15.02.2010
Function through Diversity
Hauling, planting and weeding trees: when the spadework is finished, it will be the largest biodiversity experiment in the world. A new forest is being created on 60 hectares in Xingangshan, in Eastern China. Gardeners are planting 96 native plant species and more than half a million trees and bushes. As we watch the trees grow little by little and experience the daily life of the Chinese workers, the students from Germany, Switzerland and China explain to us the most important factors of the ecosystem. What roles do herbs, herbivores, bacteria and, of course, climate play? To project page
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Function through Diversity: Episode 08, 11/01/2010
Crawling Predators
Spiders, ground beetles and other predators: In the subtropical forests of China there are a lot of creepy crawlies! This is not without its consequences. Plant-eating insects can do serious damage to their host plants and are thus able to have a significant impact on the composition and diversityof biosystems. This is why the researchers want to investigate the question of how predators and plants influence each other. Using traps, the researchers can get an insight into the diversity of these predators.
08.02.2010
Hierarchy in the Forest
Ecosystems, habitats, species: Diversity in the forest adheres to a clearly defined hierarchy. What role does the genetic variability of species play?
01.02.2010
The Horizon ABC
It goes on beyond the horizon: How do soil, precipitation and plants influence each other? Also, how do you measure raindrops?
25.01.2010
Material Cycles
Why are there 1000 bags lying on the forest floor in Gutianshan? Of cycles over and under ground…
18.01.2010
Exotic Invaders
It’s not just in the forest canopy that our team of researchers is studying the subtropical forests of China. They also want to find out what is going on at ground level…
11.01.2010
Crawling Predators
Spiders, ground beetles and other predators: How are plant and animal diversity related?
14.12.2009
East Chinese Phenotypes
Leaf surface area divided by dry weight: How to measure plant characteristics. And what do the various phenotypes mean for biodiversity?
26.10.2009
Neighbourly Relationships
The battle for the crown. How diversity influences competition between trees – which ones will make it to the top?
23.09.2009
Forest in the Balance
Does more forest mean more biodiversity? To test this relationship, the mass of the forest needs to be determined. But how do you weigh a tree?
07.09.2009
A Colourful Mixture
It’s all in the mixture. How does the level of diversity of tree species affect how a forest ecosystem works? A brief guide to ecological niches and environmental gradients.
06.08.2009
Young and Rich
How does biodiversity of young woody plants affect ecosystem processes? Fieldwork with a difference...
13.07.2009
What’s What?
Calling the trees by name: More than five times as many tree species grow in the Gutianshan National Nature Reserve than in the whole of Germany - and the researchers need to familiarise themselves with all of them before they can get down to work.
30.06.2009
The Chicken or the Egg?
Watching the forest grow: the researchers are interested in one thing in particular: what effect does biological diversity—biodiversity—have on the functions and processes in a forest ecosystem?
15.06.2009
Function Through Diversity
Pioneering work in China: the world’s largest biodiversity experimentThe Projects
Everything about wave hunters, discrete optimisers and love à la Darwin—here, you'll experience what lies behind the individual projects as you follow the research diaries and get to know the scientists.
Function through Diversity
Pioneering work in China: The largest ever forest experiment on biodiversity
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