01.10.2000 31.12.2010
Application Phase
Selection phase
Funding phase

Biodiversity and Global Change - BIOLOG

Research for diversity

The "Biodiversity and Global Change - BIOLOG" research program aimed to achieve an improved understanding of the role of biological diversity in ecosystems. The program pursued this objective through four key questions: Which species inhabit an ecosystem? How are an ecosystem's species recorded when an inventory is taken? For it is only through recording biological diversity that the threats can be evaluated and assessed. How do species function within the ecosystem? This question is posed to study the dependencies and interrelationships between the various species within an ecosystem. How does the ecosystem develop? This question seeks to shed light on how mutational an ecosystem is and which factors impact on its development. When is an ecosystem stable? Which factors make it unstable? How can the ecosystem be used sustainably?  The funding area was given total funds of 80 million euros between 2000 and 2011. One of the main funding priorities was BIOTA-Africa in countries of west, east and south Africa (http://www.biota-africa.org/). There was also a geographic focus on Germany and Europe (http://www.biolog-europe.org/). On behalf of the BMBF the organisational unit Environment, Culture, Sustainability in the German Aerospace Center Project Management Agency (PT-DLR) attended functionally and administrative to the funding program BIOLOG.
Westafrican farmers with oxcart© Prof. Saint Paul, Bremen

The "Biodiversity and Global Change - BIOLOG" research program aimed to achieve an improved understanding of the role of biological diversity in ecosystems.

The program pursued this objective through four key questions:

  1. Which species inhabit an ecosystem?
    How are an ecosystem's species recorded when an inventory is taken? For it is only through recording biological diversity that the threats can be evaluated and assessed.
  2. How do species function within the ecosystem?
    This question is posed to study the dependencies and interrelationships between the various species within an ecosystem.
  3. How does the ecosystem develop?
    This question seeks to shed light on how mutational an ecosystem is and which factors impact on its development. When is an ecosystem stable? Which factors make it unstable?
  4. How can the ecosystem be used sustainably?
    The funding area was given total funds of 80 million euros between 2000 and 2011.

One of the main funding priorities was BIOTA-Africa in countries of west, east and south Africa (http://www.biota-africa.org/). There was also a geographic focus on Germany and Europe.

On behalf of the BMBF the organisational unit Environment, Culture, Sustainability in the German Aerospace Center Project Management Agency (DLR-PT) attended functionally and administrative to the funding program BIOLOG.

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