Lecture des AK Biogeographie

Der AK Biogeographie vertritt die Interessen und Themen der Biogeographie im deutschen Raum. Die Biogeographie befasst sich mit der Verteilung von Leben und Diversität in Raum und Zeit und deckt dabei unterschiedliche räumliche (Landschaft bis global) und zeitliche (saisonal bis deep time) Skalen ab.

Understanding biodiversity dynamic: from human dominated systems to the fossil record

The fundamental processes that generate and maintain the complex patterns of life on Earth are not only human dominated but also strongly influenced by interactions across time. Understanding the effect of human behaviour and decision-making as well as the legacy of past processes is thus central for society, which critically depends on the many vital ecosystem services provided by biodiversity and ecosystem functioning.

Using oceanic islands as model systems, the talk will first explore how biodiversity dynamics are interacting with the earth system and how the effects of climate change today are influenced by environmental processes from the deep-time past. I will then show how human induced dynamics in ecological systems have intensified from the first arrival of our ancestors to a situation where human induced effects are an integral part of modern ecosystems.

The talk not only aims in presenting different case studies, many of which come from island biogeography. It also aims in discussing the potential and limitations of data available for studying biodiversity dynamics and their interaction with humans and environment on very different timescales from decades (historic vegetation surveys) over millennia (pollen record) to the deep time fossil record.

Manuel Steinbauer is Professor at the University of Bayreuth. He studies the fundamental processes that generate and maintain the unique biodiversity of life in an increasingly human dominated earth system.