@article{LorenzGersterWodzinowskietal.2022, author = {Lorenz, Tommy and Gerster, Lea and Wodzinowski, Dustin Elias and Wartenberg, Ariani and Martetschl{\"a}ger, Lea and Molitor, Heike and Cremer, Tobias and Bloch, Ralf}, title = {Innovative Teaching and Learning Formats for the Implementation of Agroforestry Systems—An Impact Analysis after Five Years of Experience with the Real-World Laboratory "Ackerbaum"}, series = {Forests}, volume = {13}, journal = {Forests}, number = {7}, publisher = {MDPI}, issn = {1999-4907}, doi = {10.3390/f13071064}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:eb1-opus-3092}, pages = {14}, year = {2022}, abstract = {Since 2017, the Eberswalde University for Sustainable Development (HNEE) offers transformative learning modules in their curricula, which are called ITL—Innovative Teaching and Learning formats. Student tutors change into the role of teachers and organize lectures, excursions, and assignments at the Real-World Laboratory "Ackerbaum"—an agroforestry system in the federal state of Brandenburg, Germany. Students can learn about agroforestry systems, participate in research, and take practical action. The examination of the module is a scientific report linked to the experimental area. In this study, an attempt was made to verify the quality and impact of teaching formats in the ITL via the analysis of 53 reports created by 170 students as well as surveys among participants. For this purpose, indicators were formulated that capture the quality of scientific methods and the contribution to higher education for sustainable development. Students and tutors appreciate the open working atmosphere and the possibility to actively participate in the course; many leave the module motivated. Some even move toward transformation in agriculture professionally as, e.g., consultants in the field of agroforestry. As a transformative institution, HNEE offers with ITL a rare opportunity for practical application, scientific methods, and transdisciplinary collaboration with different stakeholders to work on future models to change today's agriculture.}, language = {en} } @article{ThevsAlievEmilevaetal.2022, author = {Thevs, Niels and Aliev, Kumar and Emileva, Begayim and Yuldasheva, Dilfuza and Eshchanova, Guzal and Welp, Martin}, title = {Potential of Agroforestry to Provide Wood Resources to Central Asia}, series = {Forests}, volume = {13}, journal = {Forests}, number = {8}, publisher = {MDPI}, issn = {1999-4907}, doi = {10.3390/f13081193}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:eb1-opus-3104}, pages = {14}, year = {2022}, abstract = {Background: Agroforestry systems have the potential to provide timber and wood as a domestic raw material, as well as an additional source of income for rural populations. In Central Asia, tree windbreaks from mainly poplar trees have a long tradition, but were largely cut down as source for fuel wood after the disintegration of the Soviet Union. As Central Asia is a forest-poor region, restoration of tree windbreaks has the potential to provide timber and wood resources to that region. This study aimed to assess the potential of tree windbreaks to contribute to domestic timber and wood production. Methods: This study rests on a GIS-based analysis, in which tree lines (simulated by line shape files) were intersected with cropland area. The tree data to calculate timber and wood volumes stem from a dataset with 728 single trees from a relevant range of climatic conditions. Results: The potential annually available timber volumes from tree windbreaks with 500 m spacing are 2.9 million m3 for Central Asia as a whole and 1.5 million m3 for Uzbekistan alone, which is 5 times the current domestic roundwood production and imports of the country. Conclusions: tree windbreaks offer untapped potential to deliver wood resources domestically as a raw material for wood-based value chains.}, language = {en} } @article{KrahReimannMolitor2021, author = {Krah, Jennifer and Reimann, Julian and Molitor, Heike}, title = {Sustainability in Brandenburg Study Programs. Perspectives for Anchoring Sustainability in Higher Education Curricula}, series = {Sustainabilty}, volume = {13}, journal = {Sustainabilty}, number = {7}, publisher = {MDPI}, issn = {2071-1050}, doi = {10.3390/su13073958}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:eb1-opus-2438}, pages = {32}, year = {2021}, abstract = {The study investigates the extent to which sustainability is anchored in university curricula of a federal state (Brandenburg, Germany). (1) It provides a baseline for identifying opportunities for sustainability-related curriculum reform by analyzing study programs, levels and type of degree, level of anchoring, and context within the documents. (2) The case studies included an analysis and quantitative evaluation of 748 curricular documents. (3) A third of the study programs refer to sustainability; to an equal extent in both bachelor's and master's programs, and to an above-average extent in the fields of science and engineering. There is a strong commitment to sustainability in 12\% of the curricula; however, it is strongly anchored in only 3\% of study and examination regulations, and in only 9\% of module descriptions. (4) For the first time, we have comprehensive results on sustainability in university curricula of an entire federal state and can discuss potentials for its further integration. The innovative method was developed out of the National Monitoring on Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) and adapted to the federal state level; the analysis of curricula through a wider set of variables is transferrable to other states. (5) The study provides indications for the regional development of universities which is crucial for future regional sustainability transformation.}, language = {en} } @article{HentschelMoellerWenningetal.2018, author = {Hentschel, Rainer and M{\"o}ller, Katrin and Wenning, Aline and Degenhardt, Annett and Schr{\"o}der, Jens}, title = {Importance of Ecological Variables in Explaining Population Dynamics of Three Important Pine Pest Insects}, series = {Frontiers in Plant Science}, journal = {Frontiers in Plant Science}, number = {9}, publisher = {Frontiers Media S.A.}, issn = {1664-462X}, doi = {10.3389/fpls.2018.01667}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:eb1-opus-3285}, pages = {17}, year = {2018}, abstract = {Climate change challenges forest vitality both directly by increasing drought and heat periods and indirectly, e.g., by creating favorable conditions for mass outbreaks of phyllophagous insects. The large forests dominated by Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) that cover the lowland regions in northeast Germany have already been affected regularly by cyclic mass propagations of defoliating insect species in the past with climate projections implying an even more advantageous environment for devastating outbreaks in the future. To improve predictive and responsive capacities we have investigated a wide range of ecological parameters to identify those most strongly related to past outbreak waves of three central species. In total, we analyzed 3,748 variables covering stand and neighborhood properties, site quality, and climatic conditions for an area of roughly 750,000 ha of pine forests in the period 2002-2016. To reflect sensitivity against varying climate, we computed "floating windows" in relation to critical phenological phases of the respective insects. The parameters with the highest explanatory power resulted from the variable importance measures of the Random Forest (RF) methodology and have been evaluated by a 10-fold cross-validation process. Our findings closely reflect the known specific gradation patterns and show that relative variable importance varies with species. While Lymantria monacha L. feeding was mainly dependent on the surroundings of the respective stand, Diprion pini L. proved to be almost exclusively susceptible to climatic effects in its population dynamics. Dendrolimus pini L. exhibited a mixed pattern of variable importance involving both climatic and forest structure parameters. In many cases the obtained statistical results support well-known ecological cause-effect relations and long-term population change dynamics. The RF delivered very high levels of sensitivity and specificity in the developed classifications and proved to be an excellent tool to handle the large amounts of data utilized for this study. While the presented classification approach may already support a better prognosis of the amplitude during the outbreak culmination, the obtained (most important) variables are proposed as preferable covariates for modeling population dynamics of the investigated insect species.}, language = {en} } @article{VogelGebbersOerteletal.2019, author = {Vogel, Sebastian and Gebbers, Robin and Oertel, Marcel and Kramer, Eckart}, title = {Evaluating Soil-Borne Causes of Biomass Variability in Grassland by Remote and Proximal Sensing}, series = {Sensors}, volume = {19}, journal = {Sensors}, number = {20}, publisher = {MDPI}, issn = {1424-8220}, doi = {10.3390/s19204593}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:eb1-opus-3294}, pages = {16}, year = {2019}, abstract = {On a grassland field with sandy soils in Northeast Germany (Brandenburg), vegetation indices from multi-spectral UAV-based remote sensing were used to predict grassland biomass productivity. These data were combined with soil pH value and apparent electrical conductivity (ECa) from on-the-go proximal sensing serving as indicators for soil-borne causes of grassland biomass variation. The field internal magnitude of spatial variability and hidden correlations between the variables of investigation were analyzed by means of geostatistics and boundary-line analysis to elucidate the influence of soil pH and ECa on the spatial distribution of biomass. Biomass and pH showed high spatial variability, which necessitates high resolution data acquisition of soil and plant properties. Moreover, boundary-line analysis showed grassland biomass maxima at pH values between 5.3 and 7.2 and ECa values between 3.5 and 17.5 mS m-1. After calibrating ECa to soil moisture, the ECa optimum was translated to a range of optimum soil moisture from 7\% to 13\%. This matches well with to the plant-available water content of the predominantly sandy soil as derived from its water retention curve. These results can be used in site-specific management decisions to improve grassland biomass productivity in low-yield regions of the field due to soil acidity or texture-related water scarcity.}, language = {en} } @article{KrauseSandersMundetal.2019, author = {Krause, Stuart and Sanders, Tanja G. M. and Mund, Jan-Peter and Greve, Klaus}, title = {UAV-Based Photogrammetric Tree Height Measurement for Intensive Forest Monitoring}, series = {Remote Sensing}, journal = {Remote Sensing}, number = {11(7)}, publisher = {MDPI}, issn = {2072-4292}, doi = {10.3390/rs11070758}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:eb1-opus-3240}, pages = {18}, year = {2019}, abstract = {The measurement of tree height has long been an important tree attribute for the purpose of calculating tree growth, volume, and biomass, which in turn deliver important ecological and economical information to decision makers. Tree height has traditionally been measured by indirect field-based techniques, however these methods are rarely contested. With recent advances in Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) remote sensing technologies, the possibility to acquire accurate tree heights semi-automatically has become a reality. In this study, photogrammetric and field-based tree height measurements of a Scots Pine stand were validated using destructive methods. The intensive forest monitoring site implemented for the study was configured with permanent ground control points (GCPs) measured with a Total Station (TS). Field-based tree height measurements resulted in a similar level of error to that of the photogrammetric measurements, with root mean square error (RMSE) values of 0.304 m (1.82\%) and 0.34 m (2.07\%), respectively (n = 34). A conflicting bias was, however, discovered where field measurements tended to overestimate tree heights and photogrammetric measurements were underestimated. The photogrammetric tree height measurements of all trees (n = 285) were validated against the field-based measurements and resulted in a RMSE of 0.479 m (2.78\%). Additionally, two separate photogrammetric tree height datasets were compared (n = 251), and a very low amount of error was observed with a RMSE of 0.138 m (0.79\%), suggesting a high potential for repeatability. This study shows that UAV photogrammetric tree height measurements are a viable option for intensive forest monitoring plots and that the possibility to acquire within-season tree growth measurements merits further study. Additionally, it was shown that negative and positive biases evident in field-based and UAV-based photogrammetric tree height measurements could potentially lead to misinterpretation of results when field-based measurements are used as validation.}, language = {en} } @article{OchoaSanyeMengualSpechtetal.2019, author = {Ochoa, Jesus and Sany{\´e}-Mengual, Esther and Specht, Kathrin and Fern{\´a}ndez, Juan A. and Ba{\~n}{\´o}n, Sebasti{\´a}n and Orsini, Francesco and Magrefi, Francesca and Bazzocchi, Giovanni and Halder, Severin and Martens, D{\"o}rte and Kappel, Noemi and Gianquinto, Giorgio}, title = {Sustainable Community Gardens Require Social Engagement and Training: A Users' Needs Analysis in Europe}, series = {Sustainability}, journal = {Sustainability}, number = {11(14)}, publisher = {MDPI}, issn = {2071-1050}, doi = {10.3390/su11143978}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:eb1-opus-3261}, year = {2019}, abstract = {Urban gardens are spreading in many cities across Europe, with community gardening being a fundamental form of urban agriculture. While the literature reveals the essential role that community gardens can play in terms of learning and education, no studies have investigated the training needs for participants in community gardens to ensure their successful development. The goal of this article is to evaluate the training requirements of urban community gardens to ensure their successful implementation and their contribution to sustainability in European cities. Two questionnaires of users' needs analysis were designed and implemented in Berlin, Bologna, Budapest, and Cartagena. The results unveiled the need to re-enforce the training in the formation and community building phases of community gardens towards ensuring the creation of an engaged gardening community to maintain activity, particularly for top-down activities (e.g., research-related gardens). Users claimed their need for being trained on crop management skills (e.g., maintenance, bed preparation, organic practices) and on communication skills to further disseminate their activity, thereby increasing the potential for citizen engagement. Such requirements could be overcome with the creation of urban gardens networks, where experiences and knowledge are shared among practitioners. Policy recommendations are provided based on the outputs of this study.}, language = {en} } @article{LoebjinskiRugPasternak2020, author = {Loebjinski, Maria and Rug, Wolfgang and Pasternak, Hartmut}, title = {The Influence of Improved Strength Grading In Situ on Modelling Timber Strength Properties}, series = {Buildings}, volume = {10}, journal = {Buildings}, number = {2}, publisher = {MDPI}, issn = {2075-5309}, doi = {10.3390/buildings10020030}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:eb1-opus-2736}, pages = {15}, year = {2020}, abstract = {The management and preservation of structures in our built environment are central and challenging tasks for practicing engineers. Within the CEN member states (European Committee for Standardization), the so-called Eurocodes form the basis of the design and verification of the load-bearing capacity of structures. Current Eurocodes do not contain special recommendations for existing structures, meaning that the principles for new structures are applied. This can lead to an incorrect estimation of the load-bearing capacity within the semi-probabilistic safety concept. A central task within the investigation and evaluation of existing structures is the strength grading of the material in situ using non-/semi-destructive technical devices. Studies show the potential of the ultrasonic time-of-flight measurement in combination with visual evaluation for an improved grading. The information on the material from an improved grading technique can be used to update the material parameters as a target variable using a measured reference variable. In this contribution, test data from a partner project (spruce, pine, and oak) are analyzed, applying the stochastic grading model of P{\"o}hlmann and Rackwitz. It can be shown that different grading techniques influence the updated distribution function of the material strength within the grade. The results depend on the timber species. Perspectives to develop updated models dependent on the knowledge available are shown and discussed.}, language = {en} } @article{RoqueMacandzaZelleretal., author = {Roque, Dion{\´i}sio Virg{\´i}lio and Macandza, Val{\´e}rio Ant{\´o}nio and Zeller, Ulrich and Starik, Nicole and G{\"o}ttert, Thomas}, title = {Historical and current distribution and movement patterns of large herbivores in the Limpopo National Park, Mozambique}, series = {Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution}, volume = {10}, journal = {Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution}, publisher = {Frontiers Media S.A.}, issn = {2296-701X}, doi = {10.3389/fevo.2022.978397}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:eb1-opus-3641}, abstract = {This study provides a first attempt to describe the historical distribution and movement patterns of selected large herbivore (LH) species in Limpopo National Park (LNP), an area in Mozambique today connected to a network of transboundary conservation areas. Between 1976 and the early 2000s, most LH species were absent in this area following the civil war in Mozambique followed by intense poaching due to weak law enforcement capacity. Through the reconstruction of the historical and current distribution and movement patterns of seven LH species in five periods, we investigate possible changes in distribution and movement patterns over time. Data collection is based on a systematic literature search, censuses reports, online databases, dung count transects, and camera trap surveys. We mapped all LH observations and movements using ArcGIS 10.1. Our results reveal a dramatic collapse of LH populations between the peak of the colonial period and the post-colonial/civil war period (1800-2001), followed by a slight recovery from the post-proclamation of Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park to the current period (2002-2021). While LH population decline applied to all seven species, there are species-specific differences in the process of restoration: African elephant (Loxodonta africana), African buffalo (Syncerus caffer), and plains zebra (Equus quagga) appear to recover to a greater extent than giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis), eland (Tragelaphus oryx), blue wildebeest (Connochaetes taurinus), and white rhino (Ceratotherium simum). We found evidence of the functioning of proposed wildlife corridors in the LNP. The results give reason to assume that restoration of populations of LH is still in a very early and vulnerable state and that further efforts are necessary to strengthen the slowly increasing populations of LH. Our results highlight the importance of combining past and current data as a guide for the restoration of threatened species in African savannas impacted by human activities.}, language = {en} } @article{BraunBitschHaering2022, author = {Braun, Charis Linda and Bitsch, Vera and H{\"a}ring, Anna Maria}, title = {Developing agri-food value chains: learning networks between exploration and exploitation}, series = {The Journal of Agricultural Education and Extension}, journal = {The Journal of Agricultural Education and Extension}, publisher = {Taylor \& Francis}, issn = {1389-224X}, doi = {10.1080/1389224X.2022.2082499}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:eb1-opus-4700}, pages = {22}, year = {2022}, abstract = {Purpose The present study explores the development of agri-food value chains from an organizational learning perspective, using the German organic food sector as an example. We illustrate how the development of local value chains unfolds over time and outline how facilitation can support this process. Design/methodology/approach The study used an action research design to facilitate change in practice and to create new knowledge. Data were collected through qualitative interviews, participant observation, and documentation of workshops and other learning activities. Data analysis and conceptualization followed a grounded theory approach. Findings The development process of value chains occurs in three phases, from joint exploration of the problem, through a phase of experimentation and implementation, to further cultivation of established collaborations among value chain actors. The development process oscillates between intra- and inter-organizational learning as well as explorative and exploitative activities. Practical implications The results of this study can help to understand and to further professionalize the practice of value chain development and provide guidance for facilitators and other stakeholder working in this field. Theoretical implications By drawing on the theory of exploration and exploitation, the study enhances the understanding of value chains collaboration in an inter-organizational setting. The study conceptualizes the development of agri-food value chains and the role of facilitators in the process. Originality/value There is little research to date that considers the development of value chains as a collaborative learning process. The presented grounded theory of local value chain development may inform further research on the transition towards a more sustainable agri-food system.}, language = {en} }