Colling
Fakultäten » Mathematisch-naturwissenschaftliche Fakultät » Evolutionsbiologie und Umweltwissenschaften, Institut für » Ecology & Environment » PD Dr. Diethart Matthies (ausgetreten) » Colling
Completed research project
| Title / Titel | Population biology of the threatened, long-lived perennial Scorzonera humilis | ||||
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| Abstract (PDF, 14 KB) | |||||
| Summary / Zusammenfassung | Scorzonera humilis is a long-lived, herbaceous perennial characteristic of wet, nutrient-poor hay meadows and wet heathlands. It was formerly a common plant but has strongly declined in the last decades and is now endangered in many parts of Europe. The main reasons for its decline are the use of fertilizers, drainage and land reclamation and the lack of suitable management in nature reserves. Many populations are now very small and isolated due to intense fragmentation of the remaining habitats. In this project the complete life cycle of Scorzonera humilis will be analyzed and the spatial and temporal patterns of demographic and genetic variability investigated. These studies will be complemented by experiments to test hypotheses about the relationship between management, environmental factors, population size, establishment and extinction risk. The data from the studies and experiments will provide the basis for population and risk assessment models, and will also serve as a basis for long-term monitoring. They will also be used to improve extensification programmes with the aim to increase biological diversity. |
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| Keywords / Suchbegriffe | rare plants, demography, biodiversity, wetlands | ||||
| Project leadership and contacts / Projektleitung und Kontakte |
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| Funding source(s) / Unterstützt durch |
Others |
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| In collaboration with / In Zusammenarbeit mit |
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| Duration of Project / Projektdauer | Mar 1997 to Feb 2001 |