The 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were adopted by the United Nations in 2015 and define the goals for sustainable development for all countries in the world until 2030.
With our SDG ambassador program, we want to show you who at TU Braunschweig is actively and concretely working towards these goals in their daily work. Today we introduce Prof. Dr. Dietmar Brandes. He works at the Institute of Plant Biology and is a vegetation ecologist. He is committed to the goal "Life on Land" and has answered a few questions for us.
What is the connection between your work and this SDG?
We have been studying flora and vegetation for about 40 years. Why? Plants are the primary producers in the global food chain. The plant cover and its positive effects on life on land can hardly be overestimated: food, energy sources and building materials, fodder, oxygen production and CO₂ sink, erosion protection, shade provider, and more.
But what effects do global environmental changes have on plant cover?
While many talk about it, we have been researching the effects of global change for decades on various spatial scales. This ranges from experimental studies on the population biology of key species to long-term observations of changes in species composition in plant communities of traditional cultural landscapes. How do rising temperatures, the spread of non-native plant species, nitrogen inputs, fragmentation or urbanization affect biodiversity or phytodiversity? What influence do changes in land use have on the species richness of our landscapes? How do successions proceed on new substrates that hardly occur in nature? How do plants spread along rivers, railway lines and highways—so-called linear structures? What role does time play in the species richness and phytodiversity of habitats? Samples from very different ecosystems—such as old forests, medieval castles and fortifications, archaeological sites—show the special value of habitat age. As simple model systems, we also study fields, dry grasslands, pioneer forests and saline habitats as well as the surroundings of ornamental plantings in order to observe the spread of neophytes at an early stage.
The connections between climate warming and the increasing spread of non-native plant species are popular topics for theses. However, the results are often ambiguous—rapidly changing garden fashions also play a major role in plant invasions. Regionally, we focus our research on Central Europe, the Alps, Southeast Europe, the Caucasus, the Levant and North Africa. This allows us to identify possible “climate trees” and “future trees” that are adapted to predicted climate changes and to assess their influence on biodiversity. Over time, our focus has increasingly shifted to urban flora and vegetation. In Central Europe, cities now represent the areas richest in species and are becoming increasingly important for regional species pools—probably also for various animal groups.
It is fascinating to make comparisons with cities in North Africa or West Asia, where we have shown that the water supply for plants in urban areas is generally better than in the surrounding landscape. This brings us to the necessary transformation of our cities in response to the urban heat island effect. This includes technical measures (e.g. sun protection, light-colored coatings, soil unsealing, fogging systems) and biological approaches (e.g. spontaneous tree development wherever possible; street tree planting, sidewalk unsealing, herbicide avoidance, “cool parks,” green roofs and facades).
Various institutions are currently screening for “climate trees” and “future trees” that may be more resistant to climate change. We study their effects at the ecosystem level: effects on competitors, naturalization, herbivores and more.
How did you come to this topic and where does your interest come from?
Animals—and especially plants—have fascinated me for as long as I can remember. My family says that at the age of three I dissected the flower bud of an Abutilon to see what it looked like inside. At that time, Abutilon was still an expensive ornamental plant and there was briefly a concern that I might become a problematic child. Nevertheless, my parents supported my interest in plants and animals. My father showed me leeches in the Drömling, crayfish in the Inn Valley in Upper Bavaria, and encouraged me to pet every cat we came across on our walks—of which there were many.
I was lucky enough to have excellent biology and chemistry classes in high school and carried out a year-long project on the vegetation of East Tyrol. This earned me the Hörlein Prize of the Association of German Biologists (VDB) in Vienna and was a great boost to my motivation. In a student working group, I was introduced to plant mapping and was allowed to participate in the mapping project of southern Lower Saxony (Univ. Göttingen) and central Germany (Univ. Halle) even before graduating. The leaders of the Göttingen project even ensured that I was stationed in Braunschweig during my military service in order to continue field work.
In 1984, I took over the management of mapping district 10b for floristic mapping. At first, I wanted to study biochemistry, which at that time was only offered at a few universities. Studying biology and chemistry in parallel was not possible because both were subject to admission restrictions, so I chose chemistry as a major and botany as a minor. During the semester breaks, I worked as a student assistant for Prof. Reinhold Tüxen, the doyen of vegetation science in Central Europe, who introduced me to plant sociology. Even at a young age, I was able to build an international network that still exists today. The botanists in Braunschweig supported my habilitation in botany. From 1982, I was able to offer courses and build up my own working group. Since then, we have been actively involved in biodiversity research.
What kind of support would help you to further anchor this SDG in teaching and research in the future?
Strengthening “organismic biology” in teaching and research to counteract the erosion of species knowledge. Even today, many authorities and freelance offices throughout Germany have difficulty finding staff with sufficient species knowledge. [See also: BMBF (2019): Research Initiative for the Preservation of Biodiversity].
Relevant courses at our university should be more accessible to “citizen scientists” and interested students from other disciplines. In addition to courses integrated into degree programs, guest lectures on important or controversial topics related to SDG 15 should be offered at regular intervals.
Field excursions are a central element of this SDG—especially for students of biology and environmental science/geoecology. The geobotanist Otti Wilmanns from Freiburg emphasized this back in 1976:
“Excursions—even if they only take place in cultural landscapes—can convey a wealth of biological experiences that can be integrated into the theoretical framework of ecology and can be connected to other subdisciplines. They can also promote a personal connection to nature, direct observation, logical thinking, and the willingness and ability to get involved in nature conservation.”
From my own experience as a student and more than 40 years of leading excursions, I know that they enable relaxed, non-hierarchical dialog between students and teachers, awaken enthusiasm for certain topics, and lay the foundation for later specialization.
I also propose short walks (mini-excursions) on the TU campus: They should be used to discuss, directly on site, the fundamentals (climate change, globalization, biodiversity, but also neophytes and urban weed growth) with regard to an ecological optimization of the campus. This also includes strengthening our Botanical Garden, which is not only a scientific plant collection and an experimental area, but also a cooling island and therefore an important local recreational area in Braunschweig.