Projects:

Research interests

Understanding and addressing anthropogenic pressures on biodiversity and ecosystems, especially through habitat loss, fragmentation, land-use changes and climate changes. Agriculture, especially intensive agriculture, exerts pressures both on our society and the environment - but how do EU policies address these pressures, and what solutions are fostered to maximise win-wins? Through interdisciplinary research I ask how the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) affects both nature and people as a complex Socio-Ecological System. In projects AgriDiv, CAP4GI, Agroecology-TRANSECT and LAFERIA we focus also on the EU's Nature Restoration Restoration and the Green Deal as a whole, asking how European policies can help expanding good agroecological practices, and benefit farmers and (rural) society.

Our work feeds frequently to the Science-Policy Dialogue, from local to EU levels.

Butterfly monitoring and citizen science: Addressing anthropogenic pressures on biodiversity requires both people and data, to evaluate how what people do affect the environment. Butterflies are superb bioindicators for a range of reasons. Engaging volunteers in observing butterflies helps engaging the public and animating conservation action. As a butterfly expert, I participated in founding the Israeli Butterfly Monitoring Scheme (BMS-IL) in 2009, and since 2020, I'm (co-)leading the German project VielFalterGarten and participating in the EU Horizon Europe project UNP+. In both projects we seek to expand citizen science (butterfly monitoring and action) in urban areas, while in Agroecology-TRANSECT we also try to expand butterfly monitoring in rural areas. Thereby, we try to close knowledge gaps and empower citizens to support evidence-based decision-making.

People and Projects

Agriculture and Ecosystems hub members:

Dr. Elizabeth Finch (Post-doc, project Agroecology-TRANSECT)

Linn Schaan (PhD student, Agroecology-TRANSECT)

Daniel Vedder (PhD student, CAP4GI)

Lea Kolb (PhD student, CAP4GI)

Maria Moosdorf (project assistant, iCAP-BES / Agroecology-TRANSECT)

Marco Matthies (technician, CAP4GI)

Sameer Khatri (intern, ETC-BE / LAFERIA)

Butterfly-related:

Dr. Stefanie Henkel (post-doc, UNP+)

Laura Härter (PhD student, Uni Leipzig)

Friedrich Flämig (student assistant, UNP+, VielFalterGarten)

Yaku Feick (student assistant)

Carla Cerda (assistant, project iCAP-BES)

Klara Bogs (assistant, Agroecology-TRANSECT)

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Science-policy and science-communication work

The work in our hub produces policy-relevant knowledge, which we try to communicate and discuss with policymakers and the public.

Example videos:

Tree crops are key to advancing SDGs (Press release; Agrecology-TRANSECT)

Video: fallow land is important! (Brachen sind wichtig!) (CAP4GI project; In German)

Butterflies in the city (Schmetterlinge in der Stadt) (VielFalterGarten; In German)

Selected publications:

2024:

Martinez-Nuñez, C., Velado-Alonso, E., Avelino, J., Rey, P. J., ten Hoopen, G. M., Pe’er, G., Zou, Y., Liu, Y., Antwi-Agyei, P., Rusch, A., Staver, C., Priyadarshana, T. S., Sonwa, D. J., Buchori, D., Garibaldi, L. A., Concepción, E. D., Lewis, O. T., Perfecto, I., Bartomeus, I. (2024). Tailored policies for perennial woody crops are crucial to advance Sustainable Development. Nature Sustainability. DOI: 10.1038/s41893-024-01483-8

2023:

Hering D, Schürings C, Wenskus F, Blackstock K, Borja A, Birk S, Bullock C, Carvalho L, Dagher-Kharrat MB, Lakner S, Lovrić N., ... & Pe’er, G. (2023) Securing success for the nature restoration law. Science, 15; 382(6676):1248-50.

2022:

Pe'er, G., Finn, J.A., Díaz, M., Birkenstock, M., Lakner, S., Röder, N., Kazakova, Y., Šumrada, T., Bezák, P., Concepción, E.D. and Dänhardt, J., 2022. How can the European Common Agricultural Policy help halt biodiversity loss? Recommendations by over 300 experts. Conservation Letters, 15(6), p.e12901.