Modeling ground beetles in changing landscapes
Model output. red: local beetle populations, black: dispersing beetle individuals, brown/green/yellow: different habitat types
This project aims to understand the influence of different landscape characteristics on biodiversity better. We developed a spatially explicit multi-species simulation model with stochastic birth, death, and dispersal processes. The empirical basis for the model is previously collected data on different taxonomic groups of invertebrates in agricultural landscapes. The model has been parameterized in such way that the model results fit the actual field data in a typical agricultural landscape. Then, simulations with ground beetle populations on artificial landscapes were performed, whereby we controlled landscape measures such as landscape configuration and composition.
Status: Current project.
Cooperations: Katrin Meyer, Teja Tscharntke, Kerstin Wiegand
Sebastian Hanß
PhD student & Scientific programmer
spatial ecology, biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, savanna and dryland ecology, concepts and theoretical ecology and dynamic simulation models.