Dr. Stephan Getzin

Contact

Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ

Department of Ecological Modelling

Permoserstr. 15
04318 Leipzig
Germany

stephan.getzin@ufz.de    

Stephan Getzin

Research Interests

  • Remotely Sensed Pattern Analysis
  • Spatial Statistics
  • Application of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV)
  • Forest Ecology
  • Biodiversity Research
  • Nature Conservation
  • Dryland Research
  • Self-Organization of Vegetation


Google Scholar Profile


Research in the Media

DRONES Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV)

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) or drones are increasingly used for mapping natural habitats. We have started working with drones in 2008, at a time when the technology was not yet fully reliable. The forest project was covered in several media and had a press release at the University of Göttingen.

Since 2014 we have a new high-tech drone with several sensors such as a LiDAR for 3D-mapping, a multi-spectral camera, a thermal and a photo camera (left image). This drone was introduced in SPEKTRUM. The central animated image shows a tree plantation of a biodiversity experiment. The 3D-LiDAR images represent different echos of the laser pulse. The lower image shows temperature isotherms of an open habitat with water ponds and bushes.



Publications

aus Getzin, S., Holch, S., Yizhaq, H. & Wiegand, K. (2022) Plant water stress, not termite herbivory, causes Namibia’s fairy circles. Perspectives in Plant Ecology, Evolution and Systematics (Link)
aus Getzin, S., Löns, C., Yizhaq, H., Erickson, T. E., Muñoz-Rojas, M., Huth, A. & Wiegand, K. (2021) High-resolution images and drone-based LiDAR reveal striking patterns of vegetation gaps in a wooded spinifex grassland of Western Australia. Landscape Ecology (Link)
aus Getzin, S., Nambwandja, A., Holch, S. & Wiegand, K. (2021) Revisiting Theron’s hypothesis on the origin of fairy circles after four decades: Euphorbias are not the cause. BMC Ecology and Evolution, 21, 102. (Link)
aus Getzin, S., Erickson, T. E., Yizhaq, H., Muñoz-Rojas, M., Huth, A. & Wiegand, K. (2021) Bridging ecology and physics: Australian fairy circles regenerate following model assumptions on ecohydrological feedbacks. Journal of Ecology, 109, 399-416. (Link)
aus Getzin, S., Yizhaq, H., Muñoz-Rojas, M., Wiegand, K. & Erickson, T. E. (2019) A multi-scale study of Australian fairy circles using soil excavations and drone-based image analysis. Ecosphere, 10(2), e02620. (Link)
wirong Chanthorn, W., Wiegand, T., Getzin, S., Brockelman, W.Y. & Nathalang, A. (2018) Spatial patterns of local species richness reveal importance of frugivores for tropical forest diversity. Journal of Ecology, 106, 925 - 935. (Link)
Kilibild Getzin, S., Fischer, R., Knapp, N. & Huth, A. (2017) Using airborne LiDAR to assess spatial heterogeneity in forest structure on Mount Kilimanjaro. Landscape Ecology, 32, 1881-1894.(Link)
Spatial_Review Velázquez, E., Martínez, I., Getzin, S., Moloney, K.A. & Wiegand, T. (2016) An evaluation of the state of spatial point pattern analysis in ecology. Ecography, 39, 1042-1055. (Link)
Howe_small Getzin, S., Yizhaq, H., Bell, B., Erickson, T.E., Postle, A.C., Katra, I., Tzuk, O., Zelnik, Y.R., Wiegand, K., Wiegand, T. & Meron, E. (2016) Discovery of fairy circles in Australia supports self-organization theory. PNAS, 113, 3551–3556.
Fairy Circles Getzin, S., Wiegand, K., Wiegand, T., Yizhaq, H., von Hardenberg, J. & Meron, E. (2015) Adopting a spatially explicit perspective to study the mysterious fairy circles of Namibia. Ecography, 38, 1-11.
Sri_Lanka3_klein Punchi-Manage, R., Wiegand, T., Wiegand, K., Getzin, S., Huth, A., Gunatilleke, C.V.S. & Gunatilleke, I.A.U.N. (2015) Neighborhood diversity of large trees shows independent species patterns in a mixed dipterocarp forest in Sri Lanka. Ecology, 96, 1823–1834. (Link)
Drohne Getzin, S., Nuske, R.S. & Wiegand, K. (2014) Using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) to quantify spatial gap patterns in forests. Remote Sensing, 6, 6988-7004. (Link)
BCI Getzin, S., Wiegand, T. & Hubbell, S.P. (2014) Stochastically driven adult-recruit associations of tree species on Barro Colorado Island. Proceedings of the Royal Society B, 281, 20140922. (Link)
Vietnam2_klein Nguyen, H., Wiegand, K. & Getzin, S. (2014) Spatial patterns and demographics of Streblus macrophyllus trees in a tropical evergreen forest, Vietnam. Journal of Tropical Forest Science, 26, 309–319.
Vietnam Nguyen, H., Wiegand, K. & Getzin, S. (2014) Spatial distributions of tropical tree species in northern Vietnam under environmentally variable site conditions. Journal of Forestry Research, 25, 257-268.
Sinharaja Punchi-Manage, R., Wiegand, T., Wiegand, K., Getzin, S., Gunatilleke, C.V.S. & Gunatilleke, I.A.U.N. (2014) Effect of spatial processes and topography on structuring species assemblages in a Sri Lankan dipterocarp forest. Ecology, 95, 376-386.
Gutianshan Zhu, Y., Getzin, S., Wiegand, T., Ren, H. & Ma, K. (2013) The relative importance of Janzen-Connell effects in influencing the spatial patterns at the Gutianshan subtropical forest. PLoS ONE, 8, e74560.
Gossner, M.M., Getzin, S., Lange, M., Pašalic, E., Türke, M., Wiegand, K., & Weisser, W.W. (2013) The importance of heterogeneity revisited from a multiscale and multitaxa approach. Biological Conservation, 166, 212-220.
Walter Ward, D., Wiegand, K., Getzin, S. (2013) Walter's two-layer hypothesis revisited: back to the roots! Oecologia, 172, 617-630.

Sinharaja Punchi-Manage, R., Getzin, S., Wiegand, T., Kanagaraj, R., Gunatilleke, C.V.S., Gunatilleke, I.A.U N., Wiegand, K. & Huth, A. (2013) Effects of topography on structuring local species assemblages in a Sri Lankan mixed dipterocarp forest. Journal of Ecology, 101, 149-160. (Link)
ProceedingsB Wiegand, T., Huth, A., Getzin, S., Wang, X., Hao, Z., Gunatilleke, C.V.S. & Gunatilleke, I.A.U N. (2012) Testing the independent species' arrangement assertion made by theories of stochastic geometry of biodiversity. Proceedings of the Royal Society B, 279, 3312-3320. (Link)
cover_meeGetzin, S., Wiegand, K. & Schoening, I. (2012) Assessing biodiversity in forests using very high-resolution images and unmanned aerial vehicles. Methods in Ecology and Evolution, 3, 397-404. (Link)
Lan_et_al Lan, G., Getzin, S., Wiegand, T., Hu, Y., Xie, G., Zhu, H. & Cao, M. (2012) Spatial distribution and interspecific associations of tree species in a tropical seasonal rain forest of China. PLoS ONE, 7, e46074.



Getzin, S. , Worbes, M., Wiegand, T. & Wiegand, K. (2011) Size dominance regulates tree spacing more than competition within height classes in tropical Cameroon. Journal of Tropical Ecology, 27, 93-102.

Heterogeneity_OeM_GS1Getzin, S. , Wiegand, T., Wiegand, K. & He, F. (2008) Heterogeneity influences spatial patterns and demographics in forest stands. Journal of Ecology, 96, 807-820. (Link)
Dronfield_Ranch_RS_OeM_GS6Moustakas, A., Wiegand, K., Getzin, S. , Ward, D., Meyer, K.M., Guenther, M. & Mueller, K.-H. (2008) Spacing patterns of an Acacia tree in the Kalahari over a 61-year period: how clumped becomes regular and vice versa. Acta Oecologica, 33, 355-364.

Crown_Areas_OeM_GS4Getzin, S. , Wiegand, K., Schumacher, J. & Gougeon, F.A. (2008) Scale-dependent competition at the stand level assessed from crown areas. Forest Ecology and Management, 255, 2478-2485.

Asymmetric_growth_OeM_GS2Getzin, S. & Wiegand, K. (2007) Asymmetric tree growth at the stand level: Random crown patterns and the response to slope. Forest Ecology and Management, 242, 165-174.

Fire_OeM_GS8Getzin, S. (2007) Structural Fire Effects in the World's Savannas. A Synthesis for Biodiversity and Land-Use Managers. VDM Verlag, Saarbruecken. Book-ISBN: 978-3-8364-3664-9

Chronopattern_OeM_GS3Getzin, S. , Dean, C., He, F., Trofymow, J.A., Wiegand, K. & Wiegand, T. (2006) Spatial patterns and competition of tree species in a Douglas-fir chronosequence on Vancouver Island. Ecography, 29, 671-682. (Link)
Waterhole_OeM_GS9Getzin, S. (2005) The suitability of the degradation gradient method in arid Namibia. African Journal of Ecology, 43, 340-351.

Fairy1_OeM_GS7 Becker, T. & Getzin, S. (2000) The fairy circles of Kaokoland (North-West-Namibia) - origin, distribution, and characteristics. Basic and Applied Ecology, 1, 149-159.