Ecology and Nature Management
The human-induced pressures on ecosystems have increased dramatically. These pressures act alone or in combination and diminish ecosystem function and capacity to deliver important ecosystem services.
The Ecology and Nature Management research group investigates how different environmental factors under change impact flora and fauna, biodiversity, ecosystem processes, function and stability and thus the services they provide.
Ecology and Nature Management - Research Area
The Ecology and Nature Management research group conducts basic and applied research in system ecology in natural, semi-natural and managed ecosystems and interactions with drivers of change both as climate, nutrients and invasive species. Research is conducted at process and organism level to ecosystem and landscapes level and thus covers many topics:
- System Ecology: We study the relationship and feedbacks between organisms, ecosystem structure, processes and abiotic and biotic factors under natural and anthropogenic influence.
- Habitats and biodiversity: We conduct research to identify landscape elements, ecosystem structures and processes that maintain and promote biodiversity (water, dead wood, soil nutrients, topography, grazing).
- Organisms: We study organisms and their interactions with the environment and interactions with other organisms (indicator species, invasive species, herbivory, grazing, competition, symbiosis).
- Biological processes: We study biological processes and how these can be used in management and restoration of habitats (succession, un-managed forests, natural hydrology, grazing).
- Adaptation: We study how ecosystems, ecological processes and organisms respond to drivers of change (climate, nutrients, catastrophic events etc) and evaluate the resilience and feed-back mechanisms.
- Management and restoration: We provide research in management and restoration of habitats for flora and fauna to quantify ecosystem service (e.g. biodiversity, plant protection, water protection, C-sequestration) and dissemination of best practice to inform land managers and policy makers. Hereby we work with Natura 2000 (Habitats and Bird Directives) and the national Danish §3.
The experimental basis: We deliver basic and applied research based on long-term monitoring and large scale experiments in natural and semi-natural ecosystems in forest, landscape and urban areas.
Our research focuses on developing fundamental and practical knowledge on how different management, conservation and restoration options either diminish pressures, improve services, and/or improve ecosystem robustness. The research has special focus on climate change and invasive species, which threaten the native flora and fauna and their habitats. Research span from species to landscape level and is based on long term monitoring or conducted in long term and large scale manipulation experiments in natural, semi-natural, urban and forest ecosystems.
Invasive arters introduktionsveje
Research and PhD projects
Nørholm Hede - Succession on abandoned heath for more than 100 years.
Nørholm Heath was abandoned and left for free succession in 1896. We study tree colonization, stability of heathlands, grazing, drivers of change etc.
Contact: Inger Kappel Schmidt iks@ign.ku.dk
INCREASE – An Integrated Network on Climate Change REsearch Activities on Shrubland Ecosystems.
INCREASE is an EU-funded network of large-scale field experiments for studies of climate effects on vulnerable shrubland ecosystems in Europe coordinated by the group. Facilities and partners in Hungary, Italy, Spain, The Netherlands, UK and Denmark. In Denmark we have two large scale climate experiments with manipulations of temperature, precipitation and atmospheric CO2.
Contact: Inger Kappel Schmidt iks@ign.ku.dk
CLIMAITE – VKR-Climate Centre of Excellence
Climate change effects on biological processes in terrestrial ecosystems. In a large scale field experiment we conduct climatic manipulations with CO2, temperature and water and study the effects on the ecosystems organisms, structure and functioning. Other partners are DTU, KU-BIO and AU. www.climaite.dk
Contact: Inger Kappel Schmidt iks@ign.ku.dk
Grazers and browsers in nature conservation
We study the effect of fallow deer and red deer on vegetation composition and structure in open habitats and woodlands and their carrying capacity.
Contact: Rita Merete Buttenschøn rmb@ign.ku.dk
Mols Bjerge
Long-term effects of husbandry grazing on vegetation and soil in a hilly landscape with a mosaic of heathland, permanent grassland and woodlands.
Contact: Rita Merete Buttenschøn rmb@ign.ku.dk
PhD projects
Ecological restoration of the upper river Øle Å, Bornholm, Denmark
My research project focuses on documenting the effect of ecological restoration. I specifically look at methods for restoring the upper forested part of the stream Øle Å on Bornholm, where Norway spruce (Picea abies) for a period has been cultivated intensively in the riparian zone. Consequently the natural vegetation has been shaded out, and the stream fauna has reduced food sources. Read more on the webpage www.olea.ku.dk
Climate change impacts on heathland plant species and heathland ecosystem stability
Johannes Ransijn, jran@ign.ku.dk
My main interest is how climatic change will affect heathland ecosystem stability and whether it might push systems to different stability domains, i.e. causing catastrophic shifts in species abundance patterns. I investigate the responses of the two most abundant heathland plant species, common heather (Calluna vulgaris) and wavy hair grass (Deschampsia flexuosa), to artificial climatic change with physiological and phenological measurements, biomass inventories and competition modelling as part of the CLIMAITE and INCREASE projects. I also work with long term vegetation monitoring data from Nørholm Hede to assess patterns of vegetation change and ecosystem stability in heathlands.
Assessing Forest Resources and Carbon Sequestration using Airborne Scanning Laser and Infrared Photogrammetry
Johannes Schumacher, josc@ign.ku.dk
The objective of my study is to derive information about forests (e.g. forest area, biomass, stem volume, tree types and their allocation and also ecological variables) from remote sensing data. I use terrestrial reference data and remote sensed data to build models which can be applied to areas where field data may not be available. I use field data from the NFI and from tree species experiments and wall-to-wall LiDAR data and colour infrared images.
Forest Dynamics in relation to ecological processes and biodiversity
Sebastian Kepfer Rojas, skro@ign.ku.dk
I focus on the interplay of forest attributes (changes in structure, composition, extension, etc), ecological processes and biodiversity at different spatial scales. One of the main objectives in my research is to determine the underlying ecological causes of forest development and the pivotal role of forests as regulators of ecological processes. An important step in understanding forest ecosystems is to investigate how forests develop through time. For doing so I use long term successional studies (Nørholm Heatland) to investigate patterns of community assembly and structural development during spontaneous succession. Further, I investigate the role of forests characteristics in determining associated biodiversity patterns (e.g. birds, ground vegetation) at a landscape level, based on national level monitoring programs (National Forest Inventory, Common Bird Census (DOF))
Completed projects
- VULCAN
- Vildt og Landskab
We offer Master and Bachelor projects within a wide range of topics, see topics and ideas underneath.
Nature Management and the effects on ecosystems
- Management options of semi-natural ecosystems and biodiversity,
- Invasive species, introduction pathways, distribution and management
- Management of semi-natural ecosystems and trade-off between ecosystem services
- Grazing in nature management
- Natural ecosystem dynamics in nature management
Biodiversity in forest
- Biodiversity in different tree species and forests of different age
- Development of forest understory vegetation in young forests,
- Indicators for biodiversity in forests
- Management and trade-off between ecosystem services
- Forest grazing, biodiversity and natural regeneration
- The influence of forest structure on biodiversity
- Natural hydrology in forests and impact on biodiversity
The group host the National Forest Inventory and monitoring of forest habitats. The forest database offers excellent opportunities for master and bachelor projects. Further, we host a large number of long-term forest experiments
Climate change and ecosystem processes and function
- Climatic changes and impact on plant competition
- Interactions between climate and other drivers of change (pest insects and nutrients)
- Climate change effects on nutrient cycling and leaching losses of nutrients
- Impact of extreme events versus mean changes in climate on ecosystem processes
The group host an European infrastructure of large scale climate change experiments ideal for in-situ studies of ecosystem processes www.increase-infrastructure.eu
Ecological restoration and/or conservation
Ecological restoration (ER) (the practice of renewing and restoring degraded, damaged, or destroyed ecosystems and habitats by active intervention) versus management and conservation.
Some ideas for Master and Bachelor projects
- Effect of native (Betula sp.) vs a non-native (Pinus mugo) on long term succession: Use the long term data series in Nørholm Heath to investigate the particular trajectories of these two species, and/or complement it with data collected at a dominance gradient for both species. Looking at effects on soil, topography and understory vegetation.
Contact: Sebastian Kepfer Rojas, skro@ign.ku.dk and Inger Kappel Schmidt, iks@ign.ku.dk. - Examine the resistance of different heathland vegetation to tree colonization based on seedling survival (experimental planting) at different vegetation cover
Contact: Sebastian Kepfer Rojas, skro@ign.ku.dk and Inger Kappel Schmidt, iks@ign.ku.dk. - Invasion and community ecology related to the invasive harlequin ladybird (Harmonia axyridis) I Pathogen spillback – a potential mechanism contributing to the success of the invasive harlequin ladybird? Keywords: parasite-spillback hypothesis, invasive species, entomopathogenic fungi, native insect communities, apparent competition, field/experimental lab work.
Contact: Andy Howe, andy@ign.ku.dk - Invasion and community ecology related to the invasive harlequin ladybird (Harmonia axyridis) II Predator-predator interactions between the invasive harlequin ladybird (H. axyridis) and the native flower bug (Anthocoris nemoralis). Keywords: predator avoidance, insect behaviour, native/invasive insects interactions, co-existence, chemical cues, experimental lab work.
Contact: Andy Howe, andy@ign.ku.dk - Succession from heathland to forest – the impact of deer grazing. The deer populations can change regeneration of tree species dramatically and affect succession through selective feeding. The grazers play a significant role for both the structure and species composition of natural forests. Tree colonization has been followed for about 100 years at the abandoned 350 ha Nørholm Hede. It has shown an exponential growth for most tree species but the latest survey suggest that roe and red deer grazing seems to delay recruitment of trees. The study will include estimation of the impact of grazing and evaluation of natural deer grazing as a management tool.
Contact: Inger Kappel Schmidt, iks@ign.ku.dk - Management of semi-natural ecosystems and trade-off between ecosystem service. Biomass harvest is a common management tool for removal of nutrients and maintaining semi-natural ecosystems open. Presently, many semi-natural ecosystems are managed with a focus on biomass harvest for energy and less focus on the consequences for plants and animal diversity, soil carbon and soil water quality. We seak one or several students to assess the impact of different commonly used management tools (biomass harvest, sod-cutting, grazing and fire) on the services these ecosystems provide. The projects will include field work at different managed heathland. Contact: Inger Kappel Schmidt, iks@ign.ku.dk)
Ongoing project
Nina Bonke Mikkelsen - Succession in forest floor vegetation under 5 tree species in Vestskoven.
- Biodiversity in Urban Nature
- Landscape and Restoration Ecology
- Naturpleje og plejeplanlægning
- Environmental Management in Europe
- Thematic Course: Ecology and Management of Forests and other Semi-natural Terrestrial Ecosystems
- Feltkursus i naturforvaltning
The group collaborates with a large number of national and international institutes, scientists and land managers.
National collaboration
CLIMAITE – VKR-Climate Centre of Excellence -Climate change effects on biological processes in terrestrial ecosystems. Other partners are DTU, KU-BIO and AU. climaite
Contact: Inger Kappel Schmidt iks@ign.ku.dk
International collaboration
The European Heathland Network - The European Heathlands Network has been established to enable all persons involved or interested in ecological research, conservation of wildlife, and in policy formulation and implementation in relation to European heathlands to meet, to stimulate discussion, to promote communication, to further the understanding of heathland ecosystems and to disseminate information as widely as possible.
INCREASE – An Integrated Network on Climate Change REsearch Activities on Shrubland Ecosystems. INCREASE is an EU-funded network of large-scale field experiments for studies of climate effects on vulnerable shrubland ecosystems in Europe. Facilities and partners in Hungary, University of Tuscia, Italy, CREAF, University of Barcelona, Spain, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands, CEH, Bangor and Bangor University, UK and University of Copenhagen and Technical University of Denmark, Denmark. In Denmark we have two large scale climate experiments with manipulations of temperature, precipitation and atmospheric CO2.
Contact
Inger Kappel Schmidt iks@ign.ku.dk
Members of the Research Group
| Name | Title | Phone | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Search in Name | Search in Title | Search in Phone | |
| Anna Karina Zimmermann | Research Assistant | ||
| David Bille Byriel | Postdoc | +4535334225 | |
| Davide Barsotti | Research Assistant | +4535324216 | |
| Erik Dahl Kjær | Professor | +4535331624 | |
| Hjalte Calberg Ro-Poulsen | Postdoc | +4535331334 | |
| Inge Stupak | Associate Professor | +4535331665 | |
| Inger Kappel Schmidt | Professor | +4535331668 | |
| Johannes H.C. de Koning | Assistant Professor | +4593850502 | |
| Julie Værgman Cronberg | Academic Research Staff | ||
| Karsten Raulund-Rasmussen | Professor | +4535331666 | |
| Katrine Skovsen | Research Assistant | +4535320126 | |
| Lars Vesterdal | Professor | +4535331672 | |
| Lars Nørgaard Hansen | Researcher | +4535336160 | |
| Lasse Gottlieb | Assistant Professor | +4535333701 | |
| Ludovica D'Imperio | Research Coordinator | +4535336298 | |
| Maiken Vienberg Engelhardt | Academic Research Staff | +4535337335 | |
| Mathias Just Justesen | Postdoc | +4535328055 | |
| Mona Chor Bjørn | Postdoc | +4535331845 | |
| Morten Alban | Academic Staff | ||
| Prescott Huntley Brownell II | PhD Fellow | +4535324839 | |
| Rita M. Buttenschøn | Senior Adviser | +4535331712 | |
| Sascha Hellmann Hansen | Academic Research Officer | +4535334960 | |
| Sebastian Kepfer Rojas | Assistant Professor | +4535334843 | |
| Torben Riis-Nielsen | Special Consultant | +4535331625 | |
| Yamina Micaela Rosas | Postdoc |
