Biological questions can be studied through field observations, experiments, but also through theoretical models. Such models could not only provide mechanistic insights into complex ecological processes, but inform empirical studies and predict future responses to external stressors. In particular, the reciprocal feedback between theoretical approaches and empirical data proved useful to create synergies and progress towards novel insights.
In this project, we aim to better understand how biodiversity is maintained, and how rangeland biodiversity and productivity might respond to future anthropogenic changes. There are many biotic and abiotic drivers that contribute to the maintenance of biodiversity and the coexistence of species. Similarly, species can cope with a changing world by multiple adaptive strategies. We would like to understand how such biotic and abiotic complexities act simultaneously, and interact.
Since climate- and land-use change can take many forms, and rangeland ecosystems are highly dynamic and heterogeneous, we want to run so-called individual-based simulations. Such simulations allow to incorporate both climatic and biological processes, and help to study the temporal dynamics of plants and lifestock in Middle East rangelands.