Biodiversity in Transition Transition – Patterns and Interactions of Plant Diversity in Disturbed and Undisturbed Habitats

The project “Biodiversität im Wandel – Muster und Interaktionen pflanzlicher Vielfalt in gestörten und ungestörten Lebensräumen” (Biodiversity in Transition – Patterns and Interactions of Plant Diversity in Disturbed and Undisturbed Habitats) is a long‑term project of the Academy of Sciences and Literature, Mainz (funded by the Federal Government and the State of North‑Rhine Westphalia). Since 2002 it has been based at the Nees Institute for Plant Biodiversity at the University of Bonn. The main objective of the project is to gain a better understanding of the spatial patterns of biodiversity and the underlying processes, and to develop essential knowledge and data bases for nature conservation assessments in the context of global change.

In order to better understand the various aspects of biodiversity and its influence by humans, the long-term project was divided into three sub-projects:

A:  Spatial Diversity Patterns – analysis and cartographic representation from the mesoscale to the global level. 

B: Inselbergs – diversity‑controlling mechanisms on natural vegetation islands and fragmented habitats. 

C: Epiphytes – as structural and interactional elements of diversity in disturbed and undisturbed tropical forests.

In the three sub‑projects biodiversity is examined using suitable model systems and at different scales. The focus lies not only on understanding fundamental biodiversity‑controlling processes but also on analysing the impacts of global change on biological diversity.