Topics for final theses
At the Chair of Computational Landscape Ecology, student research projects and theses in the fields of landscape ecology and biogeography are supervised. These range from theoretical and basic research to very applied questions (e.g. in the fields of biodiversity conservation, land use change or trade-offs). In addition to research questions you choose yourself, we offer you a selection of topics to be worked on (see below).
The following final theses are currently being supervised:
The following topics are currently offered. If you are interested, please fill out the following form.
Background/Motivation: Soil formation is controlled by climate, vegetation, organisms, topography, parent material, and time. There are various hypotheses on the relative importance of these individual soil-forming factors on podzolization. The results of our last paper indicate that vegetation is the most important factor. Climatic factors such as mean annual precipitation and range of temperature play subordinate roles. However, the influence of snowmelt or heavy rainfall events as "push effects" has so far only been investigated on a small scale due to the data available and may be underestimated.
Research question(s): This work is intended to provide information about the influence of "push effects" such as heavy rainfall events or snowmelt on rates of podzolization by creating a climate sequence from existing soil data. The collected data will be statistically evaluated and compared to the results of other publications.
Main methods / requirements: Creation of a climate sequence from an existing database (no data sampling needed), statistical analysis preferred with R, Writing in German or English language possible
Background/Motivation: Land-use intensity and landscape heterogeneity can be driving factors for biodiversity and species richness of bird, bat and insect species in agricultural landscapes. Still, little is known about how land-use intensity affects for example bird and insect species over longer periods of time, intra- and inter-annually. Novel, non-destructive, cost-efficient and easily deployable monitoring methods such as audio recorders are able to detect changes of multiple levels of biodiversity and over longer periods of time in comparison to classical methods. This allows addressing entirely new research questions and enables a more fine grained assessment of temporal fluctuations of species richness and abundances.
Research question(s) and/or tasks: Are differences in landscape heterogeneity/complexity or land-use intensity correlated to bird species richness? Under the umbrella of this overarching question a number of research hypotheses can be jointly developed. The following main tasks will need to be conducted during the proposed thesis: (1) Identify a set of approximately 10 sites in Lusatia for deploying audiomoth sound recorders along a landscape scale gradient, (2) Record and collect audio recordings over a period of appr. 3 months, (3) Analyse audio recordings to identify bird species by using machine learning methods (this task will be supported by an expert).
Main methods / requirements: Site identification based on criteria (e.g. landscape complexity/heterogeneity or organic vs conventional farming practices) using GIS methods (either using ArcGIS or R); fieldwork for data collection (drivers license required); (optionally: some kind of bird monitoring such as transect walks in the field); intermediate to advanced R-knowledge to analyse audio recordings. The thesis will be supervised in cooperation with the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ in Leipzig.
Background: My studies at the moment focus on prairie dog and habitat interactions in the northeastern semi-arid Mexican grasslands of Mexico. The area of study is highly fragmented due to livestock management and agricultural practices. Because of its unique native vegetation, soil composition, and presence of all the last remaining Cynomys mexicanus prairie dog colonies and many grassland birds, it was designated as a grassland priority conservation area for North America (GPCA).
Very few studies have been done in the study area and so there is very little knowledge on how grasslands environmental gradients and agricultural fragmentation are having an effect on this keystone species.
Main methods / requirements: If you are interested in using your GIS skills for analysis, please contact me and we can define a project that can fit.
The following topics are offered in cooperation with other institutions. Please first contact the contact persons named in the calls for proposals directly.
please check the german version of the call.
The following theses have already been completed:
- Nina Smukalski (BSc Geographie): The distribution of the Asian hornet (Vespa velutina) in Germany and Europe and their influence on the domestic honey bee (Main supervision, 2023)
- Celia López Ruiz (MSc Ecosystem Services): Indicators and monitoring proposal for a result-based agri-environmental measure addressing soil quality in Navarra (Main supervision, 2023)
- Sophie Zimdars (MSc Ecosystem Services): Neoliberal conservation aspects in IPBES - A content analysis (Main supervision, 2023)
- Hanna Könnecke (BSc Geography): Changes in the segetal flora on the wild herbaceous fields of the Upper Lusatian Heath and Pond Landscape Biosphere Reserve from 1999 to 2019 (first supervision, 2022)
- Anja Steingrobe (MSc Raumentwicklung und Naturressourcenmanagement): Activity of bats and insects on areas of conventional and extensive agricultural use - A case study in the Biosphere Reserve Upper Lausitz Heath and Pond Landscape (Main supervision, 2023)
- Maximilian Schmuck (BSc Geographie): Linear structural elements in the agricultural landscape of the model region "Vereinigte Mulde" (Saxony) - influence on the occurrence of specific field bird species (Main supervision, 2022)
- Bela Rehnen (BSc Geographie): Multitaxonomic study on areas of conventional and extensive agricultural use in the Upper Lausitz Heath and Pond Landscape Biosphere Reserve (Main supervision, 2022)
- Luise Hofmann (MSc Geography): Effects of soil properties on plant communities in fallow and flowering set-aside fields (Main supervision, 2022)
- Paul Schuppelius (BSc Geography): Evaluation of the ecological effectiveness of conservation measures for the whinchat (Saxicola rubetra) in agricultural landscapes (Main supervision, 2022)
- Frederik Pitz (BSc Geography): Modeling the effects of agri-environmental measures on whinchat poplations in the "Vereinigte Mulde" Region (Main supervision, 2022)
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Lea Schwengbeck (MSc Raumentwicklung und Naturressourcenmanagement): Modelling the climate regulation by soils and the effects of agricultural management practices (Main supervision, 2022)
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Mandy Scherzer (MSc Raumentwicklung und Naturressourcenmanagement): Conservation-oriented management for the protection of arable wild plants – results from the Upper Lusatian Heath and Pond Landscape Biosphere Reserve (Main supervision, 2022)
- Maximilian Milbert (MSc Raumentwicklung und Naturressourcenmanagement): Effects of climate change on FFH areas and habitat types in the Free State of Saxony (Main supervision, 2022)
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Florian Schmidt (MSc Raumentwicklung und Naturressourcenmanagement, Technische Universität Dresden): Photovoltaic systems on open spaces - An opportunity for nature conservation? (main supervision, 2022)
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Annika Jacobs (Lehramt Gymasium Deutsch & Geographie, Technische Universität Dresden): Erfassung der Dürreschäden im Hochharz mittels multispektraler Satellitendaten (main supervision, 2022)
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Antonia Lieschke (BSc Geography, Technische Universitat Dresden):
Assessing burrow numbers of prairie dogs (Cynomys mexicanus) in northeast Mexico using high resolution satellite data (main supervision, 2021) - Laura Leix (MSc Ecology, University Innsbruck): Habitat use and recommendations for surveying European honey buzzards (Pernis apivorus) using flight tracking data from home range surveys (co-supervision, 2021)
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Behrend Dellwisch (MSc Nature Conservation & Landscape Ecology, University Bonn): Do local weather conditions drive the expansion and colony development of European Bee-eaters (Merops apiaster) in Germany? (co-supervision, 2021)
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Laurenz Reschberger (BSc Geography, Technische Universität Dresden): Land-use changes between 1965 and 2018 in northwestern Saxony - an analysis of satellite data (main supervision, 2021)
- Sabine Speck (MSc Raumentwicklung und Naturressourcenmanagement): Effects of fallow management practices on species richness and functional diversity of flowering plants. (main supervision, 2021
- Jil Noemi Röw (BSc Geographie, Technische Universität Dresden): Impacts of landuse and conservation measures on butterfly diversity and abundance in the Mulde catchment area (main supervision, 2021)
- Nynke Paepen (BSc Bioloy, Ghent University): The role of the eyering in the diversification of the Zosteropidae clade (co-supervision, 2021)
- Daniel Vedder (MSc Biosciences, University Würzburg): Evolutionary rescue by introgressive hybridization in Zosterops (co-supervision, 2021)
- Mauricio José Villarreal Loáiciga (MSc Ecosystem Services): Elaborating the knowns and unknowns of ecosystem services provision by common European breeding birds (main supervision, 2021)
- Franziska Nuernbergk (BSc Geography): Implementation and success of bird protection measures in Northwest Saxony - an evaluation based on literature and expert interviews (first and second supervision, 2021)
- Lena Friedrich (MSc Spatial Development and Natural Resource Management): Model-based analysis of the relationship between landscape structure and land use intensity in Saxony (main supervision, cooperation with the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ, 2020)
- Katharina Schneider (BSc Geography): Objectives and spatial distribution of different ecological priority areas (EFA) in agricultural areas within Saxony main supervision, cooperation with the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ, 2020)
- Luisa Keim (BSc Geography): Grassland use and bog protection - Analysing agricultural land-use change and trade-offs on groundwater-influenced grassland areas in the Spreewald Biosphere Reserve (main supervision, 2020)
- Claudia Romelli (MSc Ecosystem Services): Assessing ecosystem services and their interactions in cultural landscapes: a case study from the UNESCO Biosphere Reserve Upper Lausitz Heath and Pond Landscape (co-supervision, 2020)
- Torben Sloth (MSc Geoecology - Environmental Sciences, University of Bayreuth): Patterns of nature-based tourism in Costa Rica (co-supervision, 2020)