Research

Research project

GolfBiodivers

The project GolfBiodivers is funded under the Federal Programme for Biological Diversity by the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation with resources from the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Climate Action, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety.
In this joint project, we are working together with partners from the universities of Kiel, Munich, and Münster, as well as the German Golf Association (DGV), to evaluate and enhance the biological diversity of golf courses from a landscape-ecological perspective. The main goal of the project is the long-term promotion of biodiversity through various landscape design measures.

Research project

WildPosh

WildPosh is a transdisciplinary project with the overarching goal of significantly improving the risk assessment of pesticide exposure for wild pollinators and promoting the sustainable health of pollinators and pollination services across Europe.
Since chemical exposure varies geographically, depending on the cropping system, within cropping systems, and between pollinator species, we are investigating pesticide exposure in four countries that represent the four major climatic regions of Europe: Mediterranean, Atlantic, Continental, and Boreal climates – in Germany, the UK, Estonia, and Spain.

Research project

RestPoll

In order to counteract the decline of pollinators and pollination services, our Europe-wide project “RestPoll – Restoring pollinator habitats across European agricul-tural landscapes based on multi-actor participatory approaches” aims to permanently restore pollinator habitats in Europe and improve their connectivity.
The main aim of the project is to promote biodiversity in the long term by means of various landscape design measures.

Research project

MultiTroph

MultiTroph is a multidisciplinary project funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG). The overall aim of the project is to identify mechanisms underlying the relationships between biodiversity and ecosystem functions across trophic levels. In the project we quantify species interactions between primary producers and different trophic and functional groups of consumers and ultimately link the different types of interactions to large food webs to understand how, why and when ecosystem functions are destabilised by species loss.

Research project

AGRI4POL

This Horizon Europe project aims to support agriculture in its transformation from a burden on pollinators to a positive force for their protection and promotion. The aim is to strengthen both pollinator biodiversity and pollination services in agricultural ecosystems and the associated benefits for humans and the environment.

Research project

VALOR

The VALOR project aims to better understand how much society and the economy depend on pollinators and is investigating the possible consequences of their decline. Tools are also being developed to actively involve various interest groups in the protection and conservation of pollinators and their habitats.

Research project

Ground-nesting wild bees in flower strips and the influence of tillage on wild bee nests

As part of the project funded by the Baden-Württemberg Ministry of the Environment, Climate and Energy Sector, annual and perennial flower strips in the agricultural landscape of Baden-Württemberg are being analysed and compared with regard to their foraging and ground-nesting wild bee communities. The question of what influence ploughing as a tillage measure in flower strips has on the nests of ground-nesting wild bees is being investigated.

Research project

Pollinator-friendly landscapes to promote diversity and ecosystem services (BeLaDiÖ)

The project develops and evaluates pollinator-friendly measures to sustainably strengthen pollinator diversity and pollination services in agricultural landscapes. It investigates measures that strengthen positive interactions, reduce competition between cultivated and wild plants, and at the same time promote biodiversity and ecosystem services.
The project is funded by Ministry of Food, Rural Affairs, and Consumer Protection Baden-Württemberg.