TY - CHAP A1 - Gerwin, Werner A1 - Schaaf, Wolfgang A1 - Hinz, Christoph A1 - Hüttl, Reinhard F. T1 - Monitoring of Ecosystem Development at the Constructed Catchment Chicken Creek T2 - TERENO International Conference 2014, From Observation to Prediction in Terrestrial Systems, 29 September to 2 October 2014, Book of Abstracts N2 - The constructed catchment Chicken Creek was established in 2005 as an experimental landscape laboratory for ecosystem research. The 6 ha area with clearly defined horizontal as well as vertical boundary conditions was left for an unrestricted primary succession. The developing ecosystem offers the opportunity to study most processes occurring at the interface of bio-, pedo-, geo- and hydrosphere. Particularly interactions and feedbacks between different evolving compartments as well as the establishment of ecosystem functions and services can be investigated during the ongoing ecosystem development. The catchment is extensively instrumented since 2005 in order to detect transition stages of the ecosystem. Comprehensive data recorded with a high spatial and temporal resolution include hydrological, geomorphological, pedological, limnological as well as biological parameters. This site offers the unique situation of an early stage ecosystem with highly dynamic system properties. The first years of development were characterized by a fast formation of geomorphological structures due to massive erosion processes at the initially non-vegetated surface. Hydrological processes led to the establishment of a local groundwater body within 5 years. In the following years the influence of biological structures like vegetation patterns gained an increasing importance. Feedbacks between developing vegetation and e.g. hydrological features became more and more dominant. As a result, different phases of ecosystem development could be distinguished until now. This observatory offers manifold possibilities to identify and disentangle complex interactions between ecosystem compartments in situ under natural conditions. The originally low complexity of the system is growing with time facilitating the identification of influences of newly developing structures on ecosystem functions. Thus, it is possible to study effects of small-scale processes on the whole system at the landscape scale. In addition, the highly dynamic initial system properties allow the observation of multifaceted changes of ecosystem properties and functions within short periods of time. Y1 - 2014 UR - http://www.tereno-conference2014.de/tereno-conference/EN/download_book_of_abstracts/_node.html SP - P2-12 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Hüttl, Reinhard F. A1 - Gerwin, Werner A1 - Schaaf, Wolfgang A1 - Zaplata, Markus K. A1 - Hinz, Christoph T1 - A Critical Zone Observatory for detecting ecosystem transition: the constructed catchment Chicken Creek (Germany) T2 - Procedia Earth and Planetary Science N2 - The constructed catchment Chicken Creek was established in 2005 as an experimental landscape laboratory for ecosystem research. The 6 ha area with clearly defined horizontal as well as vertical boundary conditions was left for natural primary succession. All Critical Zone elements are represented at this site, which allows the study of most processes occurring at the interface of bio-, pedo-, geo- and hydrosphere. It provides outstanding opportunities for investigating interactions and feedbacks between different co-evolving compartments. The catchment has been extensively instrumented since 2005. Data are recorded with a high spatial and temporal resolution and include hydrological, geomorphological, pedological, limnological as well as biological parameters in order to detect transition states of the ecosystem. In contrast to other Critical Zone Observatories, this site offers the unique situation of an early stage ecosystem with highly dynamic properties. The first years of development were characterized by a fast formation of geomorphological structures due to massive erosion of the initially non-vegetated surface. Hydrological processes led to the establishment of a local groundwater body within 5 years. In the following years the influence of biological structures like vegetation patterns gained increasing importance. Feedbacks between developing vegetation and e.g. hydrological features became more and more apparent. As a result, different phases of ecosystem development have been distinguished. Y1 - 2014 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.proeps.2014.08.009 VL - 10 SP - 46 EP - 51 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Hüttl, Reinhard F. A1 - Gerwin, Werner A1 - Kögel-Knabner, Ingrid A1 - Schulin, Rainer A1 - Hinz, Christoph A1 - Subke, Jens-Arne T1 - Ecosystems in transition: interactions and feedbacks with an amphasis on the initial development T2 - Biogeosciences N2 - In this Special Issue of Biogeosciences on “Ecosystems in transition: Interactions and feedbacks with an emphasis on the initial development”, we bring together research on ecosystems undergoing state transitions, including artificially created and naturally formed sites, most of them in an initial stage of development. State transitions of an ecosystem may occur either when a formerly stable system state is disturbed or when a developing system gradually achieves new functions during succession. This special issue presents a collection of observational and experimental studies that focus on processes occurring during state transitions in the development of ecosystems and provide insights into the feedback mechanisms controlling them. These state transitions are studied at multiple scales, ranging from the pore scale to the catchment scale. The contributions collected in this issue can be divided into two main groups: (i) studies dealing with state transition occurring in initial ecosystems without active human interference, and (ii) studies dealing with active restoration of ecosystems after severe disturbances. Y1 - 2014 U6 - https://doi.org/doi:10.5194/bg-11-195-2014 VL - 11 SP - 195 EP - 200 ER -