Leibniz Universität Hannover Faculty Faculty of Natural Sciences
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Institute of Physical Geography and Landscape Ecology
 
Research
Research projects
Landscape structures
Ecosystem services
Digital remote sensing methods
GIS

Research Projects

Recent research projects

  • Allergic Pollen and Mental Health under Climate Change
    Considering the impacts of climate change and the likelihood of increased pollen counts in the future, it is essential to understand how health and wellbeing may be altered by green spaces containing large amounts of pollen. In this project, we produce a review of literature examining whether green spaces containing plant species that produce harmful pollen and allergens may alter or mediate users’ experiences and perceptions of these spaces.
    Led by: Prof. Dr. Nadja Kabisch
    Team: Rupert Legg, Prof. Dr. Nadja Kabisch
    Year: 2023
    Funding: Green Talents BMBF
    Duration: 2023
  • SELINA - Science for evidence-based and sustainable decisions about natural capital
    In SELINA, a total of 50 partners from all 27 EU member states (including selected EU overseas regions), Norway, Switzerland, Israel and the United Kingdom are working together to translate the methods and data on ecosystems and their services that have been developed in recent years within the framework of the European Biodiversity Strategies into practical applications in decision-making processes in public and private sectors. SELINA integrates not only academic partners, but also various partners from policy, administration and business, who will explore issues of various sectors at different spatial-temporal scales within the framework of a total of 15 demonstration projects. The main goal of SELINA is to create applicable information and recommendations for evidence-based decision-making and to support the necessary societal transformative change for the protection and sustainable use of the environment.
    Led by: Benjamin Burkhard
    Team: Angie Faust, Joana Seguin, Sabine Lange, Luke Brander
    Year: 2022
    Funding: EU Horizon
    Duration: 01.07.2022 – 30.06.2027
  • SMILES - Enhancing Small-Medium IsLands resilience by securing the sustainability of Ecosystem Services
    The aim of this action is to provide a platform for coordinated interdisciplinary research on several aspects of mapping and assessment of ecosystem services in small and medium European Islands in order to synthesize and strengthen the knowledge base for conservation of island realms and contribute to their sustainable development.
    Led by: Ioannis Vogiatzakis (Open University of Cyprus)
    Team: Benjamin Burkhard, Ina Sieber
    Year: 2022
    Funding: EU COST
    Duration: 22.09.2022 - 21.09.2026
  • EBeMÖS - Erfassung und Bewertung von Meeresökosystemen und Ökosystemleistungen der deutschen Nord- und Ostsee
    The overall goal of the project is to assess the ecosystem services of the German seas in the 12 nautical miles zone and in the the exclusive economic zone and to evaluate them monetarily. This can support political decisions in this area in a variety of ways. EBeMÖS will both contribute to the implementation of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive MSRL and support Actions 5 and 14 of the 2nd target of the EU Biodiversity Strategy.
    Led by: Malte Oehlmann (adelphi)
    Team: Tinka Kuhn, Benjamin Burkhard
    Year: 2020
    Funding: Bundesamt für Naturschutz (BfN)
    Duration: 20.11.2019 - 31.05.2022
  • Your Emotional City!
    Your Emotional City! “Emocity Citizen Science Laboratory.” Jointly Exploring Stress and Resilience In Urban Dwellers - Experimentallabore für Wissenschaftskommunikation Your Emotional City! Cities are growing. At the same time, mental strain caused by stress is becoming increasingly common among urban dwellers. In cooperation with Futurium Berlin, the experimental laboratory Emocity Citizen Science Laboratory will raise social awareness for the pressing challenges of urban living. With its app-based Citizen Science approach, the project invites Berlin residents to actively explore the impact of city life on our mental health with researchers. What are the city's stress points? What are places of well-being? In interactive events, forums and workshops, they meet up to exchange knowledge and develop an emotional city map of Berlin. Your Emotional City: https://futurium.de/en/your-emotional-city
    Led by: Prof. Dr. Mazda Adli (Charité Berlin), Prof. Dr. Joerg Fingerhut (Berlin School of Mind and Brain, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin)
    Team: Prof. Dr. Nadja Kabisch, Prof. Dr. Klaus Gramann (Technische Universität Berlin), Prof. Dr. Rainer Hehl (Technische Universität Berlin), und Prof. Dr. Ulrike Kluge (Charité) durchgeführt.
    Year: 2020
    Funding: Berlin University Alliance
    Duration: 2020-2022
  • UPSCALE
    Push-pull technology is a strategy for controlling agricultural pests through the use of repelling ('push') and trapping ('pull') crops. The EU-funded UPSCALE project aims to expand the understanding and applicability of push-pull technology from individual fields to agricultural, landscape and regional scales, and from cereals to other crops and cropping systems. By identifying the factors that influence push-pull success at different scales, the project will enable the targeted implementation and prediction of push-pull effectiveness and resilience under current and future climate conditions. By harnessing the benefits of push-pull technology at different scales and crops, UPSCALE will catalyse the development and widespread implementation of climate and environmentally friendly food production in East Africa and beyond.
    Led by: Emily Poppenborg
    Team: Benjamin Burkhard
    Year: 2020
    Funding: EU Horizon 2020
    Duration: 01.11.2020 – 31.10.2025
  • MOVE-ON: From case studies to anchor projects - Setting the ground to advance MAES in Europe’s overseas
    The ongoing work on MOVE (which this consortium is running) has already showed that the steps forward in the implementation of MAES (Mapping and Assessment of Ecosystems and their Services) in the European Overseas involve (i) tailoring existing methodologies, or develop new ones, taking into account common specificities and needs, (ii) providing opportunities for knowledge exchange and collaborative work and (iii) promoting the involvement of decision makers in initiatives with practical relevance.
    Led by: Artur Gil (University of the Azores)
    Team: Ina Sieber, Paula Rendón, Benjamin Burkhard
    Year: 2019
    Funding: European Commission
    Duration: 01.05.2020 - 30.04.2023
  • MAIA - Mapping and Assessment for Integrated ecosystem Accounting
    MAIA (Mapping and Assessment for Integrated ecosystem Accounting) zielt darauf ab, Naturalkapitalbewertungen und umweltökonomische Gesamtrechnungen in den EU-Mitgliedstaaten zu koordinieren. Die Arbeiten werden im Rahmen der EU Biodiversitätsstrategie 2020, Ziel 2 Maßnahme 5 „Erfassung und Bewertung von Ökosystemen und ihren Leistungen (MAES)“ durchgeführt.
    Led by: Lars Hein (Wageningen University)
    Team: Benjamin Burkhard, Sabine Lange
    Year: 2018
    Funding: EU Horizon 2020
    Duration: 11.2018 - 11.2022
  • MAIA - Mapping and Assessment for Integrated ecosystem Accounting
    MAIA (Mapping and Assessment for Integrated ecosystem Accounting) aims to mainstream natural capital and ecosystem accounting in EU Member States. The work is carried out in the context of the EU Biodiversity Strategy 2020 Target 2 Action Mapping and Assessment of Ecosystems and their Services (MAES).
    Led by: Lars Hein (Wageningen University)
    Team: Benjamin Burkhard, Sabine Lange
    Year: 2018
    Funding: EU Horizon 2020
    Duration: 11.2018 - 11.2022
  • ROSEMARIE - Blue health and wealth from the Baltic Sea – a participatory systematic review for smart decisions
    ROSEMARIE conducts systematic reviews on Baltic Sea ecosystem services (ES) and their contribution to human health and wellbeing and analyses methods and models to estimate both monetary and non-monetary values of marine ES.
    Led by: Soile Oinonen (Finnish Environment Institute SYKE)
    Team: Benjamin Burkhard, Tinka Kuhn
    Year: 2018
    Funding: EU BONUS
    Duration: 01.10.2018 - 31.03.2020
  • ECOSEO: Ecosystemic Services Observatory of the Guiana Shield
    Main aims of ECOSEO are: 1) Definition of a transnational strategy for the conservation and valorisation of ecosystem services and associated socioeconomic benefits; 2) Identification, monitoring and communication about the main ecosystem services shared at the regional scale (water, biodiversity, carbon); and 3) Improve access to data & information on land cover/use and ecosystem conditions at the regional level.
    Led by: Philippe Thibault (WWF French Guyana)
    Team: Benjamin Burkhard, Ina Sieber
    Year: 2018
    Funding: European Union, Water Basin Office Guyana
    Duration: 01/2018 - 12/2020
  • MOVE: Facilitating MAES to support regional policy in OVerseas Europe: mobilizing stakeholders and pooling resources
    The general objectives of MOVE are to (1) build a collaborative network of local agents from a significant number of EU Outermost regions, EU Overseas countries and territories and mainland Europe teams, in order to (2) engage stakeholders in identifying local priorities for the Mapping and Assessment of Ecosystems and their Services (MAES) and (3) collaborating in the development of case studies addressing those priorities.
    Led by: José Azevedo (University of the Azores)
    Team: Benjamin Burkhard, Ina Sieber
    Year: 2018
    Funding: European Commission
    Duration: 01.04.2018 - 31.03.2021
  • ESMERALDA – Enhancing ecoSysteM sERvices mApping for poLicy and Decision mAking)
    Mapping and assessment of ecosystems and their services (ES) are core to the EU Biodiversity (BD) Strategy. ESMERALDA aims to deliver a flexible methodology to provide the building blocks for pan-European and regional assessments. The work will ensure the timely delivery to EU member states in relation to Action 5 of the BD Strategy, supporting the needs of assessments in relation to the requirements for planning, agriculture, climate, water and nature policy.
    Led by: Benjamin Burkhard (project coordinator)
    Team: Sabine Bicking, Ina Sieber, Kristin Kuhn, Anne Piechulla, Bastian Steinhoff-Knopp
    Year: 2017
    Funding: EU Horizon 2020
    Duration: 02.2015 - 07.2018
  • ÖSKKIP – Ecosystem services (ES) of urban areas – mapping, communicating and integrating ES in planning policies to protect biodiversity in face of climate change
    ÖSKKIP assesses the integration capacity of the concept of ecosystem services in urban and regional planning policies. Furthermore, the protection of biodiversity in urban areas should be intensified, especially due to the changing conditions in the face of climate change.
    Led by: Sonja Deppisch (Hafen Universität Hamburg)
    Team: Claudia Dworczyk, Benjamin Burkhard
    Year: 2017
    Funding: BMBF/BMU/BfN research project to implement the German National Strategy on Biological Diversity
    Duration: 03.2017 - 12.2021
  • IMAGINE - Integrative Management of Green Infrastructures Multifunctionality, Ecosystem integrity and Ecosystem Services
    The IMAGINE project team supports the idea that sustainable territorial management requires a transition from the management of natural resources that degrades the ecological integrity of ecological systems to an adaptive management that preserves it while improving human well-being. With 6 partners from 5 countries and 6 case study sites, IMAGINE aims at quantifying the multiple functions, ecosystem services and benefits provided by Green Infrastructures.
    Led by: Philip Roche (INRAe, France)
    Team: Sylvie Campagne, Marie Perennes, Benjamin Burkhard
    Year: 2017
    Funding: EU ERA-NET/Horizon 2020 BiodivERsA
    Duration: 03.2017 - 11.2020
  • GreenEquityHEALTH
    GreenEquityHEALTH - Junior research group ‘Environmental-health Interactions in Cities' (GreenEquityHEALTH) – Challenges for Human Well-being under Global Changes The research group GreenEquityHEALTH aims to assess how urban green spaces provide ecosystem services to mitigate and adapt to climate change and urbanisation with a specific focus on public health and socio-environmental justice. Pressure such as high temperatures, soil sealing, air pollution or changes and disturbances in urban vegetation patterns with potential effects on human health and well-being are detected with remote sensing time series data and on-site sensor based measurements. Field surveys are conducted in inner city parks to measure health on site including perception studies via questionnaire surveys and health measurements. The focus is in particular on local residents including retired people and children. GreenEquityHEALTH: https://www.geographie.hu-berlin.de/en/professorships/urban-ecosystems-health-and-environmental-justice/project/greenequityhealth
    Led by: Nadja Kabisch
    Team: Roland Krämer, Lennart Eichfuss, Dagmar Wörister, Camille Dammann
    Year: 2017
    Funding: BMBF Young Investigator Research Groups Global Change 4+1
    Duration: 1.8.2017-31.7.2022
  • Feasibility study on the integration of status information of forest ecosystems and their ecosystem services (matrix approach)
    This study uses an integrative approach to assess the status information and development of forest ecosystems in all of Germany. Based on these results, the nationwide status and functions of forest ecosystems are evaluated along with the changes over space and time. These evaluations are used to analyze the correlations ecosystem conditions and ecosystem services.
    Led by: Winfried Schröder (Universität Vechta)
    Team: Claudia Dworczyk, Benjamin Burkhard
    Year: 2016
    Funding: German Umweltbundesamt (UBA
    Duration: 08.2016 - 06.2017
  • Identifying regions with a risk of heavy rain events in Hesse for planning disaster prevention procedures at a state and municipal level
    The goal of this project is to develop a procedure for automated analysis of radar-meteorological data (RADOLAN) to detect heavy rain events. Regions with a high risk for heavy rain falls will be identified in Hesse based on these results.
    Led by: Gerald Kuhnt
    Team: Jennifer Peußner
    Year: 2015
    Funding: Hessian Agency for Nature Conservation, Environment and Geology (HLNUG)
    Duration: 10.2015 - 09.2019
  • Ecosystem based information system for Bulgarian mountains
    Led by: Miglena Zhiyanski (Bulgarian academy of sciences)
    Team: Benjamin Burkhard
    Year: 2014
    Funding: German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD)
    Duration: 01.2014 - 12.2015
  • Development and implementation of a template that can assess the potential for unsealing areas in the city of Hannover
    Led by: Gerald Kuhnt
    Team: Anna Scotti
    Year: 2013
    Funding: Landeshauptstadt Hannover
    Duration: 2013 - 2015
  • Investigating the implementation and valorization of the core zones concept in German biosphere reserves
    The project aims at developing concrete recommendations for a consequent implementation of the core zone concept in German biosphere reserves. Moreover, strategies for their valuation as well as recommendations for the development and designation of further core zones and their acceptance will be developed. Recommendations are based on detailed investigations of the state of core zones in German biosphere reserves, including their actual uses.
    Led by: Werner Konold (Universität Freiburg)
    Team: Benjamin Burkhard
    Year: 2013
    Funding: Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN)
    Duration: 07.2013 - 06.2015
  • Designing a concept for the cumulative assessment of anthropogenic stress
    Led by: Claus-Dieter Dürselen (AquaEcology GmbH)
    Team: Benjamin Burkhard
    Year: 2012
    Funding: UBA UFOPLAN
    Duration: 08.2012 - 02.2014
  • LEGATO - Land-use intensity and Ecological EnGineering – Assessment Tools for risks and Opportunities in irrigated rice based production systems
    In order to advance long-term sustainable development of intensive land use systems against risks arising from multiple aspects of global change, LEGATO plans to quantify the dependence of ecosystem functions (ESF) and services (ES) that they generate in agricultural systems in South East Asia. The focus is on local as well as regional land use intensity (including the socio-cultural and economic background) and biodiversity, and the potential impacts of future climate and land use change.
    Led by: Josef Settele (UFZ Leipzig)
    Team: Benjamin Burkhard
    Year: 2011
    Funding: Federal Ministry of Education and Research
    Duration: 03.2011 - 10.2016
  • Establishing indicators for evaluating and managing natural heritage sites of the DBU
    Led by: Stefan Klotz (UFZ Halle)
    Team: Benjamin Burkhard
    Year: 2011
    Funding: Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt (DBU) (German Federal Environmental Foundation)
    Duration: 04.2011 - 12.2012
  • Soil erosion monitoring in Baden-Wurttemberg
    This project is monitoring the extent and frequency of soil erosion through water in an area of about 200 hectares since the year 2011. The aim is to obtain long-term empirically secured data on soil erosion due to water under different site and cultivation conditions.
    Led by: Bastian Steinhoff-Knopp
    Year: 2011
    Funding: Landesanstalt für Umwelt, Messungen und Naturschutz Baden-Württemberg (LUBW)
    Duration: since 2011
  • EnvEurope - Environmental quality and pressures assessment across Europe: the LTER network as an integrated and shared system for ecosystem monitoring
    EnvEurope proposes a design for environmental high quality monitoring and long-term research sites and the exemplary establishment of common parameter sets to be collected across the largest site-based network of Long-Term Ecosystem Research in Europe (LTER Europe), which was recently established (2006) under the auspices of the FP6 Network of Excellence ALTER-Net, building on existing infrastructures and thus a lot of valuable data series.
    Led by: Alessandra Pugnetti (Institute of Marine Sciences Venice, Italy)
    Team: Benjamin Burkhard
    Year: 2010
    Funding: EU LIFE
    Duration: 01.2010 - 12.2013
  • EcoChange - Assessment of Freshwater Ecosystems under Global Change
    The Sino-German network EcoChange will be established to bring together experts in the field of hydrology, hydrobiology, remote sensing, soil science and ecosystem theory to assess the impacts of global change on freshwater ecosystems by identifying meaningful ecological indicators. These indicators will be brought together in a comprehensive indicator model to support integrated decisions in sustainable freshwater management.
    Led by: Nicola Fohrer (CAU Kiel)
    Team: Benjamin Burkhard
    Year: 2009
    Funding: Sino-German Centre for Research Promotion, DFG/NSFC
    Duration: 01.2009 - 12.2011
  • Mapping potential soil erosion in the Canton Basel-Landschaft (Switzerland)
    A digital map of the erosion risk (potential soil erosion) of crop rotation areas in the canton Basel-Landschaft was generated. This map is used to advise farmers, shows the different levels of erosion and also identifies areas where fine soil could reach water bodies.
    Led by: Thomas Mosimann
    Team: Jan Bug
    Year: 2009
    Funding: Canton Basel-Landschaft
    Duration: 2009 - 2010
  • CLMIRF - Changing landscape management in rural Finland
    The aim of the "Changing landscape management in rural Finland CLMIRF" project is the analysis of patterns of anthropogenic land use, their dynamics and relations to the provision of ecosystem goods and services. Different scenarios for the ecological, social and economical long-term impacts of different land use options will be developed and assessed. The ultimate goal is to develop a tool to assess how the ecosystem services could be used in sustainable land use planning. The project and the co-operating partners will support the development of a model for sustainable development for the low productive forestry areas in northernmost Finland.
    Led by: Benjamin Burkhard
    Year: 2007
    Funding: DAAD und Finnische Akademie der Wissenschaften
    Duration: 01.2007 - 12.2010
  • Trace elements in seepage water (leachate)
    Led by: Gerald Kuhnt
    Team: Levke Godbersen
    Year: 2007
    Funding: Bundesanstalt für Geowissenschaften und Rohstoffe
    Duration: 2007 - 2010
  • Modeling forest soil properties in the canton Basel-Landschaft, Switzerland
    Based on the data of extensive field surveys, this project utilized Digital Soil Mapping (DSM) methods to develop maps of different forest soil properties for forests in the cantons Basel-Landschaft and Basel-Stadt.
    Led by: Thomas Mosimann
    Team: Philipp Herbst
    Year: 2006
    Funding: Canton Basel-Landschaft
    Duration: 2006 - 2010
  • Zukunft Küste - Coastal Futures
    Coastal Futures deals with questions of a sustainable and Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) at the western coast of Schleswig-Holstein. The individual subprojects are focused on the integrated analysis of the interactions between various types of coastal use as well as the interactions between human activities and the coastal ecosystem. Coastal Futures describes a joint research project supported by national and international scientific institutes, national authorities, the State Ministries of Schleswig-Holstein as well as regional and transnational institutions.
    Led by: Andreas Kannen (HZG Geesthacht)
    Team: Benjamin Burkhard
    Year: 2004
    Funding: Federal Ministry of Education and Research
    Duration: 06.2004 - 04.2010
  • CCMS: Challenges of Modernity for Environmental Sciences - Use of Landscape Sciences for Environmental Assessment
    The purpose and scope of this landscape sciences pilot study is to establish a working group representative of NATO Member and Partner nations to exchange information about landscape science approaches useful for environmental assessment and to transfer landscape assessment technologies among the study group participants for use in environmental protection and preservation programs. Both land use and land cover characterization and the use of landscape indicators will be demonstrated for environmental assessment. Multiple geographic areas in Europe and the continental United States have been selected for this demonstration study. The pilot study will explore the possibility of quantifying and assessing environmental condition, processes of land degradation, and subsequent impacts on natural and human resources (including security) by combining the advanced technologies of remote sensing, geographic information systems, spatial statistics, and process models with landscape ecology theory.
    Led by: Felix Müller (CAU Kiel)
    Team: Benjamin Burkhard
    Year: 2002
    Funding: NATO CCMS
    Duration: 01.2002 - 12.2016
  • RENMAN - The challenge of modernity for reindeer management: integration and sustainable development in Europe's sub-arctic and boreal regions
    RENMAN (RENtier MANagement) will develop new tools and models of participatory research and planning in reindeer management that will facilitate integrated and sustainable use of living resources in sub-arctic/boreal Europe. RENMAN is a direct result of the participation of key partners in the project 'Human Environmental Interactions' in the European Union Concerted Action ARTERI, and the IASC workshop on the 'Human Role in Reindeer Systems'. The project involves rural stakeholders, via local workshops and interviews, in the process of research on topics they have helped to prioritize. The analyses will focus on human interactions (in particular indigenous vs. scientific perceptions of management and the transfer of expertise from the EU to Russian systems), the quality and hygienic status of summer pastures, soils and surface waters, and the implications for animal and human health. The findings will provide better cultural and scientific bases for EU policy implementation.
    Led by: Bruce Forbes (University of Lapland)
    Team: Benjamin Burkhard
    Year: 2001
    Funding: 5th framework programm of the EU
    Duration: 03.2001 - 02.2004
  • Long-term soil erosion monitoring in Lower Saxony, Germany
    This long-term project is monitoring the extent and frequency of soil erosion through water in an area of 450 hectares since the year 2000. The aim is to obtain long-term empirically secured data on soil erosion due to water under different site and cultivation conditions.
    Led by: Bastian Steinhoff-Knopp
    Year: 2000
    Funding: Landesamt für Bergbau, Energie und Geologie Niedersachsen (LBEG)
    Duration: since 2000

Completed research projects

  • EBeMÖS - Erfassung und Bewertung von Meeresökosystemen und Ökosystemleistungen der deutschen Nord- und Ostsee
    The overall goal of the project is to assess the ecosystem services of the German seas in the 12 nautical miles zone and in the the exclusive economic zone and to evaluate them monetarily. This can support political decisions in this area in a variety of ways. EBeMÖS will both contribute to the implementation of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive MSRL and support Actions 5 and 14 of the 2nd target of the EU Biodiversity Strategy.
    Led by: Malte Oehlmann (adelphi)
    Team: Tinka Kuhn, Benjamin Burkhard
    Year: 2020
    Funding: Bundesamt für Naturschutz (BfN)
    Duration: 20.11.2019 - 31.05.2022
  • MAIA - Mapping and Assessment for Integrated ecosystem Accounting
    MAIA (Mapping and Assessment for Integrated ecosystem Accounting) zielt darauf ab, Naturalkapitalbewertungen und umweltökonomische Gesamtrechnungen in den EU-Mitgliedstaaten zu koordinieren. Die Arbeiten werden im Rahmen der EU Biodiversitätsstrategie 2020, Ziel 2 Maßnahme 5 „Erfassung und Bewertung von Ökosystemen und ihren Leistungen (MAES)“ durchgeführt.
    Led by: Lars Hein (Wageningen University)
    Team: Benjamin Burkhard, Sabine Lange
    Year: 2018
    Funding: EU Horizon 2020
    Duration: 11.2018 - 11.2022
  • MAIA - Mapping and Assessment for Integrated ecosystem Accounting
    MAIA (Mapping and Assessment for Integrated ecosystem Accounting) aims to mainstream natural capital and ecosystem accounting in EU Member States. The work is carried out in the context of the EU Biodiversity Strategy 2020 Target 2 Action Mapping and Assessment of Ecosystems and their Services (MAES).
    Led by: Lars Hein (Wageningen University)
    Team: Benjamin Burkhard, Sabine Lange
    Year: 2018
    Funding: EU Horizon 2020
    Duration: 11.2018 - 11.2022
  • ROSEMARIE - Blue health and wealth from the Baltic Sea – a participatory systematic review for smart decisions
    ROSEMARIE conducts systematic reviews on Baltic Sea ecosystem services (ES) and their contribution to human health and wellbeing and analyses methods and models to estimate both monetary and non-monetary values of marine ES.
    Led by: Soile Oinonen (Finnish Environment Institute SYKE)
    Team: Benjamin Burkhard, Tinka Kuhn
    Year: 2018
    Funding: EU BONUS
    Duration: 01.10.2018 - 31.03.2020
  • ECOSEO: Ecosystemic Services Observatory of the Guiana Shield
    Main aims of ECOSEO are: 1) Definition of a transnational strategy for the conservation and valorisation of ecosystem services and associated socioeconomic benefits; 2) Identification, monitoring and communication about the main ecosystem services shared at the regional scale (water, biodiversity, carbon); and 3) Improve access to data & information on land cover/use and ecosystem conditions at the regional level.
    Led by: Philippe Thibault (WWF French Guyana)
    Team: Benjamin Burkhard, Ina Sieber
    Year: 2018
    Funding: European Union, Water Basin Office Guyana
    Duration: 01/2018 - 12/2020
  • MOVE: Facilitating MAES to support regional policy in OVerseas Europe: mobilizing stakeholders and pooling resources
    The general objectives of MOVE are to (1) build a collaborative network of local agents from a significant number of EU Outermost regions, EU Overseas countries and territories and mainland Europe teams, in order to (2) engage stakeholders in identifying local priorities for the Mapping and Assessment of Ecosystems and their Services (MAES) and (3) collaborating in the development of case studies addressing those priorities.
    Led by: José Azevedo (University of the Azores)
    Team: Benjamin Burkhard, Ina Sieber
    Year: 2018
    Funding: European Commission
    Duration: 01.04.2018 - 31.03.2021
  • ESMERALDA – Enhancing ecoSysteM sERvices mApping for poLicy and Decision mAking)
    Mapping and assessment of ecosystems and their services (ES) are core to the EU Biodiversity (BD) Strategy. ESMERALDA aims to deliver a flexible methodology to provide the building blocks for pan-European and regional assessments. The work will ensure the timely delivery to EU member states in relation to Action 5 of the BD Strategy, supporting the needs of assessments in relation to the requirements for planning, agriculture, climate, water and nature policy.
    Led by: Benjamin Burkhard (project coordinator)
    Team: Sabine Bicking, Ina Sieber, Kristin Kuhn, Anne Piechulla, Bastian Steinhoff-Knopp
    Year: 2017
    Funding: EU Horizon 2020
    Duration: 02.2015 - 07.2018
  • ÖSKKIP – Ecosystem services (ES) of urban areas – mapping, communicating and integrating ES in planning policies to protect biodiversity in face of climate change
    ÖSKKIP assesses the integration capacity of the concept of ecosystem services in urban and regional planning policies. Furthermore, the protection of biodiversity in urban areas should be intensified, especially due to the changing conditions in the face of climate change.
    Led by: Sonja Deppisch (Hafen Universität Hamburg)
    Team: Claudia Dworczyk, Benjamin Burkhard
    Year: 2017
    Funding: BMBF/BMU/BfN research project to implement the German National Strategy on Biological Diversity
    Duration: 03.2017 - 12.2021
  • IMAGINE - Integrative Management of Green Infrastructures Multifunctionality, Ecosystem integrity and Ecosystem Services
    The IMAGINE project team supports the idea that sustainable territorial management requires a transition from the management of natural resources that degrades the ecological integrity of ecological systems to an adaptive management that preserves it while improving human well-being. With 6 partners from 5 countries and 6 case study sites, IMAGINE aims at quantifying the multiple functions, ecosystem services and benefits provided by Green Infrastructures.
    Led by: Philip Roche (INRAe, France)
    Team: Sylvie Campagne, Marie Perennes, Benjamin Burkhard
    Year: 2017
    Funding: EU ERA-NET/Horizon 2020 BiodivERsA
    Duration: 03.2017 - 11.2020
  • Feasibility study on the integration of status information of forest ecosystems and their ecosystem services (matrix approach)
    This study uses an integrative approach to assess the status information and development of forest ecosystems in all of Germany. Based on these results, the nationwide status and functions of forest ecosystems are evaluated along with the changes over space and time. These evaluations are used to analyze the correlations ecosystem conditions and ecosystem services.
    Led by: Winfried Schröder (Universität Vechta)
    Team: Claudia Dworczyk, Benjamin Burkhard
    Year: 2016
    Funding: German Umweltbundesamt (UBA
    Duration: 08.2016 - 06.2017
  • Identifying regions with a risk of heavy rain events in Hesse for planning disaster prevention procedures at a state and municipal level
    The goal of this project is to develop a procedure for automated analysis of radar-meteorological data (RADOLAN) to detect heavy rain events. Regions with a high risk for heavy rain falls will be identified in Hesse based on these results.
    Led by: Gerald Kuhnt
    Team: Jennifer Peußner
    Year: 2015
    Funding: Hessian Agency for Nature Conservation, Environment and Geology (HLNUG)
    Duration: 10.2015 - 09.2019
  • Ecosystem based information system for Bulgarian mountains
    Led by: Miglena Zhiyanski (Bulgarian academy of sciences)
    Team: Benjamin Burkhard
    Year: 2014
    Funding: German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD)
    Duration: 01.2014 - 12.2015
  • Development and implementation of a template that can assess the potential for unsealing areas in the city of Hannover
    Led by: Gerald Kuhnt
    Team: Anna Scotti
    Year: 2013
    Funding: Landeshauptstadt Hannover
    Duration: 2013 - 2015
  • Investigating the implementation and valorization of the core zones concept in German biosphere reserves
    The project aims at developing concrete recommendations for a consequent implementation of the core zone concept in German biosphere reserves. Moreover, strategies for their valuation as well as recommendations for the development and designation of further core zones and their acceptance will be developed. Recommendations are based on detailed investigations of the state of core zones in German biosphere reserves, including their actual uses.
    Led by: Werner Konold (Universität Freiburg)
    Team: Benjamin Burkhard
    Year: 2013
    Funding: Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN)
    Duration: 07.2013 - 06.2015
  • Designing a concept for the cumulative assessment of anthropogenic stress
    Led by: Claus-Dieter Dürselen (AquaEcology GmbH)
    Team: Benjamin Burkhard
    Year: 2012
    Funding: UBA UFOPLAN
    Duration: 08.2012 - 02.2014
  • LEGATO - Land-use intensity and Ecological EnGineering – Assessment Tools for risks and Opportunities in irrigated rice based production systems
    In order to advance long-term sustainable development of intensive land use systems against risks arising from multiple aspects of global change, LEGATO plans to quantify the dependence of ecosystem functions (ESF) and services (ES) that they generate in agricultural systems in South East Asia. The focus is on local as well as regional land use intensity (including the socio-cultural and economic background) and biodiversity, and the potential impacts of future climate and land use change.
    Led by: Josef Settele (UFZ Leipzig)
    Team: Benjamin Burkhard
    Year: 2011
    Funding: Federal Ministry of Education and Research
    Duration: 03.2011 - 10.2016
  • Establishing indicators for evaluating and managing natural heritage sites of the DBU
    Led by: Stefan Klotz (UFZ Halle)
    Team: Benjamin Burkhard
    Year: 2011
    Funding: Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt (DBU) (German Federal Environmental Foundation)
    Duration: 04.2011 - 12.2012
  • EnvEurope - Environmental quality and pressures assessment across Europe: the LTER network as an integrated and shared system for ecosystem monitoring
    EnvEurope proposes a design for environmental high quality monitoring and long-term research sites and the exemplary establishment of common parameter sets to be collected across the largest site-based network of Long-Term Ecosystem Research in Europe (LTER Europe), which was recently established (2006) under the auspices of the FP6 Network of Excellence ALTER-Net, building on existing infrastructures and thus a lot of valuable data series.
    Led by: Alessandra Pugnetti (Institute of Marine Sciences Venice, Italy)
    Team: Benjamin Burkhard
    Year: 2010
    Funding: EU LIFE
    Duration: 01.2010 - 12.2013
  • EcoChange - Assessment of Freshwater Ecosystems under Global Change
    The Sino-German network EcoChange will be established to bring together experts in the field of hydrology, hydrobiology, remote sensing, soil science and ecosystem theory to assess the impacts of global change on freshwater ecosystems by identifying meaningful ecological indicators. These indicators will be brought together in a comprehensive indicator model to support integrated decisions in sustainable freshwater management.
    Led by: Nicola Fohrer (CAU Kiel)
    Team: Benjamin Burkhard
    Year: 2009
    Funding: Sino-German Centre for Research Promotion, DFG/NSFC
    Duration: 01.2009 - 12.2011
  • Mapping potential soil erosion in the Canton Basel-Landschaft (Switzerland)
    A digital map of the erosion risk (potential soil erosion) of crop rotation areas in the canton Basel-Landschaft was generated. This map is used to advise farmers, shows the different levels of erosion and also identifies areas where fine soil could reach water bodies.
    Led by: Thomas Mosimann
    Team: Jan Bug
    Year: 2009
    Funding: Canton Basel-Landschaft
    Duration: 2009 - 2010
  • CLMIRF - Changing landscape management in rural Finland
    The aim of the "Changing landscape management in rural Finland CLMIRF" project is the analysis of patterns of anthropogenic land use, their dynamics and relations to the provision of ecosystem goods and services. Different scenarios for the ecological, social and economical long-term impacts of different land use options will be developed and assessed. The ultimate goal is to develop a tool to assess how the ecosystem services could be used in sustainable land use planning. The project and the co-operating partners will support the development of a model for sustainable development for the low productive forestry areas in northernmost Finland.
    Led by: Benjamin Burkhard
    Year: 2007
    Funding: DAAD und Finnische Akademie der Wissenschaften
    Duration: 01.2007 - 12.2010
  • Trace elements in seepage water (leachate)
    Led by: Gerald Kuhnt
    Team: Levke Godbersen
    Year: 2007
    Funding: Bundesanstalt für Geowissenschaften und Rohstoffe
    Duration: 2007 - 2010
  • Modeling forest soil properties in the canton Basel-Landschaft, Switzerland
    Based on the data of extensive field surveys, this project utilized Digital Soil Mapping (DSM) methods to develop maps of different forest soil properties for forests in the cantons Basel-Landschaft and Basel-Stadt.
    Led by: Thomas Mosimann
    Team: Philipp Herbst
    Year: 2006
    Funding: Canton Basel-Landschaft
    Duration: 2006 - 2010
  • Zukunft Küste - Coastal Futures
    Coastal Futures deals with questions of a sustainable and Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) at the western coast of Schleswig-Holstein. The individual subprojects are focused on the integrated analysis of the interactions between various types of coastal use as well as the interactions between human activities and the coastal ecosystem. Coastal Futures describes a joint research project supported by national and international scientific institutes, national authorities, the State Ministries of Schleswig-Holstein as well as regional and transnational institutions.
    Led by: Andreas Kannen (HZG Geesthacht)
    Team: Benjamin Burkhard
    Year: 2004
    Funding: Federal Ministry of Education and Research
    Duration: 06.2004 - 04.2010
  • CCMS: Challenges of Modernity for Environmental Sciences - Use of Landscape Sciences for Environmental Assessment
    The purpose and scope of this landscape sciences pilot study is to establish a working group representative of NATO Member and Partner nations to exchange information about landscape science approaches useful for environmental assessment and to transfer landscape assessment technologies among the study group participants for use in environmental protection and preservation programs. Both land use and land cover characterization and the use of landscape indicators will be demonstrated for environmental assessment. Multiple geographic areas in Europe and the continental United States have been selected for this demonstration study. The pilot study will explore the possibility of quantifying and assessing environmental condition, processes of land degradation, and subsequent impacts on natural and human resources (including security) by combining the advanced technologies of remote sensing, geographic information systems, spatial statistics, and process models with landscape ecology theory.
    Led by: Felix Müller (CAU Kiel)
    Team: Benjamin Burkhard
    Year: 2002
    Funding: NATO CCMS
    Duration: 01.2002 - 12.2016
  • RENMAN - The challenge of modernity for reindeer management: integration and sustainable development in Europe's sub-arctic and boreal regions
    RENMAN (RENtier MANagement) will develop new tools and models of participatory research and planning in reindeer management that will facilitate integrated and sustainable use of living resources in sub-arctic/boreal Europe. RENMAN is a direct result of the participation of key partners in the project 'Human Environmental Interactions' in the European Union Concerted Action ARTERI, and the IASC workshop on the 'Human Role in Reindeer Systems'. The project involves rural stakeholders, via local workshops and interviews, in the process of research on topics they have helped to prioritize. The analyses will focus on human interactions (in particular indigenous vs. scientific perceptions of management and the transfer of expertise from the EU to Russian systems), the quality and hygienic status of summer pastures, soils and surface waters, and the implications for animal and human health. The findings will provide better cultural and scientific bases for EU policy implementation.
    Led by: Bruce Forbes (University of Lapland)
    Team: Benjamin Burkhard
    Year: 2001
    Funding: 5th framework programm of the EU
    Duration: 03.2001 - 02.2004

Last Change: 04.05.23; Frank Beisiegel Print

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