Dr. Franziska Taubert
Leader of Working Group Grassland Modelling
Contact
Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ
Department of Ecological Modelling
Permoserstr. 15
04318 Leipzig
Germany
Building 1.0, Room 202
Tel.: +49 341 235-1896
Fax: +49 341 235-451896
franziska.taubert@ufz.de

Research interests
... cover the areas of vegetation ecology and ecological modelling with focus on grassland ecology and modelling. By developing and applying process-based grassland models, the working group aims to understand the dynamics of temperate grasslands with special interest on:
(a) emergence and maintenance of biodiversity in grasslands,
(b) links between plant trait diversity, plant species dynamics and ecosystem functioning of grasslands,
(c) applying and linking ecological models of different complexity for building and testing ecological theory.
Additional interests:
- transferring and applying concepts from physics and related disciplines to ecology
- identifying and explaining emergent vegetation patterns from field data and remote sensing products
- analysing and advancing statistical methods in vegetation ecology
Main research areas/projects
Simulating species-rich grasslands with GRASSMIND
We have developed the dynamic grassland model GRASSMIND (individual- and process-based) for simulating plant growth and dynamics of species-rich grasslands (including management). The model simulates the daily growth dynamics of individual plants and thereby explicitly considers
- competition between individual plants for light, space, soil water and nitrogen
- different management regimes (e.g. mowing, irrigation, fertilization)
- climatic variables and potential changes (e.g. increasing air temperatures, reduced soil water)
Since its initial development, the model constantly has further been advanced and applied to different German study sites to understand how plant traits (and related vegetation processes) influence grassland productivity and species composition.
Important publications:
- Hetzer, J., Huth, A., Taubert, F., (2021): The importance of plant trait variability in grasslands: a modelling study. Ecol. Model. 453 , art. 109606. full text (doi)
- Schmid, J.S., Huth, A., Taubert, F., (2021): Influences of traits and processes on productivity and functional composition in grasslands: A modeling study. Ecol. Model. 440 , art. 109395. full text (doi)
- Taubert, F., Hetzer, J., Schmid, J.S., Huth, A., (2020): The role of species traits for grassland productivity. Ecosphere 11 (7), e03205. full text (doi)
- Taubert, F., Hetzer, J., Schmid, J.S., Huth, A., (2020): Confronting an individual-based simulation model with empirical community patterns of grasslands. PLOS One 15 (7), e0236546. full text (doi)
- Taubert, F., Frank, K., Huth, A., (2012): A review of grassland models in the biofuel context. Ecol. Model. 245 , 84 - 93. full text (doi)
Here you can download the GRASSMIND model and its model description.
Understanding global forest fragmentation patterns
By the analysis of high-resolution remote sensing data, we show that in the tropics and subtropics similar patterns of the distribution of fragment sizes across the continents America, Africa and Asia-Australia emerge. These patterns closely follow analytical predictions of percolation theory at some specific point (critical point of percolation). We developed a dynamic fragmentation model based on principles of percolation theory which allows to simulate fragmentation of coninental-wide tropical forest areas (of 30 m resolution). In our simulations, we demonstrate that beyond the critical point continental tropical landscapes will consist of 33-fold small and isolated forest fragments in the future if deforestation proceeds as currently observed. Our scenario analysis shows that even efforts of reforestation and decreased deforestation still would lead to an enhanced fragmentation of forests.
See also
Publication: Global patterns of tropical forest fragmentation
Download (accepted manuscript version of 9 January 2018) (1.4 MB)
Online-Blog (Nature Ecology & Evolution Community, Behind the Paper)
Forests and Grassland Dynamics
Remote Sensing and Ecological Modelling
The aerial photo shows forest fragments of the Brazilian Atlantic rainforest in Northeastern Brazil (Mata Atlântica), surrounded by sugar cane plantations.
Photo: Mateus Dantas de Paula
Explaining the structure of tropcial forests
We developed a forest packing model (FPM) which uses simple principles of stochastic geometry and successfully reproduces the structure of natural tropical forests in terms of
- their tree size distribution,
- vertical leaf area distribution, and
- local horizontal structure (e.g. local forest height, local packing density)
See also
Publication: The structure of tropical forests and sphere packings (open-access)
- Dressler, G., Groeneveld, J., Hetzer, J., Janischewski, A., Nolzen, H., Rödig, E., Schwarz, N., Taubert, F., Thober, J., Will, M., Williams, T., Wirth, S.B., Müller, B. (2022):
Upscaling in socio-environmental systems modelling: Current challenges, promising strategies and insights from ecology
Socio-Environmental Systems Modelling 4 , art. 18112
full text (doi) - Liebscher, E., Taubert, F., Waltschew, D., Hetzer, J. (2022):
Modelling multivariate data using product copulas and minimum distance estimators: an exemplary application to ecological traits
Environ. Ecol. Stat. 29 (2), 315 - 338
full text (doi) - Schmid, J.S., Huth, A., Taubert, F. (2022):
Impact of mowing frequency and temperature on the production of temperate grasslands: explanations received by an individual-based model
Oikos 2022 (9), e09108
full text (doi) - Clark, A.T., Arnoldi, J.-F., Zelnik, Y.R., Barabas, G., Hodapp, D., Karakoç, C., König, S., Radchuk, V., Donohue, I., Huth, A., Jacquet, C., de Mazancourt, C., Mentges, A., Nothaaß, D., Shoemaker, L.G., Taubert, F., Wiegand, T., Wang, S., Chase, J.M., Loreau, M., Harpole, S. (2021):
General statistical scaling laws for stability in ecological systems
Ecol. Lett. 24 (7), 1474 - 1486
full text (doi) - Fischer, R., Taubert, F., Müller, M.S., Groeneveld, J., Lehmann, S., Wiegand, T., Huth, A. (2021):
Accelerated forest fragmentation leads to critical increase in tropical forest edge area
Sci. Adv. 7 (37), eabg7012
full text (doi) - Hetzer, J., Huth, A., Taubert, F. (2021):
The importance of plant trait variability in grasslands: a modelling study
Ecol. Model. 453 , art. 109606
full text (doi) - Maréchaux, I., Langerwisch, F., Huth, A., Bugmann, H., Morin, X., Reyer, C.P.O., Seidl, R., Collalti, A., Dantas de Paula, M., Fischer, R., Gutsch, M., Lexer, M.J., Lischke, H., Rammig, A., Rödig, E., Sakschewski, B., Taubert, F., Thonicke, K., Vacchiano, G., Bohn, F.J. (2021):
Tackling unresolved questions in forest ecology: The past and future role of simulation models
Ecol. Evol. 11 (9), 3746 - 3770
full text (doi) - Schmid, J.S., Huth, A., Taubert, F. (2021):
Influences of traits and processes on productivity and functional composition in grasslands: A modeling study
Ecol. Model. 440 , art. 109395
full text (doi) - Taubert, F., Fischer, R., Knapp, N., Huth, A. (2021):
Deriving tree size distributions of tropical forests from lidar
Remote Sens. 13 (1), art. 131
full text (doi) - Wirth, S.B., Taubert, F., Tietjen, B., Müller, C., Rolinski, S. (2021):
Do details matter? Disentangling the processes related to plant species interactions in two grassland models of different complexity
Ecol. Model. 460 , art. 109737
full text (doi) - di Porcia e Brugnera, M., Fischer, R., Taubert, F., Huth, A., Verbeeck, H. (2020):
Lianas in silico, ecological insights from a model of structural parasitism
Ecol. Model. 431 , art. 109159
full text (doi) - Schmid, J.S., Taubert, F., Wiegand, T., Sun, I.-F., Huth, A. (2020):
Network science applied to forest megaplots: tropical tree species coexist in small-world networks
Sci. Rep. 10 , art. 13198
full text (doi) - Shoemaker, L.G., Sullivan, L.L., Donohue, I., Cabral, J.S., Williams, R.J., Mayfield, M.M., Chase, J.M., Chu, C., Harpole, W.S., Huth, A., HilleRisLambers, J., James, A.R.M., Kraft, N.J.B., May, F., Muthukrishnan, R., Satterlee, S., Taubert, F., Wang, X., Wiegand, T., Yang, Q., Abbott, K.C. (2020):
Integrating the underlying structure of stochasticity into community ecology
Ecology 101 (2), e02922
full text (doi) - Taubert, F., Hetzer, J., Schmid, J.S., Huth, A. (2020):
The role of species traits for grassland productivity
Ecosphere 11 (7), e03205
full text (doi) - Taubert, F., Hetzer, J., Schmid, J.S., Huth, A. (2020):
Confronting an individual-based simulation model with empirical community patterns of grasslands
PLOS One 15 (7), e0236546
full text (doi) - Dantas de Paula, M., Groeneveld, J., Fischer, R., Taubert, F., Martins, V.F., Huth, A. (2018):
Defaunation impacts on seed survival and its effect on the biomass of future tropical forests
Oikos 127 (10), 1526 - 1538
full text (doi) - Landuyt, D., Perring, M.P., Seidl, R., Taubert, F., Verbeeck, H., Verheyen, K. (2018):
Modelling understorey dynamics in temperate forests under global change–Challenges and perspectives
Perspect. Plant Ecol. Evol. Syst. 31 , 44 - 54
full text (doi) - Rödig, E., Cuntz, M., Rammig, A., Fischer, R., Taubert, F., Huth, A. (2018):
The importance of forest structure for carbon fluxes of the Amazon rainforest
Environ. Res. Lett. 13 (5), art. 054013
full text (doi) - Taubert, F., Fischer, R., Groeneveld, J., Lehmann, S., Müller, M.S., Rödig, E., Wiegand, T., Huth, A. (2018):
Global patterns of tropical forest fragmentation
Nature 554 (7693), 519 - 522
full text (doi) - Naegler, T., Szarka, N., Henning, H.-M., Brendel, R., Niepelt, R., Taubert, F., Fischedick, M. (2017):
Transformationsszenarien für das deutsche Energiesystem
In: Szczepanski, P., Wunschick, F., Martin, N. (Hrsg.)
Forschung für die Energiewende : die Gestaltung des Energiesystems. Beiträge zur Jahrestagung 2016 des ForschungsVerbunds Erneuerbare Energien, 2. und 3. November 2016, Umweltforum Berlin. FVEE-Themen
FVEE-Themen
ForschungsVerbund Erneuerbare Energien (FVEE), Berlin, S. 6 - 10
full text (url) - Fischer, R., Bohn, F., Dantas de Paula, M., Dislich, C., Groeneveld, J., Gutiérrez, A.G., Kazmierczak, M., Knapp, N., Lehmann, S., Paulick, S., Pütz, S., Rödig, E., Taubert, F., Köhler, P., Huth, A. (2016):
Lessons learned from applying a forest gap model to understand ecosystem and carbon dynamics of complex tropical forests
Ecol. Model. 326 , 124 - 133
full text (doi) - Kazmierczak, M., Backmann, P., Fedriani, J.M., Fischer, R., Hartmann, A.K., Huth, A., May, F., Müller, M.S., Taubert, F., Grimm, V., Groeneveld, J. (2016):
Monodominance in tropical forests: modelling reveals emerging clusters and phase transitions
J. R. Soc. Interface 13 (117), art. 0123
full text (doi) - Taubert, F., Jahn, M.W., Dobner, H.-J., Wiegand, T., Huth, A. (2015):
The structure of tropical forests and sphere packings
Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 112 (49), 15125 - 15129
full text (doi) - Taubert, F. (2014):
Modelling and analysing the structure and dynamics of species-rich grasslands and forests
Dissertation, Universität Osnabrück
PhD Dissertation 5/2014
Helmholtz-Zentrum für Umweltforschung - UFZ, Leipzig, 148 pp. - Taubert, F., Hartig, F., Dobner, H.-J., Huth, A. (2013):
On the challenge of fitting tree size distributions in ecology
PLOS One 8 (2), e58036
full text (doi) - Taubert, F., Frank, K., Huth, A. (2012):
A review of grassland models in the biofuel context
Ecol. Model. 245 , 84 - 93
full text (doi)
since 2019 | Leader of Working Group Grassland Modelling |
since 2013 | Postdoc at the Department of Ecological Modelling |
2010 - 2013 | PhD student at the Department of Ecological Modelling |
2008 - 2010 | Master in Applied Mathematics at the University of Applied Science (HTWK) Leipzig |
2004 - 2008 | Diploma in Business Mathematics at the University of Applied Science (HTWK) Leipzig |