GRK 2118:  Integrating Biodiversity Research with Movement Ecology in Dynamic Agricultural Landscapes (BioMove)

• Subject Area: Zoology
• Term: from 2015 to 2024
• Website: Homepage
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 263283606

The BioMove Research Training Group (RTG) integrates biodiversity research and movement ecology to take full advantage of the potential offered by bridging these disciplines. In addition, both disciplines also stand to profit: Biodiversity research will strengthen its predictive power by integrating a mechanistic understanding of individual movements. Movement ecology will unlock its potential to provide insights into the consequences of individual movements for biodiversity dynamics. Since land use is a key driver for biodiversity decline worldwide, BioMove is located in the joint, well-established research platform ‘AgroScapeLab-Quillow’ (north-eastern Brandenburg, Germany) that provides an ideal agricultural landscape setup for studying the influence of movements on biodiversity patterns and vice versa. Based on a novel integrative conceptual framework, empirical BioMove projects in phase I successfully provided data and novel insights into a broad range of mechanisms connecting movement ecology and biodiversity, either starting at the level of individual movements (‘bottom-up’) or at the level of biodiversity patterns (‘top-down’). Modelling projects integrated the contrasting, but closely linked organisational levels (i.e. individual moving organisms versus communities of interacting species) and provided tools to explore longer-term and larger-scale consequences of identified or hypothesized bridging mechanisms. Based on our findings and deepened understanding, we have advanced the conceptual BioMove framework for phase II with a stronger focus on the effects of stochasticity, intraspecific trait variation, and non-stationary biodiversity dynamics (‘coviability-approach’). A key advancement in BioMove II will be the inclusion of an innovative inverse-GPS telemetry system (‘ATLAS tracking system’) that allows monitoring a high number of individuals of different taxa and their interactions simultaneously, in real-time and at high spatial and temporal resolution. To facilitate integration across individual projects in BioMove II, we will also conduct a joint field experiment in the AgroScapeLab and build on the modular modelling platform to intensify the linkage of empirical and modelling studies. Connecting the expertise of four research institutes, BioMove II will continue its successful interdisciplinary qualification program, specifically tailored to bridge between current concepts and methods in movement ecology and biodiversity research. Relevant topics of genetics, evolution, behavioural and landscape ecology, and imparting sought-after skills in advanced statistical and process-based modelling will be integrated. Broadening the interdisciplinary competence of young researchers, the doctoral training will further combine state-of-the-art courses in transferable skills, international summer schools, and a scientific exchange program (‘PhDMove’) as well as a visiting program for research fellows and international partners (‘MoveScientist)

• DFG Programme: Research Training Groups
• Applicant Institution: Universität Potsdam
• Participating Institution: Leibniz-Institut für Zoo- und Wildtierforschung (IZW); im Forschungsverbund Berlin e.V.; Leibniz-Zentrum für Agrarlandschaftsforschung (ZALF) e.V.
• Co-Applicant Institution: Freie Universität Berlin
• Spokesperson: Professor Dr. Florian Jeltsch
• Participating Researchers: Privatdozent Dr. Niels Blaum; Professorin Dr. Jana Eccard; Professor Dr. Volker Grimm; Professorin Dr. Stephanie Kramer-Schadt; Dr. Marina E.H. Müller; Dr. Viktoriia Radchuk; Professor Matthias C. Rillig, Ph.D.; Professor Ralph Tiedemann, Ph.D.; Privatdozent Dr. Christian C. Voigt; Professor Dr. Guntram Weithoff