Research group

Biodiversity and Ecosystem services (BIOECOS)

Methodological focus
Our research focuses on monitoring, mapping and modeling spatio-temporal patterns of biodiversity and ecosystem services. It comprises conceptual work, applied case studies and the development of methods. Our aims are:
  • First, to understand the impacts of different land use systems on species distributions and the capacity of ecosystems to provide ecosystem services.
  • Secondly, to characterize and quantify trade-offs and synergies among ecosystem services and between ecosystem services and biodiversity.
  • Thirdly, to explore the suitability of information derived from remote sensing or other geospatial data to help inform decision-making and to develop future monitoring capabilities.
Collaboration across disciplines is of central importance for our research. We are concerned with a broad range of spatial scales, from the local (individuals, populations) to the national as well as continental/global level.

Methodological focus

  • Geospatial analysis of large databases on biodiversity and ecosystem services using macroecological methods and statistical modeling
  • Novel techniques to monitor biodiversity in agricultural landscapes (e.g. audiomoth)
  • AI assisted analysis of biodiversity monitoring data
  • Analysis of remote sensing products (e.g. Land Surface Temperature, Vegetation Indices, Leaf Area Index, UV-B radiation) for monitoring biodiversity and ecosystem services
  • Systematic reviews and meta-analyses

Contacts

Dr. Michael Beckmann

Phone: +49 (0)341 235 1946
Fax: +49 (0)341 235 1939
michael.beckmann@ufz.de

Anne Paulus

Phone: +49 (0)341 235 1070
anne.paulus@ufz.de

Projects

  • BESTMAP - Behavioural, Ecological and Socio-economic Tools for Modelling Agricultural Policy; Horizon 2020 project funded by the European Commission

Former Projects

  • WAKANAKA: Ermittlung naturschutzbezogener Kriterien in der Umweltprüfung der Bedarfsplanung für Stromnetze und in der Bundesfachplanung zur Erhöhung der Planungssicherheit und Verhinderung von Zielkonflikten more information
  • ECOPOTENTIAL: improving future ecosystem benefits through earth observations more information
  • TALE - Towards multifunctional agricultural landscapes in Europe: Assessing and governing synergies between food production, biodiversity and ecosystem services more information
  • LEGATO: Land-use intensity and Ecological Engineering – Assessment Tools for risks and Opportunities in irrigated rice based production systems more information
  • Improving species distribution models of endangered plants in Mexico (completed) more information

Frequent collaborators

  • University of Dresden, Chair of Computational Landscape Ecology Link
  • University of Leeds, School of Geography (UK) Link
  • Palacký University Olomouc, Faculty of Science, Department of Ecology & Environmental Sciences (Czech Republic) Link
  • German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig Link
  • The National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center (SESYNC) at the University of Maryland (USA) Link
  • University of Southampton, Geography and Environmental Science Link
  • Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Faculty of Science, Environmental Geography Link
  • Stony Brook University (USA), Department of Ecology & Evolution Link

Recent publications

2023 (1)

2022 (4)

  • Beckmann, M., Didenko, G., Bullock, J.M., Cord, A.F., Paulus, A., Ziv, G., Václavík, T. (2022):
    Archetypes of agri-environmental potential: a multi-scale typology for spatial stratification and upscaling in Europe
    Environ. Res. Lett. 17 (11), art. 115008
    full text (doi)
  • Díaz, S., Kattge, J., Cornelissen, J.H.C., Wright, I.J., Lavorel, S., Dray, S., Reu, B., Kleyer, M., Wirth, C., Prentice, I.C., Garnier, E., Bönisch, G., Westoby, M., Poorter, H., Reich, P.B., Moles, A.T., Dickie, J., Zanne, A.E., Chave, J., Wright, S.J., Sheremetiev, S.N., Jactel, H., Baraloto, C., Cerabolini, B.E.L., Pierce, S., Shipley, B., Casanoves, F., Joswig, J.S., Günther, A., Falczuk, V., Rüger, N., Mahecha, M.D., Gorné, L.D., Amiaud, B., Atkin, O.K., Bahn, M., Baldocchi, D., Beckmann, M., Blonder, B., Bond, W., Bond-Lamberty, B., Brown, K., Burrascano, S., Byun, C., Campetella, G., Cavender-Bares, J., Stuart Chapin III, F., Choat, B., Coomes, D.A., Cornwell, W.K., Craine, J., Craven, D., Dainese, M., de Araujo, A.C., de Vries, F.T., Ferreira Domingues, T., Enquist, B.J., Fagúndez, J., Fang, J., Fernández-Méndez, F., Fernandez-Piedade, M.T., Ford, H., Forey, E., Freschet, G.T., Gachet, S., Gallagher, R., Green, W., Guerin, G.R., Gutiérrez, A.G., Harrison, S.P., Hattingh, W.N., He, T., Hickler, T., Higgins, S.I., Higuchi, P., Ilic, J., Jackson, R.B., Jalili, A., Jansen, S., Koike, F., König, C., Kraft, N., Kramer, K., Kreft, H., Kühn, I., Kurokawa, H., Lamb, E.G., Laughlin, D.C., Leishman, M., Lewis, S., Louault, F., Malhado, A.C.M., Manning, P., Meir, P., Mencuccini, M., Messier, J., Miller, R., Minden, V., Molofsky, J., Montgomery, R., Montserrat-Martí, G., Moretti, M., Müller, S., Niinemets, Ü., Ogaya, R., Öllerer, K., Onipchenko, V., Onoda, Y., Ozinga, W.A., Pausas, J.G., Peco, B., Penuelas, J., Pillar, V.D., Pladevall, C., Römermann, C., Sack, L., Salinas, N., Sandel, B., Sardans, J., Schamp, B., Scherer-Lorenzen, M., Schulze, E.-D., Schweingruber, F., Shiodera, S., Sosinski, E., Soudzilovskaia, N., Spasojevic, M.J., Swaine, E., Swenson, N., Tautenhahn, S., Thompson, K., Totte, A., Urrutia-Jalabert, R., Valladares, F., van Bodegom, P., Vasseur, F., Verheyen, K., Vile, D., Violle, C., von Holle, B., Weigelt, P., Weiher, E., Wiemann, M.C., Williams, M., Wright, J., Zotz, G. (2022):
    The global spectrum of plant form and function: enhanced species-level trait dataset
    Sci. Data 9 , art. 755
    full text (doi)
  • Paulus, A., Hagemann, N., Baaken, M.C., Roilo, S., Alarcón-Segura, V., Cord, A.F., Beckmann, M. (2022):
    Landscape context and farm characteristics are key to farmers' adoption of agri-environmental schemes
    Land Use Pol. 121 , art. 106320
    full text (doi)
  • Wittstock, F., Paulus, A., Beckmann, M., Hagemann, N., Baaken, M.C. (2022):
    Understanding farmers' decision-making on agri-environmental schemes: A case study from Saxony, Germany
    Land Use Pol. 122 , art. 106371
    full text (doi)

2021 (5)

2020 (7)