Research Objectives
The chair conducts ecological research on the functioning of natural, tropical large scale ecosystems, including the effects of human interference thereon. Nature conservation dictates the conservation or restoration of areas where the natural biodiversity can be preserved, also for future generations. Nature management dictates that original, natural ecosystems should be able to persist free from human disturbance. This leads to three research objectives: (1) identification of ecosystem characteristics - such as size - leading to long-term conservation of biodiversity, (2) identification of the maximum acceptable level of negative human interference still enabling the conservation of biodiversity, and (3) identification of the conditions for persistance of small populations of endangered species in natural or protected areas. The study of biodiversity is conducted from a functional ecological, rather than from a taxonomical point of view. It therefore includes studies on food webs, trophic cascades, plant-animal, and animal-animal interactions. These studies are arranged in two research themes.
Fifteen years chairgroup: Research line and history
Tembo project
GEST Global Experiment on Savanna Tree seedlings
Data entry plant analyses.xls (entry file for students)
Read instructions about safety precautions while sampling and sterilizing stomach contents or dung
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