Dissertationsprojekte

 

---

Retention von Mikroplastik und Mikroplastik-assoziiertem Kohlenstoff in Forstökosystemen verschiedener Bestandsdichten und Höhenlagen

Malin Klein
malin.klein"AT"uni-hamburg.de

Betreuung durch: Dr. Elke Fischer und Prof. Dr. Jürgen Böhner

Laufzeit seit: 2023

Die Zielsetzung des Promotionsvorhabens „Retention von Mikroplastik und Mikroplastik-assoziiertem Kohlenstoff in Forstökosystemen verschiedener Bestandsdichten und Höhenlagen“ ist die grundlegende und ganzheitliche Untersuchung der Häufigkeit und Verteilung von Mikroplastik in Waldökosystemen. Der Schwerpunkt liegt auf der Analyse potenzieller Quellen, des Transports von Mikroplastik über die atmosphärische Deposition und der Retention innerhalb des Kronenraums. Des Weiteren wird der vertikale Transport innerhalb des Bestands in die organische Auflage sowie in den Ober- und Unterboden untersucht.

Da Kunststoffe überwiegend aus Mineralöl hergestellt werden, stellt deren Freisetzung einen relevanten Eintrag von organischem Kohlenstoff in Ökosysteme dar. Der Transport von Mikroplastik-assoziiertem Kohlenstoff über die Atmosphäre und Vegetation in die
verschiedenen ökosystemaren Waldkompartimente soll innerhalb dieses Projektes erstmals identifiziert und untersucht werden soll.

Methodisch kombiniert das Promotionsvorhaben etablierte Methoden der Probenahme, der Probenaufbereitung und der Partikelanalyse, die insbesondere für Partikelgrößen bis zu 10 μm geeignet sind. Zur Identifizierung von Mikroplastik-assoziierten Kohlenstofffraktionen erfolgt eine Abschätzung von polymerspezifischen Partikelgrößen, Dichten und Kohlenstofffraktionen und die kombinierte Anwendung von massenbasierten Analyseansätzen. In Zusammenarbeit mit mehreren nationalen und internationalen Partnern werden Algorithmen entwickelt und Modellierungsansätze für die Gesamtbewertung der Rückhalte- und Transportmechanismen von Mikroplastik in Waldökosystemen getestet. Um die oben genannten Ziele zu verfolgen und im Zusammenhang mit möglichen Einflussfaktoren wie Höhenlage, Bestandsdichte und -struktur zu untersuchen, findet die Feldarbeit auf den Forschungsflächen des Istituto per i Sistemi Agricoli e Forestali del Mediterraneo, Consiglio Nationale delle Ricerche, Italien (ISAFoM) in den Abruzzen statt.

---

Improved Ecological Niche Modelling of Nothofagus pumilio in Patagonia

Melanie Werner
melanie.werner"AT"uni-hamburg.de

Betreuung durch: Prof. Dr. Jürgen Böhner und Prof. Dr. Udo Schickhoff

Laufzeit seit: 2022

Projektbeschreibung:

Quantifying spatial and temporal distribution of species and analysing underlying ecological requirements has become increasingly important in high altitude environments (e.g. Schickhoff et al. 2022). Worldwide, species distribution models (SDMs) are applied to model treeline species under current, past and future climates (e.g Dullinger et al. 2004; Bobrowski et al. 2017). Whereas high mountain systems of the Northern Hemisphere are well represented in treeline related research, high mountains of the Southern Hemisphere, such as the Andes, have rather been neglected (Hansson et al. 2021; Hansson et al. 2023) or are only covered by local treeline studies (e.g. Daniels and Veblen 2003, 2004; Fajardo and Piper 2014; Srur et al. 2016; Srur et al. 2018). Especially for the treeline species Nothofagus pumilio, large-scale modelling studies covering its entire distributional range remain almost completely absent, which can be related to the complex topography resulting in limited accessibility of treeline sites.

Remotely sensed species occurrences constitute a promising approach for investigating large study areas, especially in regions with limited accessibility (e.g., in high altitude regions). However, there is still a need for ground truthing, i.e. verifying that the species under study actually occur in the remotely sensed area (Hargrave 2009; Damgaard et al. 2021).

As large-scale vegetation sampling is often costly and time-consuming, species data are mainly downloaded from open-source databases such as the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (gbif.org), which hosts datasets compiled from various sources (Edwards 2004; Boakes et al. 2010). However, these data may contain unknown detection, geographical, observer or sampling biases and are seldomly evaluated or revisited (Phillips et al. 2009; Meyer et al. 2016; Daru et al. 2017). In order to gain valid modelling results the quality of species data represents a prerequisite for modelling approaches. Since the majority of studies are based on presence-only data, often afflicted with observation and sampling bias, the origin of species occurrence data, constitutes a major challenge for SDMs (Chauvier et al. 2021).

More recently, social media platforms such as Facebook, Flickr, Instagram, Twitter and Youtube have been recognised as an important contributor to species occurrence data sampling and ground truthing approaches (Hentati-Sundberg and Olsson 2016; ElQadi et al. 2017; Gibson et al. 2020; Jaric et al. 2020; Martino et al. 2021). Through geographical tags of images as well as identifiable landscape elements and descriptions of the image, shooting locations of the social media post can be traced and linked to the occurrence of species.

The PhD project “Improved Ecological Niche Modelling of Nothofagus pumilio in Patagonia” aims on modelling the distribution and ecological niche of the treeline species N. pumilio. Species occurrence data are generated by combining a remote sensing technique with a novel Instagram ground truthing approach developed in the PhD project.

A supervised classification based on Sentinel 2 level 2A data (https://sentinel.esa.int/web/sentinel/sentinel-data-access/sentinel-products/sentinel-2-data-products/collection-1-level-2a) is used to generate occurrence data for the entire range of the species in the southern Andes. These occurrences are then validated by ground truthing points created using the novel Instagram ground truthing approach. This contains a custom search process to select suitable Instagram posts (photos and videos) in which N. pumilio and its location can be identified, and the transmission to a map as point occurrences.

Nothofagus pumilio provides a notable study organism. It forms an abrupt treeline in the orotemperate belt of the Patagonian-Andean region in pure forest stands (Amigo and Rodriguez-Guitan 2011) and occurs in a touristic region where many photos are taken for example during hiking. Therefore, the species can be recognised in satellite images as well as in Instagram posts.

The validated areal occurrence data of N. pumilio then allow for presence-only and presence-absence SDM and ENM modelling approaches. By implementing topographic and phenological parameters alongside climatic variables (Chelsa Bioclim data, chelsa-climate.org/) and testing different model algorithms, the best possible modelling of the species' potential distribution and ecological niche is determined. This will provide information on the current status and future changes of the treeline in the southern Andes.

The novel Instagram ground truthing approach opens up an important new possibility of unbiased species occurrence data for SDM modelling approaches, while illustrating transferability to study species and areas.

Literature:

_{Amigo, Javier; Rodríguez-Guitián, Manuel Antonio (2011): Bioclimatic and phytosociological diagnosis of the species of the Nothofagus genus (Nothofagaceae) in South America. In IJGR 1 (1), pp. 1–20. DOI: 10.5616/ijgr110001.}

_{Boakes, Elizabeth H.; McGowan, Philip J. K.; Fuller, Richard A.; Chang-qing, Ding; Clark, Natalie E.; O'Connor, Kim; Mace, Georgina M. (2010): Distorted views of biodiversity: spatial and temporal bias in species occurrence data. In PLoS biology 8 (6), e1000385. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.1000385.}

_{Bobrowski, Maria; Gerlitz, Lars; Schickhoff, Udo (2017): Modelling the potential distribution of Betula utilis in the Himalaya. In Global Ecology and Conservation 11, pp. 69–83. DOI: 10.1016/j.gecco.2017.04.003.}

_{Chauvier, Yohann; Zimmermann, Niklaus E.; Poggiato, Giovanni; Bystrova, Daria; Brun, Philipp; Thuiller, Wilfried (2021): Novel methods to correct for observer and sampling bias in presence‐only species distribution models. In Global Ecology and Biogeography. DOI: 10.1111/geb.13383.}

_{Damgaard, Christian (2021): Integrating Hierarchical Statistical Models and Machine-Learning Algorithms for Ground-Truthing Drone Images of the Vegetation: Taxonomy, Abundance and Population Ecological Models. In Remote Sensing 13 (6), p. 1161. DOI: 10.3390/rs13061161.}

_{Daniels, Lori D.; Veblen, Thomas T. (2003): Regional and local effects of disturbance and climate on altitudinal treelines in northern Patagonia. In Journal of Vegetation Science (14), pp. 733–742.}

_{Daniels, Lori D.; Veblen, Thomas T. (2004): Spatiotemporal Influences of Climate on Altitudinal Treeline in Northern Patagonia. In Ecology (85), pp. 1284–1296.}

_{Daru, Barnabas H.; Park, Daniel S.; Primack, Richard B.; Willis, Charles G.; Barrington, David S.; Whitfeld, Timothy J. S. et al. (2018): Widespread sampling biases in herbaria revealed from large-scale digitization. In The New phytologist 217 (2), pp. 939–955. DOI: 10.1111/nph.14855.}

_{Dullinger S, Dirnböck T, Grabherr G (2004) Modelling climate change‐driven treeline shifts: relative effects of temperature increase, dispersal and invasibility. J Ecol 92(2): 241-252. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0022-0477.2004.00872.x}

_{Edwards, James L. (2004): Research and Societal Benefits of the Global Biodiversity Information Facility. In BioScience 54 (6), p. 486. DOI: 10.1641/0006-3568(2004)054[0486:RASBOT]2.0.CO;2.}

_{ElQadi, Moataz Medhat; Dorin, Alan; Dyer, Adrian; Burd, Martin; Bukovac, Zoë; Shrestha, Mani (2017): Mapping species distributions with social media geo-tagged images: Case studies of bees and flowering plants in Australia. In Ecological Informatics 39, pp. 23–31. DOI: 10.1016/j.ecoinf.2017.02.006.}

_{Fajardo, Alex; Piper, Frida I. (2014): An experimental approach to explain the southern Andes elevational treeline. In American Journal of Botany 101 (5), pp. 788–795. DOI: 10.3732/ajb.1400166.}

_{Gibson, Catherine Elizabeth; Williams, David; Dunlop, Rebecca; Beck, Suzanne (2020): Using social media as a cost‐effective resource in the photo‐identification of a coastal bottlenose dolphin community. In Aquatic Conserv: Mar Freshw Ecosyst 30 (8), pp. 1702–1710. DOI: 10.1002/aqc.3356.}

_{Hansson, Amanda; Shulmeister, Jamie; Dargusch, Paul; Hill, Genia (2023): A review of factors controlling Southern Hemisphere treelines and the implications of climate change on future treeline dynamics. In Agricultural and Forest Meteorology 332, p. 109375. DOI: 10.1016/j.agrformet.2023.109375.}

_{Hansson, Amanda; Dargusch, Paul; Shulmeister, Jamie (2021): A review of modern treeline migration, the factors controlling it and the implications for carbon storage. In J. Mt. Sci. 18 (2), pp. 291–306. DOI: 10.1007/s11629-020-6221-1.}

_{Hargrave, Michael L. (2009): Ground Truthing the Results of Geophysikal Surveys. In Jay K. Johnson, Marco Giardano, Kenneth L. Kvamme, R. Berle Clay, Thomas J. Green, Rinita A. Dalan et al. (Eds.): Remote Sensing in Archaeology. An Explicitly North American Perspective. Tuscaloosa: The University of Alabama Press, pp. 269–303.}

_{Jarić, Ivan; Correia, Ricardo A.; Brook, Barry W.; Buettel, Jessie C.; Courchamp, Franck; Di Minin, Enrico et al. (2020): iEcology: Harnessing Large Online Resources to Generate Ecological Insights. In Trends in ecology & evolution 35 (7), pp. 630–639. DOI: 10.1016/j.tree.2020.03.003.}

_{Martino, Sara; Pace, Daniela Silvia; Moro, Stefano; Casoli, Edoardo; Ventura, Daniele; Frachea, Alessandro et al. (2021): Integration of presence‐only data from several sources: a case study on dolphins' spatial distribution. In Ecography 44 (10), pp. 1533–1543. DOI: 10.1111/ecog.05843.}

_{Meyer, Carsten; Weigelt, Patrick; Kreft, Holger (2016): Multidimensional biases, gaps and uncertainties in global plant occurrence information. In Ecol Letters 19 (8), pp. 992–1006. DOI: 10.1111/ele.12624.}

_{Phillips, Steven J.; Dudík, Miroslav; Elith, Jane; Graham, Catherine H.; Lehmann, Anthony; Leathwick, John; Ferrier, Simon (2009): Sample selection bias and presence-only distribution models: implications for background and pseudo-absence data. In Ecological applications : a publication of the Ecological Society of America 19 (1), pp. 181–197. DOI: 10.1890/07-2153.1.}

_{Schickhoff, U., Bobrowski, M., Mal, S., Schwab, N. & Singh, R.B. (2022): The world’s mountains in the Anthropocene. In: Schickhoff, U., Singh, R.B. & Mal, S. (eds.): Mountain Landscapes in Transition: Effects of Land Use and Climate Change, pp. 1-144. Springer, Cham.}

_{Srur, Ana M.; Villalba, Ricardo; Rodríguez-Catón, Milagros; Amoroso, Mariano M.; Marcotti, Eugenia (2016): Establishment of Nothofagus pumilio at Upper Treelines Across a Precipitation Gradient in the Northern Patagonian Andes. In Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research 48 (4), pp. 755–766. DOI: 10.1657/AAAR0016-015.}

_{Srur, Ana M.; Villalba, Ricardo; Rodríguez-Catón, Milagros; Amoroso, Mariano M.; Marcotti, Eugenia (2018): Climate and Nothofagus pumilio Establishment at Upper Treelines in the Patagonian Andes. In Front. Earth Sci. 6, Article 57. DOI: 10.3389/feart.2018.00057.}

---

Interactions of Hamburg's Urban Green and Water from Four Sides.

Nadine Kaul
nadine.kaul"AT"uni-hamburg.de

Betreuung durch: Prof. Dr. Kai Jensen und Prof. Dr. Jürgen Böhner

Laufzeit seit: 2022

---

Towards modeling of multifunctional landscapes for policy development and applied landscape planning in the Anthropocene – Long-term simulation and analysis of Restoration Areas Potentials and Potential Habitat Corridors in smallholder-dominated forest landscapes using the LPB-RAP model

Sonja Holler, Diplom-Geographin
Mrs.S.Holler@gmail.com

Supervision / Betreuung Thünen-Institut:
PD Sven Günter  & Dr. Melvin Lippe

Supervision / Betreuung Universität Hamburg:
Prof. Dr. Jürgen Böhner & Dr. Olaf Conrad

Duration / Laufzeit: 2020/10 - 2024/11

PROJECT OUTPUT / PROJEKTERGEBNISSE:

Open-access publication LPB-RAP model stage 1:
Quo vadis, smallholder forest landscape? PLoS ONE, 2024/02/02

Open-access publication LPB-RAP model stage 2:
Ubi es, room to roam? Ecological Modelling, to be submitted 2024/06

Open-source online LPB-RAP model repository on GitHub:
https://github.com/LPB-SDSS/LPB-RAP

According to FAO, 2020, about 33 % of forest degradation, deforestation and land conversion in forest landscapes can be attributed to smallholder land use. Often smallholder livelihoods are associated with poverty (Geist & Lambin, 2003). The comprising concept of Forest and Landscape Restoration (FLR) is considered an appropriate tool to tackle the environmental and socio-economic challenges of required to be implemented structural changes (César, 2021). A potential amplifier for challenges, especially for long-term planning horizons relevant to restoration, is the combination with scenarios of population and climate change (IPCC, 2022). Such preconditions require the development of a Spatial Decision Support System (SDSS) converging all the necessary information in long-term simulations. This Ph.D. project aims to aid users in the fields of advising applied landscape planning and policy development in a potential FLR context for near-time action based on long-term scenario information. To achieve an approximated simulation of multifunctional landscapes for anthroposphere and biosphere a Land Use Land Cover Change (LULCC) model is extended by biogeographic information.
The new model is based on the existing dynamic, probabilistic land use model PLUC (Verstegen et al., 2012) and several significant new information sources: 1) Primary data of smallholder households and land use (Thünen project LaForeT, LaForeT-R² ); 2) Extended climate scenario data (CHELSA project / UHH: climate reference period and four subsequent climate periods) and derived potential natural vegetation maps (OpenGeoHub); 3) SSP population scenario data; 4) Copernicus land cover maps. Various further secondary maps and parameters are used to parametrize the model (about 55 input maps and 60+ parameters depending on the policy
scenario).
The new landscape and land use change model simulates long-term (until 2100, covering a potential population peak) impacts of population development, climate change and land use on subnational regional forest landscapes. It subsequently derives Restoration Areas Potentials (RAP) in the nested scenario structure in annual and hectare resolution. The model uses 18 basic land use types (LUTs), including five potential forest types, and four(+) RAP LUTs.
The open-source conceptualized model is implemented in PCRaster Python and uses R to visualize selected maps and tidy data. It is highly user-friendly, very versatile for scenario simulations (baseline scenario spatial SSP/RCP data, three policy enforcement levels scenarios, land use narrative scenarios), optimized in model run time and Terabyte-output for potential desktop applications, and where possible realized cross-platform (macOS, Windows, Linux; optimal use in Unix systems).
Model development is conducted on the Esmeraldas province, Ecuador, in the SSP2-RCP4.5 scenario. The simulated landscape contains approximately 1.67 million ha.

Model development in the context of the Ph.D. project is conceptualized in two stages:

Model stage 1 (2020/10-2024/02) – Anthropogenic requirements and potential ecosystems extents:
The first model stage comprises several innovations in the base model to achieve the new goals in a total of
four new LULCC modules:

1. Adaptation to smallholder data, regarding households and land use, with simulation on the relevant scale of 1 ha
2. Adaptation of the PCRaster Software to simulate larger regional raster files
3. Implementation of extended explicit LUTs range (18), including describing up to five potential initial forest types
4. Implementation of model internal correction/parameterization step to approximate land use at terrestrial surface level
5. Implementation of dynamic scenario-based population and corresponding dynamic settlements simulation
6. Implementation of climate period data to describe scenario-based landscape change deterministically
7. Implementation of simplified succession to herbaceous vegetation, shrubs or forest (disturbed and undisturbed)
8. Implementation of three policy enforcement level scenarios concerning restricted areas (BAU = weak conservation, BAU(+) = enforced conservation, worst-case = no conservation)
9. Implementation of several systemic simulation choices
10. Implementation of user-defined exclusion of dynamic LUTs from allocation (e.g., agroforestry)
11. Implementation of an external land footprint approach in a user-defined SSP demand scenario incorporating altered kcal intake per person and potential societal diet shifts
12. Implementation of forest habitat quality simulation (LUTs disturbed and undisturbed forest)
13. Implementation of net and gross forest to describe user-defined based on different definitions diverging forest extents
14. Implementation of deforestation on net forest fringe
15. Implementation of above-ground biomass modeling in Mg stochastic or spatially explicit and derived carbon per forest type
16. Implementation of three user-defined terrain inclination levels per active LUT (favorable, difficult and inaccessible)
17. Derivation of simplified forest regeneration modeling
18. Derivation of land use conflict in general and forest land use conflict in particular in restricted areas
19. Aggregation of probabilistic results to one discrete landscape per time step without implemented FLR measures (“probable scenario”)
20. Derivation of model internal simulation uncertainty
21. Derivation of pressure aspects (potential pressure on forest, restricted areas and the population)
22. Derivation of potential yields for five user-defined relevant crops
23. Implementation of a user-defined net forest increment restoration target in percent
24. Interpretation of the simulated probable landscape with RAP-LUTs algorithm-based spatial allocation (“possible scenario”): potential distribution of (1) agroforestry, (2) sustainable plantations, (3) reforestation and (4) restoration of other ecosystems of  the initial landscape mosaic
25. Derivation of maximum (all stakeholders) and minimum (top-down only) RAP
26. Derivation of potential additional restricted areas in BAU and BAU(+)
    And more.
27. Anthropogenic impact on forests is further approximated by: The approximation of local forest degradation stages by smallholder wood extraction in relation to settlement pixels.
28. Lastly, the impact of forests, respectively potential forest restoration measures on available potential future forest area, is simulated by suggested restoration measures extended by a fifth RAP land use type, describing the suggested restoration of degraded but not entirely deforested forest sites.

With these innovations, the model can simulate anthropogenic requirements and conclude probable and possible future ecosystem extents, especially for forests, based on updated climate period information per time step. It derives 370+ variables per time step to describe the probable landscape, pressure aspects and possible restoration measures impacts.

Model stage 2 (2024/03 – to date) – Fauna requirements and extended ecological impact analysis:

The second model stage completes the simplified multifunctional landscape concept by focusing on fauna requirement habitat aspects for a user-defined umbrella species, here the Jaguar (Panthera onca), covering already requirements of many other flora and fauna species, respectively, the impact on and of forest ecosystems in a human-modified forest landscape. To do so, several further innovations are implemented in the model:

1. Finer differentiation of the landscapes: LUT Water is differentiated into LUT12 permanent waterbodies and LUT19 ocean.
2. Habitat/forest fragmentation is derived for each time step prior to and post simulation of possible restoration measures (impact on and of forests) using PCRaster Python and analysis elements of PyLandStats.
3. Dynamic habitat analysis on each simulated time step resp. user-defined time frames:
       a. The landscape-wide theoretical movement potential for the chosen umbrella species using the Circuit Theory-based software Omniscape implemented in Julia.
       b. Subsequently, possible Potential Habitat Corridors (PHC) are simulated for the user-defined umbrella species using the Circuit Theory-based software Circuitscape implemented in Julia.

Model Output is provided in PCRaster .map format, GIFs, CSVs and R-based diagrams and probing dates maps.

The LPB-RAP model is a heuristic scenario tool and requires follow-up FLR site investigations and stakeholder participation over the involved scales of realization for implementation of restoration.

---

RS-based detection of crop properties and plot geometries for environmental modelling

Benno Hankers
benno.hankers@uni-hamburg.de

Betreuung durch: Prof. Dr. Jürgen Böhner und Dr. Olaf Conrad

Laufzeit: seit 2018

Projektbeschreibung:
Vegetation and plot geometry analysis in Saxony, North Rhine Westfalia and western France through remote sensing. Inquiry of agricultural measures on sub-field level through vegetation indices derived from satellite imagery and ground thruthing data.

---

Modelling snow cover dynamics in high mountain areas of the Himalayan range.

Johannes Weidinger, M.Sc.
Johannes.Weidinger"AT"uni-hamburg.de

Betreuung durch:  Prof. Dr. Jürgen Böhner

Laufzeit: seit 2016

Projektbeschreibung:
The integration of robust snow cover or snow parameter models as reliable input information is a classic feature in hydrological runoff simulations or ecological habitat modelling (Carlson et al. 2015, Rohrer et al. 2013, Shrestha et al. 2012, Hiemstra et al. 2006). On account of the fact that snow cover is one of the most dynamic aspects of the cryosphere from a (intra)diurnal or seasonal point of view (Qu et al. 2006: 155), it is additionally expected to be one of the fastest changing climate features under current climate warming (IPCC, 2007). The close relationship between the spatial distribution of snow cover and plant communities eventually leads to major impacts on mountain ecosystems and their biota (Chen et al. 2011, Grabherr et al. 2010, Litaor et al. 2008). General circulation models are able to predict large scale climate variations in global dimensions, but dynamic small scale characteristics, such as rapid snow melt and its temporal alterations in high mountain regions are not represented sufficiently. Regional climate models with nesting provide an enhancement in case of horizontal resolution but come along with their own unique shortcomings, especially with the complex topography of the Central Himalayas (Pedersenand Egholm 2013: 206). Since high mountain areas, are generally remote, it is difficult to obtain data in high spatio-temporal resolutions (Gerlitz 2014). Earth observation systems, such as MODIS allow bridging this gap partly and offer snow (cover) data in daily temporal and medium spatial resolution, which can be applied as evaluation and training data for hydrological and statistical approaches. Nevertheless high spatial resolution remote sensing systems fail to generate surface data under cloudy conditions which are dominant during the highly seasonal climate (summer and winter monsoon) along the Himalayas. In Combination with reanalysis data such as ERA-Interim or MERRA data gaps and disadvantages of certain products can be enhanced and high spatio-temporal resolution environmental parameter data derived. Additional an existing meteorological network (between 3700 and 5100 m. a.s.l.) of the TREELINE project installed in the Rolwaling Himal, Nepal will serve as point observation to validate different modelling approaches (Schwab et al. 2015: 88). Within this thesis (combined) snow distribution models and snow recession models will be implemented for a research domain in the Rolwaling Himal (Nepal), employing state of the art machine learning algorithms. Bottom-up strategies provide inductive reasoning to derive rules for snow related processes out of climate and climate-related topographic data sets obtained by meteorological network stations and GIS. Daily snow distribution and several other environmental parameters will be predicted reliably in the research area, whereas further effort is necessary for predicting snow cover recession processes adequately. Both approaches underline the technical difficulties of snow cover modelling during the monsoon season, in accordance with previous studies.

---

Bridging the Gap between Scales in Monitoring and Modeling Climate and Land Cover Feedback in a high mountain treeline ecotone in NE Nepal

Eleonore Schenk
Eleonore.Schenk"AT"uni-hamburg.de

Betreuung durch: Prof. Dr. Jürgen Böhner

Projektbeschreibung:
The research entailed in this PhD thesis links the three research projects TREELINE, CLASH and LOWQM, all dealing with different impacts of climate change on the geo-ecosystems of High Asia. All three projects rely on high resolution climate data which are not readily available from measurements in the remote regions of High Asia and have to be derived by atmospheric modeling through an integrated dynamical and statistical downscaling approach. One of the goals of this PhD project to find an optimal configuration of the atmospheric model WRF-ARW (Weather Research and Forecasting Model - Advanced Research WRF) for the regionalization of hydroclimatic variables for two study regions in High Asia with different precipitation regimes and to quantify the added-values of the chosen dynamical downscaling approach. Furthermore, it is intended to model and analyze the effects of climate change on the treeline ecotone in Rolwaling Himal, Nepal by the means of a SVAT- model driven by the generated high-resolution atmospheric data.

---

Liste der abgeschlossenen Disstertationsprojekte

"Pathways to climate resilient coastal societies -Application of the compound event approach in adaptation strategies to climate change" (working titel)

Anke Wessels, Dipl.-Geogr.
anke.wessels"AT"uni-hamburg.de

Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Beate M. W. Ratter

Duration: 2023 -2026

Project description:

 

---

 

"Klimaschutz von unten? Die Rolle und Wirkung von Vergemeinschaftungsprozessen als Potential zur Aktivierung klimaschützenden Handelns." (working titel)

Kerstin Schneider, M.Sc.
kerstin-elisabeth.schneider"AT"uni-hamburg.de

Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Beate M. W. Ratter

Duration: 2022 -2025

Project description:
Der Klimawandel ist ein globales Phänomen, dessen Folgen sich regional und lokal auswirken. Trotz dieser Einsicht ist die Bedrohung durch den Klimawandel auch heute noch durch ein kontroverses Spannungsfeld geprägt. Einerseits hat sich das wissenschaftliche Verständnis des Klimawandels in den letzten Jahren rasant entwickelt und weiter ausdifferenziert, während die Umsetzung von Klimaschutzmaßnahmen auf der anderen Seite nicht Schritt gehalten hat. Vor diesem Hintergrund beschäftigt sich die Doktorarbeit mit der systematischen Erfassung sowie Analyse der Rolle und Wirkkraft des Individuums als handelnde Akteur:in in unterschiedlichen gesellschaftlichen Lebensbereichen. Entscheidend ist hier, die bestehende Leerstelle im Klimadiskurs auf eine Art und Weise zu füllen, mit der das Verständnis und Wissen rund um den Klimawandel einerseits sowie die praktische Umsetzung von klimaschützendem Handeln andererseits nicht als voneinander unabhängige Dimensionen thematisiert werden. Vielmehr geht es darum, die ineinandergreifende Dynamiken als einen ganzheitlichen Prozess zu verstehen. Das konzeptionelle Verständnis von Vergemeinschaftungsprozessen sowie das empirische Aufdecken und Analysieren von individuellen und kollektiven Wirkketten eröffnet die Möglichkeit, gemeinschaftlichen Klimaschutz langfristig sowie lokal in den Lebenswelten und -realitäten der Menschen zu etablieren. Expliziert werden diese konzeptionellen Aspekte anhand einer qualitativen Analyse (teilnehmende Beobachtung und Interviews mit Teilnehmer:innen) der sogenannten klimafit-Kurse, die im Bereich der deutsche Volkshochulen ein Bildungsangebot für interessierte Bürger:innen darstellen.

 

---

 

(working titel in progress)

Louisa Schneider, M.Sc.
l(louisa.schneider"AT"uni-hamburg.de)ouisa.schneider@uni(louisa.schneider"AT"uni-hamburg.de)-hamburg.de

Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Beate M. W. Ratter

Duration: 2021 -2024

Project description:

.

---

"Economic potential of coastal vegetative ecosystems for regional development on the German coasts" (working title)

Sarah Rabe M.Sc.
sarah.rabe@uni-hamburg.de

Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Beate M. W. Ratter

Duration: 2021 -2024

Project description:

.

---

"Adaptive governance in German fisheries management under climate change conditions" (working title)

Paul Müller M.A.
paul.mueller@uni-hamburg.de

Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Beate M. W. Ratter

Duration: 2021-2024

Project description:
My research interest lies in understanding the systemic problems and resulting failures of the multi-layered governance system that shapes the policy and politics of the German fishery governance structure, focusing on small-scale inshore fisheries. Moreover do I want to identify and understand the aspects that the affected actors, the fishermen, themselves identify as particularly grave with regard to the current fishery governance structure in Germany and climate change disruptions. I want to integrate competing knowledge systems – scientific and practical knowledge - of diverse actors. My goal is twofold. First, I want to gain a systems understanding of fisheries governance in Germany and contribute to Adaptive Governance theory in socio-ecological systems with common-pool resource settings. Secondly, by analysing both the multi-layered political structure that shape fisheries governance in Germany and the practical knowledge of fishermen, to develop plausible adaptation scenarios of the governance structure within current political as well as social realities.

 

---

Cultural importance for storm resilience on Penghu Archipelago , Taiwan (working title)

Ya-Qing Zhan M.A.
hanna.yaqing.zhan@uni-hamburg.de

Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Beate M. W. Ratter

Duration: 2020-2024

Podcast: Ya-Qing Zhan and the Penghu archipelago

Project description::
Wind is a moving air but nothing else. However, different dimensions of wind plays a role from dancing with leaves to cause deadly damage. Coping with these moving airs such as storms, responses are differentiated from regions to countries. Aim of my doctoral dissertation is looking at the reasons what causes different reactions, especially in cultural perspective. I focus on the adaptive strategies on monsoon and typhoon in Penghu archipelago. Analyzing the motivation behind the cultural framing through islanders' perception and materialization. Revealing the response diversity to storm resilience in socio-ecological system. In the second part of the dissertation, I want to engage comparative research on Penghu and East Frisian island, to have a comprehensive understanding of storm resilience through the reflections of two different cultures.

Risk cultures and climate change negotiation processes in coastal areas - A case study analysis of Husum and Medmerry

Lea Stumbitz

Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Beate M. W. Ratter

.

---

Local Risk Maturity: A social geographic approach to storm surge risk preparedness in Eastern Frisia/Lokale Risikomündigkeit: Ein sozialgeographischer Ansatz zur Sturmflutvorsorge in Ostfriesland

Martin Bönewitz

Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Beate M. W. Ratter

Duration: 2017-2020

Project description:
The risk of storm surges and derived hazards endangers the coastline of Eastern Frisian particularly by global climate change, morphological coast dynamics and demographic changes. Although the local population is aware about this situation, individuals’ risk preparedness remains low. Aim of this PhD project is to analyze why people do not prepare sufficiently despite their high level of risk awareness. Starting point are realized preparedness practices (e.g. precautionary building, stockpiling, engagement in disaster management units, climate change sensitive lifestyle) which are analyzed from a theory of action perspective. In the focus of analysis are the individual’s decisions of action framed by cognitive, emotional and ethic conditions.  In a risk context, this frame is understood as risk maturity. In the field, risk maturity will be approach by known factors of risk preparedness (e.g. experience, trust, responsibilisation) by methods of qualitative empirical research.

Die ostfriesische Küste ist durch den globalen Klimawandel, küstenmorphologische Dynamiken und demographische Prozesse in steigendem Maße von Sturmfluten und nachgelagerten Naturgefahren bedroht. Obwohl der lokalen Bevölkerung dieser Umstand bewusst ist, bleibt die individuelle Risikovorsorge gering. Hier setzt diese Promotion an indem sie untersucht, warum Menschen trotz eines vorhandenen kritischen Risikobewusstseins nicht ausreichend vorsorgen. Anhand von zu erhebenden Vorsorgepraktiken (z.B. Bauvorsorge, Bevorratung, Mitarbeit im Katastrophenschutz, klimabewusster Lebensstil) wird aus einer handlungstheoretischen Perspektive analysiert, warum Menschen (nicht) handeln. Im Fokus steht dabei die individuelle Handlungsentscheidung, die kognitiv, emotional und ethisch-moralisch gerahmt ist. Dieser individuelle Entscheidungsrahmen wird als Risikomündigkeit bezeichnet. Die Erhebung der Risikomündigkeit geht provisorisch von bekannten Einflussfaktoren der Risikovorsorge (u.a. Erfahrung, Vertrauen, Verantwortungszuschreibung) aus. Mittels Methoden der qualitativen Sozialforschung werden in zwei Feldphasen realisierte Vorsorgehandlungen untersucht die lokale Risikomündigkeit gegenüber Sturmfluten erfasst.

-

---

Urbane Landwirtschaft und Prozesse des räumlichen Empowerments in Kolumbien – Stadtgärten als Orte einer commonalen Transformation für Frauen

Birgit Hoinle
birgit.hoinle@cluster-transformation.org

Betreuung durch: Prof. Dr. Martina Neuburger

Laufzeit: 2014-2019

Projektbeschreibung::
Kolumbien gehört zu den Ländern mit der höchsten Anzahl an Binnenflüchtlingen. Im Zuge des Bürgerkriegs sind rund 7 Millionen Vertriebene an den Rändern der großen Städte angekommen, wo ihre Fähigkeiten und Kenntnisse vom Land kaum nachgefragt werden. Die urbanen Gärten erwachsen in diesem Kontext zunächst als Strategien der Subsistenz. Oftmals ergeben sich davon ausgehend weiterführende Organisierungsprozesse in den Stadtvierteln, in denen gerade Frauen neue Rollen im öffentlichen Raum einnehmen.

Welches Potential besitzen Stadtgärten für Empowermentprozesse? Diese Frage steht im Zentrum des Forschungsprojekts. Dabei liegt der Fokus insbesondere auf den räumlichen Dimensionen von Empowerment im Sinne einer Ausweitung von Handlungsräumen bislang ausgegrenzter Akteur*innen und der Aneignung neuer Gestaltungsräume in der Stadt. Den gemeinschaft verwalteten Ressourcen und Räumen (Commons) kommt dabei eine besondere Bedeutung zu. Die empirische Grundlage bildet u.a. ein kooperativer Prozess der Aktionsforschung, welcher im Zeitraum von 2014 – 2016 in Zusammenarbeit mit einem Netzwerk für Ernährungssouveränität der Metropolregion von Bogotá durchgeführt wurde.

---

Dealing with sea level rise on small Maldivian Islands

Arne Hennig

Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Beate M. W. Ratter

Duration: 2016-2020

Project description:
Im Kontext der Anpassung an den Klimawandel wird auf das Konzept „Barrieren der Adaptation“ zurückgegriffen, um Faktoren zu identifizieren, die die Adaptation hemmen. Ziel des Dissertationsvorhabens ist es, die Barrieren der Adaptation auf den Malediven aus komplexitätstheoretischer Perspektive zu analysieren und dabei den Fokus insbesondere auf institutionelle und politische Barrieren zu richten. Es ist notwendig zu erkennen, dass Anpassungsstrategien und -maßnahmen durch politische und institutionelle Strukturen auf lokaler, nationaler und internationaler Ebene beeinflusst werden. In dieser Arbeit wird durch die Analyse der Barrieren der Adaptation die Bedeutung der politischen Ebene für die Analyse von sozial-ökologischen Systemen empirisch aufgezeigt. Durch die Erweiterung der Theorie zu sozial-ökologischen Systemen wird dieses Projekt eine umfassendere Annäherung an Nachhaltigkeitsthemen ermöglichen.

---

Energiewende – Wer steuert hier eigentlich? Überlegungen zu einem wirksameren Ausbau erneuerbarer Energie auf kommunaler Ebene

Dipl. Geog. Sebastian Franz
sebastian.franz@outlook.com(sebastian.frnz"AT"outlook.com)

Betreuung durch: Prof. Dr. Martina Neuburger

Laufzeit: 2013-2019

Projektbeschreibung:
Die Energieversorgung als ein zentraler Grundbaustein unserer Gesellschaft unterliegt gerade einer grundlegenden strukturellen Umgestaltung. Die Umsetzung ist äußerst schwerfällig, viele Akteure und politische Ebenen sind beteiligt und es ist von einer komplexen Gemeinschaftsaufgabe die Rede. Während bundespolitische Diskurse über die „richtige“ Ausgestaltung der Energiewende auf einer abstrakten Ebene geführt werden, wird die kommunale Ebene mit der konkreten Umsetzung konfrontiert. Damit stehen die Gemeinden und Städte vor großen Herausforderungen, denn tatsächliche Veränderungen finden hier statt.
Vor den Kommunen eröffnet sich ein Spannungsfeld, welches durch Abhängigkeiten, Anforderungen und Interessen vieler Akteure und politischen Ebenen bestimmt wird. Auf diesem konfliktreichen Feld müssen sich lokale Umsetzungsstrategien und innovative Lösungen entfalten. Für einen wirksameren Ausbau erneuerbarer Energie ist eine neue Qualität von Zusammenarbeit zwischen Politik und Zivilgesellschaft gefragt. Das Dissertationsprojekt fokussiert auf die kommunalpolitischen Handlungsspielräume, die das Spannungsfeld entzerren kann und verfolgt die leitende Frage: Was kann verbessert werden, dass die Energiewende vor Ort besser gelingt?

---

Adaptability of social-ecological systems. Environmental knowledge, learning and governance on small islands from a complexity theory perspective. The Bahamas as a case study

Lars Bomhauer-Beins, M.Sc.

Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Beate M. W. Ratter

Duration: 2015-2019

Project description:
Small islands can be perceived as complex social-ecological systems. Many Small Island Developing States (SIDS) face a number of global climate change risks which threaten a sustainable development process. Conceptually based on complexity theory and resilience perspective, the project’s objectives are to analyze how social agents respond to natural pressures and stressors, and how risk and environmental knowledge are produced, integrated and employed to strengthen adaptability and social-ecological resilience. For this purpose, it is necessary to examine knowledge exchange processes across various scales from global to local. Specifically, focus will be put on the interrelations of trans-local expert knowledge and local lay knowledge as well as on the role that hybrid forms of knowledge play in specific contexts. Furthermore, particular emphasis will be laid on the modes of communication and learning processes which influence an adaptive environmental and risk management. In a final step it is aimed to utilize the results for the improvement of adaptive and participatory modes of social-ecological systems governance.

---

Fairer Handel i/n Zeiten globaler Vernetzung - Machtverschiebung in globalen Wertschöpfungsketten

Dipl. Geogr. Jutta Kister
Jutta.Kister"AT"uibk.ac.at

Betreuung durch: Prof. Dr. Martina Neuburger

Laufzeit: seit 2013

Projektbeschreibung:
Der Faire Handel hat sich in Europa in den vergangenen Jahren zu einem großen Wachstumsmarkt entwickelt und erfährt damit vor allem im Globalen Norden eine neue Dynamik. Die inhärenten Spannungen zwischen den sozialen Prinzipien und den Marktprinzipien, in denen sich der Faire Handel bewegen muss, verschärfen sich, je kommerziell erfolgreicher die fair gehandelten Produkte werden. Dies wirkt sich nicht allein auf die räumliche Verteilung von ökonomischen Tätigkeiten aus, sondern auch auf die Macht- und Steuerungsstrukturen in den Globalen Ketten.

Anhand des Fairen Handels in Deutschland werden die Ketten-Konfigurationen unterschiedlicher Produkte analysiert und in Typen untergliedert. Insbesondere die Beziehungen an der Schnittstelle zwischen produzierenden und aufkaufenden Akteuren sind Veränderungen unterlegen und essentiell für die vertiefte Analyse der Steuerungs- und Machtstrukturen. Darüber hinaus werden Näheverhältnisse in den Beziehungen zwischen Produzent und Konsument im Spannungsfeld von Kontrolle und solidarischem Empowerment der Produzenten diskutiert. Im Forschungsprojekt steht die Fokussierung komplexer Verflechtungen (alternativer) globaler Handelsbeziehungen und die Aushandlungen zwischen Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft im Mittelpunkt. Qualitative sozialwissenschaftliche Methoden und mehrere Analyseebenen entlang der Ketten unterstützen eine holistische Betrachtung alternativer globaler Wertschöpfungsketten.

---

<<