree at the end of this semester. We congratulate and wish them all the best for their future!
A special congratulation goes to our diploma student Jörg Sintermann for the best diploma of his semester!
[15.07.2008]

Rio Rubens

A photo of the Rio Rubens bog in southern Patagonia by Till Kleinebecker has been selected as the cover picture of the april issue of the Journal of Vegetation Science. In this issue our most recent paper dealing with biogeochemical gradients of South Patagonian ombrotrophic peatlands at the landscape level is published [Kleinebecker et al. JVS 2008 pdf 191 KB].