Research Group - Ecosystems and Landscape Ecology
The Research Group Ecosystem and Landscape Ecology integrates relevant ecological disciplines and methods (soil and vegetation science, hydrology, micrometeorology, remote sensing, spatial statistics, ecological and geo-statistical modelling) to analyse ecosystem functions and services across spatial and temporal scales. Beneath systematic survey and monitoring of fundamental data, experiments and modelling of global change impacts on biodiversity, catchment yield, natural hazards risk and land-use/land-cover are conducted.
Research activities mainly take place in four subject areas, integrating ecosystem and landscape level (experimental and modelled) with the following research objectives: (i) LUCC, historical and current land use/cover change (LUCC) in the Alps and scenario development; (ii) Ecosystem Services, consequences of LUCC on ecosystem functions and services; (iii) Biogeochemical Cycles: impacts of global change on carbon and water balance of mountain grasslands; (iv) Sustainability, develop, test and implement sustainable monitoring systems at local and regional scale (human-environmental decision support systems). The central strategy of the research group is based on a wide and interdisciplinary understanding of ecological processes and functions as prerequisite to evaluate and model impacts of global change. The international collaborations and lead or participation in several international (EU: ERA-net, INTERREG) and national research projects guarantee cutting-edge research in mountain environments. The cooperation with disciplines from social and human sciences, statistics, and engineering attests the interdisciplinary dimension of the research group.
Group Members
- Ulrike Tappeiner Dr. Univ.-Prof. (Head)
- Georg Leitinger Dr. Assoc.-Prof.
- Christian Newesely Dr. (part-time)
- Johannes Rüdisser Dr.
- Uta Schirpke Dipl.-Geogr. PhD (part-time)
- Erich Tasser Dr. Priv.-Doz. (affiliated)
- Lisa Ambrosi PhD (Maternity leave)
- Friederike Barkmann MSc
- Lucía Laorden Camacho MSc (PhD student)
- Martin Leupold MSc
- Petra Schattanek (Project Tagfalter-Monitoring Tirol)
- Elena Tello García (PhD student)
- Simon Tscholl MSc (PhD student)
- Sebastiano Zanini MSc (PhD student)
- Stefano della Chiesa (PhD student)
- Manuel Ebner MSc (PhD student)
- Elia Guariento (PhD student)
- Hieronymus Jäger MSc (PhD student)
MSc Students
Lisa Dell Agnolo
Daniele Fabbri
Zorin Ivanov
Alexander Kissling
Janin Höllrigl
Laura Leix
Vanessa Meier
Barbara Mosgöller
Theresa Rappold
Heidi Simion
Laura Stephan
Melanie Thaler
Previous Group Members
Alberto Scotti, PhD, Brenda Zoderer, PhD, Nikolaus Obojes PhD, Sarah Kerle MSc, Katharina Antonie Schneider (Project AlpES), Claude Meisch DI (Project AlpES), Marina Kohler PhD, Veronika Fontana PhD, Georg Frenck PhD, Jacob Dein (Fulbright U.S. student, Oct 2015-Jul 2016), Georg Johann Lair DI Dr., Laura Bischof MSc, Michael Heinl DI Dr., Ute Krainer (Szukics) Dr., Dagmar Rubatscher Dr.