Prof. Dr. Karin Frank
Contact
Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ
Department of Ecological Modelling
Permoserstr. 15
04318 Leipzig
Germany
Bld. 1.0, Room 206
Tel.: +49 341 6025-2535
Fax: +49 341 23545-2535
karin.frank@ufz.de
Research
The focus of my research is on modelling the structure, dynamics, functions and stability properties of ecological, eco-hydrological and social-ecological systems under the influence of global change (esp. climate, land use and institutional change). I am particularly interested (i) in providing insights into complex environmental problems related to grand challenges of the society, their functioning and induced chances and risks, (ii) in identifying (management and policy) options for their sustainable solution, and (iii) in developing respective model-based tools for decision-support. Topics are e.g.
- Survival and spread of species and species communities under habitat loss, fragmentation and environmental fluctuations, with implications for biodiversity conservation;
- Performance of regulating ecosystem services under multiple stressors (climatic, chemical and biological stressors), with implications for contaminant degradation, eutrophication control or the biological pump;
- Sustainability of natural resource use in drylands; influence of uncertainty (rainfall variability, drought, eco-hydrological feedbacks); key factors of resilience; chances and risks of novel technologies and institutions; with implications for climate adaptation and poverty alleviation
- Land use aspects of transforming the energy system; influence of markets, policies and socio-environmental context on allocation decisions and their impacts; concepts for conflict mitigation; with implications for the spatial design of sustainable renewable energy systems.
I have methodological expertise in spatial, stochastic, equation- and rule-based approaches of ecological modelling, agent-based social-ecological modelling, the integration of organismic and matter flux aspects, and the combination of theories, modelling and experiments / case studies. Synthesizing conceptual and methodological reflections are integral part of my work.
My Activities at the University of Osnabrück
Curriculum Vitae
Education
1988
Diploma in Mathematics, University of Leipzig
1992
Promotion (Dr. rer. nat.), Mathematical Physics, University of Leipzig
1992 -
Scientist at the Department of Ecological Modelling (OESA) at the UFZ
2004 - 2007
Co-Head of a Junior Research Group “Ecological Economics”, funded by the Volkswagen Foundation
2006
Habilitation (Dr. habil.), Applied System Sciences, University of Osnabrück
2010 -
W2 Professorship in “Ecological Modelling”, Joint appointment of University of Osnabrück and UFZ
2011
Helmholtz Management Academy; Certificate of Malik Management Systems St. Gallen
Recent responsibilities at the UFZ
2010
Head of Department of Ecological Modelling (OESA)
2014
Spokesperson of the POF III Integrated Project “Land use aspects of transforming the energy system” (EnergyLandUse) of the Helmholtz Program “Terrestrial Environment”
2014
Spokesperson of the Board of the UFZ Graduate School HIGRADE
Graduate education
Modelling and integration gain increasing importance in solution-oriented environmental research. Therefore, the next generation of decision-makers in all environmental fields has to be provided with these skills as early as possible. I follow a comprehensive structured approach and facilitate (undergraduate and graduate) teaching, supervision and (UFZ-wide, national and international) capacity building in ecological and social-ecological modelling using our scientific networks.
Memberships in scientific panels
- Member of the Selection Panel of the PhD Fellowship Program of the DBU (since 2010)
- Founding member of the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research ( iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig (since 2012)
- Member of the External Advisory Board of the U.S. National Socio-Environmental
Synthesis Centre (SESYNC), Annapolis, MD (since 2012)
Publications
Latest Publications:- Eisenhauer, N., Frank, K., Weigelt, A., Bartkowski, B., Beugnon, R., Liebal, K., Mahecha, M., Quaas, M., Al-Halbouni, D., Bastos, A., Bohn, F.J., de Brito, M.M., Denzler, J., Feilhauer, H., Fischer, R., Fritsche, I., Guimaraes-Steinicke, C., Hänsel, M., Haun, D.B.M., Herrmann, H., Huth, A., Kalesse-Los, H., Koetter, M., Kolleck, N., Krause, M., Kretschmer, M., Leitão, P.J., Masson, T., Mora, K., Müller, B., Peng, J., Pöhlker, M.L., Ratzke, L., Reichstein, M., Richter, S., Rüger, N., Sánchez-Parra, B., Shadaydeh, M., Sippel, S., Tegen, I., Thrän, D., Umlauft, J., Wendisch, M., Wolf, K., Wirth, C., Zacher, H., Zaehle, S., Quaas, J. (2024):
A belowground perspective on the nexus between biodiversity change, climate change, and human well-being
Journal of Sustainable Agriculture and Environment 3 (2), e212108 10.1002/sae2.12108 - Henniger, H., Huth, A., Frank, K., Bohn, F.J. (2023):
Creating virtual forests around the globe and analysing their state space
Ecol. Model. 483 , art. 110404 10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2023.110404 - Milles, A., Banitz, T., Bielcik, M., Frank, K., Gallagher, C.A., Jeltsch, F., Jepsen, J.U., Oro, D., Radchuk, V., Grimm, V. (2023):
Local buffer mechanisms for population persistence
Trends Ecol. Evol. 38 (11), 1051 - 1059 10.1016/j.tree.2023.06.006 - Will, M., Groeneveld, J., Lenel, F., Frank, K., Müller, B. (2023):
Determinants of household vulnerability in networks with formal insurance and informal risk-sharing
Ecol. Econ. 212 , art. 107921 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2023.107921 - Barton, C.M., Ames, D., Chen, M., Frank, K., Jagers, H.R.A., Lee, A., Reis, S., Swantek, L. (2022):
Making modeling and software FAIR
Environ. Modell. Softw. 156 , art. 105496 10.1016/j.envsoft.2022.105496 - Barton, C.M., Lee, A., Janssen, M.A., van der Leeuw, S., Tucker, G.E., Porter, C., Greenberg, J., Swantek, L., Frank, K., Chen, M., Jagers, H.R.A. (2022):
How to make models more useful
Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 119 (35), e2202112119 10.1073/pnas.2202112119 - Bogdanowski, A., Banitz, T., Muhsal, L.K., Kost, C., Frank, K. (2022):
McComedy: A user-friendly tool for next-generation individual-based modeling of microbial consumer-resource systems
PLoS Comput. Biol. 18 (1), e1009777 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1009777 - Meier, L., Brauns, M., Grimm, V., Weitere, M., Frank, K. (2022):
MASTIFF: A mechanistic model for cross-scale analyses of the functioning of multiple stressed riverine ecosystems
Ecol. Model. 470 , art. 110007 10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2022.110007 - Iwanaga, T., Wang, H.-H., Hamilton, S.H., Grimm, V., Koralewski, T.E., Salado, A., Elsawah, S., Razavi, S., Yang, J., Glynn, P., Badham, J., Voinov, A., Chen, M., Grant, W.E., Peterson, T.R., Frank, K., Shenk, G., Barton, C.M., Jakeman, A.J., Little, J.C. (2021):
Socio-technical scales in socio-environmental modeling: managing a system-of-systems modeling approach
Environ. Modell. Softw. 135 , art. 104885 10.1016/j.envsoft.2020.104885 - Weitere, M., Altenburger, R., Anlanger, C., Baborowski, M., Bärlund, I., Beckers, L.-M., Borchardt, D., Brack, W., Brase, L., Busch, W., Chatzinotas, A., Deutschmann, B., Eligehausen, J., Frank, K., Graeber, D., Griebler, C., Hagemann, J., Herzsprung, P., Hollert, H., Inostroza, P.A., Jäger, C.G., Kallies, R., Kamjunke, N., Karrasch, B., Kaschuba, S., Kaus, A., Klauer, B., Knöller, K., Koschorreck, M., Krauss, M., Kunz, J.V., Kurz, M.J., Liess, M., Mages, M., Müller, C., Muschket, M., Musolff, A., Norf, H., Pöhlein, F., Reiber, L., Risse-Buhl, U., Schramm, K.-W., Schmitt-Jansen, M., Schmitz, M., Strachauer, U., von Tümpling, W., Weber, N., Wild, R., Wolf, C., Brauns, M. (2021):
Disentangling multiple chemical and non-chemical stressors in a lotic ecosystem using a longitudinal approach
Sci. Total Environ. 769 , art. 144324 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.144324 - Will, M., Groeneveld, J., Frank, K., Müller, B. (2021):
Informal risk-sharing between smallholders may be threatened by formal insurance: Lessons from a stylized agent-based model
PLOS One 16 (3), e0248757 10.1371/journal.pone.0248757 - Kärcher, O., Filstrup, C.T., Brauns, M., Tasevska, O., Patceva, S., Hellwig, N., Walz, A., Frank, K., Markovic, D. (2020):
Chlorophyll a relationships with nutrients and temperature, and predictions for lakes across perialpine and Balkan mountain regions
Inland Waters 10 (1), 29 - 41 10.1080/20442041.2019.1689768 - Schwarz, N., Dressler, G., Frank, K., Jager, W., Janssen, M., Müller, B., Schlüter, M., Wijermans, N., Groeneveld, J. (2020):
Formalising theories of human decision-making for agent-based modelling of social-ecological systems: practical lessons learned and ways forward
Socio-Environmental Systems Modelling 2 , art. 16340 10.18174/sesmo.2020a16340 - Will, M., Groeneveld, J., Frank, K., Müller, B. (2020):
Combining social network analysis and agent-based modelling to explore dynamics of human interaction: A review
Socio-Environmental Systems Modelling 2 , art. 16325 10.18174/sesmo.2020a16325 - Dressler, G., Groeneveld, J., Buchmann, C.M., Guo, C., Hase, N., Thober, J., Frank, K., Müller, B. (2019):
Implications of behavioral change for the resilience of pastoral systems—Lessons from an agent-based model
Ecol. Complex. 40, Part B , art. 100710 10.1016/j.ecocom.2018.06.002 - Dressler, G., Hoffmann, F., Breuer, I., Kreuer, D., Mahdi, M., Frank, K., Müller, B. (2019):
Polarization in (post)nomadic resource use in Eastern Morocco: insights using a multi-agent simulation model
Reg. Envir. Chang. 19 (2), 489 - 500 10.1007/s10113-018-1412-9 - John, F., Toth, R., Frank, K., Groeneveld, J., Müller, B. (2019):
Ecological vulnerability through insurance? Potential unintended consequences of livestock drought insurance
Ecol. Econ. 157 , 357 - 368 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2018.11.021 - Kärcher, O., Frank, K. (2019):
Scale effects on the performance of niche-based models of freshwater fish distributions
Ecol. Model. 405 , 33 - 42 10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2019.05.006 - Kärcher, O., Hering, D., Frank, K., Markovic, D. (2019):
Freshwater species distributions along thermal gradients
Ecol. Evol. 9 (1), 111 - 124 10.1002/ece3.4659 - König, S., Köhnke, M.C., Firle, A.-L., Banitz, T., Centler, F., Frank, K., Thullner, M. (2019):
Disturbance size can be compensated for by spatial fragmentation in soil microbial ecosystems
Front. Ecol. Evol. 7 , art. 290 10.3389/fevo.2019.00290 - Langhammer, M., Thober, J., Lange, M., Frank, K., Grimm, V. (2019):
Agricultural landscape generators for simulation models: A review of existing solutions and an outline of future directions
Ecol. Model. 393 , 135 - 151 10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2018.12.010 - Schlüter, M., Müller, B., Frank, K. (2019):
The potential of models and modeling for social-ecological systems research: the reference frame ModSES
Ecol. Soc. 24 (1), art. 31 10.5751/ES-10716-240131 - König, S., Worrich, A., Banitz, T., Centler, F., Harms, H., Kästner, M., Miltner, A., Wick, L.Y., Thullner, M., Frank, K. (2018):
Spatiotemporal disturbance characteristics determine functional stability and collapse risk of simulated microbial ecosystems
Sci. Rep. 8 , art. 9488 10.1038/s41598-018-27785-4 - König, S., Worrich, A., Banitz, T., Harms, H., Kästner, M., Miltner, A., Wick, L.Y., Frank, K., Thullner, M., Centler, F. (2018):
Functional resistance to recurrent spatially heterogeneous disturbances is facilitated by increased activity of surviving bacteria in a virtual ecosystem
Front. Microbiol. 9 , art. 734 10.3389/fmicb.2018.00734 - Schröter, M., Koellner, T., Alkemade, R., Arnhold, S., Bagstad, K.J., Erb, K.-H., Frank, K., Kastner, T., Kissinger, M., Liu, J., López-Hoffman, L., Maes, J., Marques, A., Martín-López, B., Meyer, C., Schulp, C.J.E., Thober, J., Wolff, S., Bonn, A. (2018):
Interregional flows of ecosystem services: Concepts, typology and four cases
Ecosyst. Serv. 31 (Part B), 231 - 241 10.1016/j.ecoser.2018.02.003 - König, S., Worrich, A., Centler, F., Wick, L.Y., Miltner, A., Kästner, M., Thullner, M., Frank, K., Banitz, T. (2017):
Modelling functional resilience of microbial ecosystems: Analysis of governing processes
Environ. Modell. Softw. 89 , 31 - 39 10.1016/j.envsoft.2016.11.025 - Lucas, R., Groeneveld, J., Harms, H., Johst, K., Frank, K., Kleinsteuber, S. (2017):
A critical evaluation of ecological indices for the comparative analysis of microbial communities based on molecular datasets
FEMS Microbiol. Ecol. 93 (1), fiw209 10.1093/femsec/fiw209 - Oberbach, A., Haange, S.-B., Schlichting, N., Heinrich, M., Lehmann, S., Till, H., Hugenholtz, F., Kullnick, Y., Smidt, H., Frank, K., Seifert, J., Jehmlich, N., von Bergen, M. (2017):
Metabolic in vivo labeling highlights differences of metabolically active microbes from the mucosal gastrointestinal microbiome between high-fat and normal chow diet
J. Proteome Res. 16 (4), 1593 - 1604 10.1021/acs.jproteome.6b00973 - Schlüter, M., Baeza, A., Dressler, G., Frank, K., Groeneveld, J., Jager, W., Janssen, M.A., McAllister, R.R.J., Müller, B., Orach, K., Schwarz, N., Wijermans, N. (2017):
A framework for mapping and comparing behavioural theories in models of social-ecological systems
Ecol. Econ. 131 , 21 - 35 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2016.08.008 - Schulze, J., Gawel, E., Nolzen, H., Weise, H., Frank, K. (2017):
The expansion of short rotation forestry: characterization of determinants with an agent-based land use model
GCB Bioenergy 9 (6), 1042 - 1056 10.1111/gcbb.12400 - Worrich, A., Stryhanyuk, H., Musat, N., König, S., Banitz, T., Centler, F., Frank, K., Thullner, M., Harms, H., Richnow, H.-H., Miltner, A., Kästner, M., Wick, L.Y. (2017):
Mycelium-mediated transfer of water and nutrients stimulates bacterial activity in dry and oligotrophic environments
Nat. Commun. 8 , art. 15472 10.1038/ncomms15472 - Arnold, S., Attinger, S., Frank, K., Baxter, P., Possingham, H., Hildebrandt, A. (2016):
Ecosystem management along ephemeral rivers: trading off socio-economic water supply and vegetation conservation under flood regime uncertainty
River Res. Appl. 32 (3), 219 - 233 10.1002/rra.2853 - Banitz, T., Frank, K., Wick, L.Y., Harms, H., Johst, K. (2016):
Spatial metrics as indicators of biodegradation benefits from bacterial dispersal networks
Ecol. Indic. 60 , 54 - 63 10.1016/j.ecolind.2015.06.021 - Dressler, G., Müller, B., Frank, K., Kuhlicke, C. (2016):
Towards thresholds of disaster management performance under demographic change: exploring functional relationships using agent-based modeling
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci. 16 (10), 2287 - 2301 10.5194/nhess-16-2287-2016 - Martin, R., Linstädter, A., Frank, K., Müller, B. (2016):
Livelihood security in face of drought – Assessing the vulnerability of pastoral households
Environ. Modell. Softw. 75 , 414 - 423 10.1016/j.envsoft.2014.10.012 - Masurowski, F., Drechsler, M., Frank, K. (2016):
A spatially explicit assessment of the wind energy potential in response to an increased distance between wind turbines and settlements in Germany
Energy Policy 97 , 343 - 350 10.1016/j.enpol.2016.07.021 - Schulze, J., Frank, K., Müller, B. (2016):
Governmental response to climate risk: Model-based assessment of livestock supplementation in drylands
Land Use Pol. 54 , 47 - 57 10.1016/j.landusepol.2016.01.007 - Schulze, J., Frank, K., Priess, J., Meyer, M.A. (2016):
Assessing regional-scale impacts of short rotation coppices on ecosystem services by modeling land-use decisions
PLOS One 11 (4), e0153862 10.1371/journal.pone.0153862 - Singer, A., Frank, K. (2016):
Viability of cyclic populations
Ecology 97 (11), 3143 - 3153 10.1002/ecy.1564 - Worrich, A., König, S., Banitz, T., Centler, F., Frank, K., Thullner, M., Harms, H., Miltner, A., Wick, L.Y., Kaestner, M. (2016):
Bacterial dispersal promotes biodegradation in heterogeneous systems exposed to osmotic stress
Front. Microbiol. 7 , art. 1214 10.3389/fmicb.2016.01214 - Worrich, A., König, S., Miltner, A., Banitz, T., Centler, F., Frank, K., Thullner, M., Harms, H., Kästner, M., Wick, L.Y. (2016):
Mycelium-like networks increase bacterial dispersal, growth, and biodegradation in a model ecosystem at various water potentials
Appl. Environ. Microb. 82 (10), 2902 - 2908 10.1128/AEM.03901-15 - Arnold, S., Attinger, S., Frank, K., Hildebrandt, A. (2015):
Assessing the structural adequacy of alternative ecohydrological models using a pattern-oriented approach
Ecol. Model. 316 , 52 - 61 10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2015.08.003 - Jakoby, O., Quaas, M.F., Baumgärtner, S., Frank, K. (2015):
Adapting livestock management to spatio-temporal heterogeneity in semi-arid rangelands
J. Environ. Manage. 162 , 179 - 189 10.1016/j.jenvman.2015.07.047 - Lauf, T., Gawel, E., Frank, K. (2015):
The spatial allocation of renewable power infrastructure - An economic assessment of energy landscapes with an agent-based modelling approach
CSSSA 2015 in Santa Fe, October 29 – November 1
The Computational Social Science Society of the Americas (CSSSA), 1 - 18 - Müller, B., Schulze, J., Kreuer, D., Linstädter, A., Frank, K. (2015):
How to avoid unsustainable side effects of managing climate risk in drylands - The supplementary feeding controversy
Agric. Syst. 139 , 153 - 165 10.1016/j.agsy.2015.07.001
Full List of Publications: Publications