Dr. Felix Witing

Researcher

Department of Computational Landscape Ecology
Helmholtz-Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ)
Permoserstr. 15
04318 Leipzig

Phone: + 49 341 6025-1977
E-Mail:  felix.witing@ufz.de

Felix Witing
Photo: Sebastian Wiedling, 2020

Main research interests

  • Water and nutrient retention in agricultural landscapes: Assessment of climate change impacts and sustainable management strategies
  • Integrated ecohydrological modelling: Spatially explicit analysis of water balance, crop yields, erosion and nutrient transport, including applications of  SWAT/SWAT+
  • Soil carbon and nitrogen dynamics: Regional-scale modelling of the effects of agri-environmental measures, soil management and climate change
  • Biodiversity and ecosystem functioning: Effects of riparian vegetation on stream ecology and aquatic–terrestrial food webs
  • Multi-objective optimisation: Analysis of trade-offs and synergies between agricultural production, water quality, ecosystem services and biodiversity
  • Decision support and knowledge transfer: Development of analytical and visualisation tools to inform practical action and policymaking

Research projects

WAFRA - Water footprint reduction in agriculture.  EU PRIMA . Sub-project: Model-based assessment and optimisation of reduction strategies for the Mediterranean region.

OPTAIN - OPtimal strategies to reTAIN and re-use water and nutrients in small agricultural catchments across different soil-climatic regions in Europe. EU H2020 Project Website .

CROSSLINK - Understanding cross-habitat linkages between blue and green infrastructure to optimize management of biodiversity, ecosystem services and multiple human uses. Subproject: Opimization procedure and learning environment. Project Website .

Dynamische Bilanzierung von Humushaushalt und Nährstoffaustrag im regionalen Maßstab im Kontext von Landnutzungs- und Klimawandel. Project Website ; final report . In cooperation with Gesellschaft für Angewandte Landschaftsforschung ( GALF ) bR and LfULG Sachsen .

Bioenergy Systems Analysis (Project Website): Spatially dependent assessments for biomass and bioenergy production systems. Subproject: Multi-criteria optimization of land use and management pattern in the context of bioenergy production, food production and ecohydrology. In cooperation with Deutsches Biomasseforschungszentrum (DBFZ)




Professional background

2026 -

UFZ Department of Computational Landscape Ecology, Research Group Integrated Modelling and Optimization (IMOP) ; Researcher in the EU Prima project WAFRA - Water footprint reduction in agriculture

2020 - 2026

UFZ Department of Computational Landscape Ecology, Research Group Integrated Modelling and Optimization (IMOP) ; Research associate, project manager and work package lead of the EU H2020 project OPTAIN .

2024

PhD thesis: Dynamics of soil organic matter in agricultural systems: Assessing the impact of bioenergy production, agri-environmental measures and climate at regional scales.  doi

2017 - 2020

UFZ Department of Computational Landscape Ecology, Research Group Integrated Modelling and Optimization (IMOP) ; Research associate in the BiodivERsA project CROSSLINK .

2015 - 2016

UFZ Department of Soil Physics, Research Group C-N-Dynamics ; Research associate

2011 - 2015

UFZ Department of Bioenergy, Research Group Bioenergy Systems Analysis ; Ph.D. Student / research associate

2010 - 2011

Diploma thesis: ”Comparing different model calibration strategies for improved representation of landscape conditions in SWAT at the example of a large heterogeneous catchment”

2010 - 2011

Research Assistent at the UFZ Department Computational Landscape Ecology

2009

Internship at the UFZ Department Computational Landscape Ecology. Research project: Impact of landscape conditions on the hydrological behavior of a catchment area – analyses using the parsimonious model IHACRES.

2008 - 2009

Tutor in data processing and geoinformatics at TU Dresden.

2007 - 2008

Internship at Horticulture and Food Research Institute of New Zealand Ltd, HortResearch Palmerston North (now Plant & Food Research ) at the Department for Sustainable Land Use. Research projekt: "Phosphorus movement in soils: Experiments and Modelling"

2003 - 2011

Student of Geography (Diploma) at the Dresden University of Technology with an academic emphasis on geographical information systems and the minor subjects biology, soil science and meteorology. Participation in the FLOODmaster study program and the supplementary study "Regional Studies of Latin America"
( BELA ).



Publications (selection)

Complete list of publications (PDF) [download]

Piniewski, M., Čerkasova, N., Plunge, S., Strauch, M., Schürz, C., Braun, P., Chiaradia, E.A., Eichenberger, J., Eini, M.R., Farkas, C., Forio, M.A.E., Goethals, P., Kassai, P., Marval, Š., Panique-Casso, D.G., Sanguanini, L., Shore, M., Szabó, B., Slavík, P. & F. Witing (2025): Enhanced crop calibration for SWAT+: evaluating water, sediment and nutrient impacts across ten European catchments. Environmental Modelling & Software 196: 106794.  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsoft.2025.106794  

White, S.E., Witing, F., Wittekind, C.I.H., Volk, M. & M. Strauch (2025): Distilling the Pareto optimal front into actionable insights. Environmental Modelling & Software 191, 106508.  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsoft.2025.106508

Szabó, B., Kassai, P., Plunge, S., Nemes, A., Braun, P., Strauch, M., Witing, F., Mészáros, J., & N. Čerkasova (2024). Addressing soil data needs and data gaps in catchment-scale environmental modelling: The European perspective. SOIL, 10(2), 587–617.  https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-10-587-2024

Magnier, J., Fribourg-Blanc, B., Lemann, T., Witing, F., Critchley, W. & M. Volk (2024): Natural/Small Water Retention Measures: Their Contribution to Ecosystem-Based Concepts. Sustainability 16, 1308.  https://doi.org/10.3390/su16031308

Witing, F., Volk, M. & U. Franko (2023): Modeling Soil Organic Carbon Dynamics of Arable Land across Scales: A Simplified Assessment of Alternative Management Practices on the Level of Administrative Units. Agronomy 13(4): 1159.  https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy13041159

Witing, F., Forio, M.A.E., Burdon, F.J., McKie, B.G., Goethals, P.L.M., Strauch, M. & M. Volk (2022): Riparian reforestation on the landscape scale: Navigating trade‐offs among agricultural production, ecosystem functioning and biodiversity. Journal of Applied Ecology 59(6): 1456–1471.  https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2664.14176

Burdon, F.J., Ramberg, E., Sargac, J., Forio, M.A.E., de Saeyer, N., Mutinova, P.T., Moe, T.F., Pavelescu, M.O., Dinu, V., Cazacu, C., Witing, F., Kupilas, B., Grandin, U., Volk, M., Rîşnoveanu, G., Goethals, P., Friberg, N., Johnson, R.K. & B.G. McKie (2020): Assessing the Benefits of Forested Riparian Zones: A Qualitative Index of Riparian Integrity Is Positively Associated with Ecological Status in European Streams. Water 12(4): 1178.  https://doi.org/10.3390/w12041178

Bartkowski, B., Beckmann, M., Drechsler, M., Kaim, A., Liebelt, V., Müller, B., Witing, F., & M. Strauch (2020): Aligning Agent-Based Modeling With Multi-Objective Land-Use Allocation: Identification of Policy Gaps and Feasible Pathways to Biophysically Optimal Landscapes. Frontiers in Environmental Science 8:103.  https://doi.org/10.3389/fenvs.2020.00103

Witing, F., Gebel, M., Kurzer, H.-J., Friese, H. & U. Franko (2019): Large-scale integrated assessment of soil carbon and organic matter-related nitrogen fluxes in Saxony (Germany). Journal of Environmental Management 237: 272-280.  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2019.02.036

Witing, F., Prays, N., O’Keeffe, S., Gründling, R., Gebel, M., Kurzer, H.-J., Daniel-Gromke, J. & U. Franko (2018): Biogas production and changes in soil carbon input - A regional analysis. Geoderma 320: 105–114.  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoderma.2018.01.030


Publication databases

ORCID:  [Link]

Google Scholar:   [Link]

2026 (8)

2025 (6)

2024 (9)

2023 (5)

2022 (7)

2021 (1)

2020 (6)

2019 (2)

2018 (1)

2017 (2)

2016 (2)

2015 (2)

  • Franko, U., Witing, F., Jäckel, G., Volk, M. (2015):
    Large-scale identification of hot spots for soil carbon demand under climate change and bioenergy production
    J. Plant Nutr. Soil Sci. 178 (2), 199 - 208
    10.1002/jpln.201400241
  • Vohland, K., Doyle, U., Albert, C., Bertram, C., Biber-Freudenberger, L., Bonn, A., Brenck, M., Burkhard, B., Förster, J., Fuchs, E., Galler, C., von Haaren, C., Ibisch, P.L., Kaphengst, T., Klassert, C., Klenke, R., Klotz, S., Kreft, S., Kühn, I., Marquard, E., Mehl, D., Meinke, I., Naumann, K., Reckermann, M., Rehdanz, K., Rüter, S., Saathoff, W., Sauermann, J., Scholz, M., Schröder, U., Seppelt, R., Thrän, D., Witing, F. (2015):
    Ökosystemleistungen, Biodiversität und Klimawandel: Grundlagen
    In: Hartje, V., Wüstemann, H., Bonn, A. (Hrsg.)
    Naturkapital Deutschland – TEEB DE: Naturkapital und Klimapolitik - Synergien und Konflikte
    Technische Universität Berlin ; Helmholtz-Zentrum für Umweltforschung – UFZ, Berlin, Leipzig, S. 66 - 99

2012 (3)