Biodiversity of Agricultural Landscapes

Biodiversity of Agricultural Landscapes
Joint appointment of the TU Braunschweig and the Thünen Institute

Contact:
Phone.: + 49 (0) 531 596 2501
Fax.: + 49 (0) 531 596 2599

Email: j.dauber@tu-braunschweig.de

Address:
Institute of Geoecology

Biodiversity of Agricultural Landscapes
Technische Universität Braunschweig
Langer Kamp 19c
38106 Braunschweig
Germany

Location:
Thünen-Institut
Bundesallee 50
38116 Braunschweig

To secure and harness the diversity of life in agricultural ecosystems

We investigate where, which and how abundantly plants and animals occur in open agricultural landscapes, which functional role they play there and how this biological diversity (biodiversity) responds to the type and intensity of agricultural land use and other influencing factors.

We study how biodiversity is developing in open agricultural landscapes, which are the causal factors for the development, how biodiversity changes can be evaluated, which management options exist, and which effects alternative options would have. Insights from our research are used to develop concepts for sustainable land use.

In our research projects, we survey various functional groups of species on multiple spatial scales in order to better understand the complex relationships between agricultural production, biodiversity, and ecosystem functions and services. For this purpose, we use field-ecology, experimental and modelling approaches. The knowledge gained from our studies helps to point out perspectives and strategies for conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity, while maintaining agricultural productivity for provisioning of food and renewable resources.

Our main research questions are:

- how can the state and development of biodiversity reliably be assessed and evaluated?

- how do different management and land-use options affect biodiversity and ecosystem services?

- how much do biodiversity and ecosystem functions contribute to agricultural production and how can this contribution be enhanced with respect to environmentally friendly and resource-conserving land use?

- which recommendations for the further development of agriculture and land use can be given from an agro-ecological point of view and from a broader interdisciplinary perspective?