ScreenForBio - Species in Global Change: Impacts of sustainable forestry on biodiversity
The biodiversity hotspot of southeast Asia is threatened by the continuous anthropogenic loss of remaining natural habitats. Two global initiatives (REDD+ [Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation] and timber certification by the Forest Stewardship Council [FSC]) attempt to utilize financial market-based mechanisms to halt the conversion of forests to agricultural landscapes. Their expected benefits for the conservation of biodiversity are inadequately documented, since standardised biodiversity monitoring tools for whole species communities are missing.
Project Objectives
The junior research group uses a multidisciplinary combination of state of the art in-situ field research (camera-trapping and leech screening for host and pathogen DNA), novel molecular tools, advanced computational simulations and modelling and high-resolution satellite images to investigate the highly threatened mammal community of southeast Asia. This will enable the researchers to identify a suite of indicator species (winners and losers of anthropogenic change) and thus to evaluate the impact of different forest management strategies as well as the effectiveness of REDD+ for biodiversity conservation. ScreenForBio will provide an essential contribution to answer ecological, conservation-relevant and climate-oriented questions and thus deliver the scientific basis for focussed and practical efforts to conserve biodiversity.
Project Management
Dr. Andreas Wilting
Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research
Alfred-Kowalke-Str. 17
10315 Berlin
Germany
Tel. +49 30 5168 333
E-Mail: wilting@izw-berlin.de
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