Sondersammlungen

Permanent URI for this communityhttps://hohpublica.uni-hohenheim.de/handle/123456789/7011

Browse

Now showing 1 - 4 of 4

Comparative ungulate diversity and biomass change with human use and drought: implications for community stability and protected area prioritization in African savannas
(2025) Bartzke, Gundula S.; Ogutu, Joseph O.; Piepho, Hans‐Peter; Bedelian, Claire; Rainy, Michael E.; Kruska, Russel L.; Worden, Jeffrey S.; Kimani, Kamau; McCartney, Michael J.; Ng'ang'a, Leah; Kinoti, Jeniffer; Njuguna, Evanson C.; Wilson, Cathleen J.; Lamprey, Richard; Hobbs, Nicholas Thompson; Reid, Robin S.; Bartzke, Gundula S.; Biostatistics Unit, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, Institute of Crop Science, University of Hohenheim, Stuttgart, Baden‐Württemberg, Germany; Ogutu, Joseph O.; Biostatistics Unit, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, Institute of Crop Science, University of Hohenheim, Stuttgart, Baden‐Württemberg, Germany; Piepho, Hans‐Peter; Biostatistics Unit, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, Institute of Crop Science, University of Hohenheim, Stuttgart, Baden‐Württemberg, Germany; Bedelian, Claire; Danish Institute for International Studies, Copenhagen, Capital Region of Denmark, Denmark; Rainy, Michael E.; International Livestock Research Institute, Nairobi, Nairobi County, Kenya; Kruska, Russel L.; International Livestock Research Institute, Nairobi, Nairobi County, Kenya; Worden, Jeffrey S.; World Wildlife Fund, Nairobi, Nairobi County, Kenya; Kimani, Kamau; International Livestock Research Institute, Nairobi, Nairobi County, Kenya; McCartney, Michael J.; Campfire Conservation, Nairobi, Nairobi County, Kenya; Ng'ang'a, Leah; International Livestock Research Institute, Nairobi, Nairobi County, Kenya; Kinoti, Jeniffer; Department of Infrastructure, Lands and Urban Development, County Government of Laikipia, Rumuruti, Laikipia, Kenya; Njuguna, Evanson C.; International Livestock Research Institute, Nairobi, Nairobi County, Kenya; Wilson, Cathleen J.; International Livestock Research Institute, Nairobi, Nairobi County, Kenya; Lamprey, Richard; Department of Natural Resources, Faculty of Geo‐Information Science and Earth Observation, University of Twente, Enschede, Overste, the Netherlands; Hobbs, Nicholas Thompson; Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory, Department of Ecosystem Science and Sustainability, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado, USA; Reid, Robin S.; International Livestock Research Institute, Nairobi, Nairobi County, Kenya
Drought and human use may alter ungulate diversity and biomass in contrasting ways. In African savannas, resource‐dependent grazers such as wildebeest (Connochaetes taurinus) and zebra (Equus quagga) may decline or disperse as resources decline, opening space for more drought‐tolerant species such as gazelles (Eudorcas and Nanger) and impala (Aepyceros melampus). This shift can increase species richness, evenness, and overall ungulate diversity. Although higher diversity may stabilize ungulate communities, it may be associated with lower biomass (the total body mass of all individuals in a community), which in turn affects vegetation structure and composition, nutrient cycling, energy flows, and other organisms in savannas. While ungulate biomass often declines during drought or in areas of intense human use, the effects on diversity changes under low‐to‐moderate human use remain less clear. Our fine‐scale censuses in the Maasai Mara National Reserve and adjacent pastoral lands in Kenya showed that ungulate biomass declined more than diversity in the 1999 drought year. In the normal rainfall year of 2002, diversity peaked along the reserve boundary, but species richness leveled off in the drought year. Biomass peaked in the reserve in both census years, and migratory ungulates moved further into the reserve in the drought year, where diversity declined. These findings suggest that core protected areas are crucial for maintaining ungulate biomass, while transition zones from protected and pastoral lands support higher diversity unless drought reduces species richness.
Connecting resonance theory with social-ecological thinking: Conceptualizing self-world relationships in the context of sustainability transformations
(2025) Brossette, Florian; Bieling, Claudia
Relationships and interactions between humans and their environment play an important role in sustainability transformations. However, their conceptualization remains a big challenge in current social-ecological research. We propose resonance theory by the German sociologist Hartmut Rosa as a fruitful framework to advance social-ecological thinking. Resonance theory investigates the quality of the relationships between self and world and scrutinizes their relevance for transformations. To illustrate the potentials of resonance theory, we use a vignette approach to cases of landscape stewardship initiatives in the Black Forest Biosphere Reserve in Germany. In distinguishing between self and world and highlighting the role of relationships, resonance theory brings ontological and epistemological clarity, while overcoming a strict dichotomy between social and ecological. We find that resonance theory provides a much needed framework to describe how system-wide transformations emerge from interactions and out of relationships at the individual level. We argue that resonance theory contributes to social-ecological systems thinking by adding the notion of uncontrollability in transformations and shifting the debate on agency towards relationships. Synthesis and applications: This paper demonstrates the meaningfulness of relational paradigms for real-world transformations in theory and practice.
Monomorium dine sp. nov. (Hymenoptera, Formicidae): a new inquiline social parasite ant species from North America
(2025) Cover, Stefan P.; Rabeling, Christian
Among the very rarest of Nearctic ants are three species of inquiline social parasites belonging to the genus Monomorium, namely Monomorium inquilinum DuBois, Monomorium pergandei (Emery), and Monomorium talbotae DuBois. All three species are known only from the type collections. Here, we describe Monomorium dine Cover & Rabeling, sp. nov., from the Navajo Nation in New Mexico, USA, a new species closely similar to the three known social parasites. Like them, M. dine appears to be a workerless inquiline that exploits a free-living Monomorium host. We also provide keys to the queens of the Nearctic Monomorium inquilines, provide the first images of these species, report new collections for Monomorium talbotae DuBois, discuss host-parasite associations, and summarize what is presently known about these mysterious social parasites.
Pathways for biodiversity enhancement in German agricultural landscapes
(2025) Sponagel, Christian; Thompson, Amibeth; Paetow, Hubertus; Mupepele, Anne‐Christine; Bieling, Claudia; Sommer, Martin; Klein, Alexandra‐Maria; Settele, Josef; Finger, Robert; Huber, Robert; Albert, Christian; Filser, Juliane; Jansen, Florian; Kleemann, Janina; Schreiner, Vera; Lakner, Sebastian; Sponagel, Christian; Department of Farm Management, University of Hohenheim, Stuttgart, Germany; Thompson, Amibeth; Nature Conservation and Landscape Ecology, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany; Paetow, Hubertus; DLG e.V.—German Agricultural Society, Frankfurt am Main, Germany; Mupepele, Anne‐Christine; Department of Biology—Animal Ecology, University of Marburg, Marburg, Germany; Bieling, Claudia; Department of Societal Transition and Agriculture, University of Hohenheim, Stuttgart, Germany; Sommer, Martin; Deutscher Verband für Landschaftspflege (DVL)—Landcare Germany, Ansbach, Germany; Klein, Alexandra‐Maria; Nature Conservation and Landscape Ecology, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany; Settele, Josef; German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle‐Jena‐Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany; Finger, Robert; Agricultural Economics and Policy, ETH Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland; Huber, Robert; Agricultural Economics and Policy, ETH Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland; Albert, Christian; Institute of Environmental Planning, Leibniz University Hannover, Hannover, Germany; Filser, Juliane; Center for Environmental Research and Sustainable Technology (UFT), University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany; Jansen, Florian; Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, University of Rostock, Rostock, Germany; Kleemann, Janina; German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle‐Jena‐Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany; Schreiner, Vera; Department of Sustainable Landscape Development, Institute for Geosciences and Geography, Martin‐Luther University Halle‐Wittenberg, Halle, Germany; Lakner, Sebastian; Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, University of Rostock, Rostock, Germany
Conserving biodiversity, especially in agricultural landscapes, is a major societal challenge. Broad scientific evidence exists on the impacts of single drivers on biodiversity, such as the intensification of agriculture. However, halting biodiversity decline requires a systemic understanding of the interactions between multiple drivers, which has hardly been achieved so far. Selecting Germany as a case study, the goal of our analysis is (i) to understand how various socio‐economic drivers of biodiversity in agricultural landscapes interact at the national scale, (ii) to identify plausible pathways that most likely will lead to an improvement of biodiversity in agricultural landscapes and (iii) to discuss guiding principles for policy‐making based on the pathways. We applied the expert‐based Cross‐Impact‐Balance (CIB) methodology to the German agri‐food system (target year 2030). Seven descriptors that represent the most relevant socio‐economic drivers of biodiversity (here, we focus on species richness) in agricultural landscapes in Germany were defined. In three workshops with different groups of experts, we assessed all the interactions and impacts between these descriptors. From the workshops, seven overlapping scenarios were identified and aggregated into four main future pathways for enhancing biodiversity in agricultural landscapes. These pathways are: (1) ‘Innovation and stricter legislation’, (2) ‘Major change in protein production and CAP shift’, (3) ‘Major change in protein production and national legislation’ and (4) ‘Major social changes compensate for a lack of innovation in food production’. Socio‐economic drivers interact to varying degrees. Societal values have a strong active influence on the system, e. g. agricultural policy, whereas the orientation and objectives of agriculture, e. g. focus on public goods, are rather passively determined. Conserving biodiversity thus depends upon the evolution of societal values, European and national nature conservation and agricultural policies, innovations in plant and protein production as well as on global commodity markets. A key message for policymakers is that there are generally different, complementary options for achieving the objective of improving biodiversity. This is important when specific drivers such as the CAP cannot be steered in a particular desired direction.

Browse

Browsing Sondersammlungen by Sustainable Development Goals "15"