The Fildes Region, King George Island, is characterized by a high biodiversity and accommodates s... more The Fildes Region, King George Island, is characterized by a high biodiversity and accommodates six permanent stations and an airport. Therefore it plays a key role as the logistic centre for the Antarctic Peninsula. Different interests like scientific research, conservation of flora and fauna, protection of places of geological and historical value, station operations, transport logistics and tourism regularly overlap in the region in space and time. The aim of this study is to create a scientific description of the biotic and abiotic parameters of this region. Human activities and environmental impacts in the Fildes Region were quantified. The ongoing study indicates new developments in the area, e.g. station extensions, new combination of tourism, multiplication of scientific activities. Those findings illustrate the increasing conflict between different forms of utilisation of the region and the legally agreed environmental protection (Environmental Protocol) and stress that if ...
In Mitteleuropa prägt der Mensch seit vielen Jahrhunderten durch vielfältige Bewirtschaftungsform... more In Mitteleuropa prägt der Mensch seit vielen Jahrhunderten durch vielfältige Bewirtschaftungsformen die Landschaftsstrukturen. Die biologische Vielfalt wurde dadurch teilweise erhöht (ELLENBERG 1996, STÖCKLIN et al. 2007), aber gegenwärtig nimmt sie vor allem aufgrund anhaltender großund kleinskaliger Veränderungen der Landnutzung ab (MEA 2005). Die Veränderungen des Landnutzungstyps und dessen Intensität beruhen auf Entscheidungen der Bewirtschafter. Sie werden von der Verfügbarkeit und den Kosten für Arbeitskräfte und Maschinen sowie von den zu erwartenden Gewinnspannen und Subventionszahlungen für bestimmte Güter und Dienstleistungen bestimmt. Da alle Ebenen der Biodiversität – genetische Diversität, Artendiversität und die Diversität an Lebensgemeinschaften und biologischen Interaktionen zwischen Individuen (WILSON 1992) – durch Landnutzungsänderungen beeinflusst werden können, sind für ein umfassendes Verständnis von Landnutzungseffekten auf die Biodiversität Studien auf all diesen ökologischen Ebenen notwendig.
Tourism is a rapidly growing industry in the Antarctic, particularly on King George Island where ... more Tourism is a rapidly growing industry in the Antarctic, particularly on King George Island where wildlife areas, research stations, or their vicinity are frequently visited. A comprehensive assessment of the environment and human activities in the Fildes Peninsula region was conducted, and spatiotemporal patterns were analyzed. Additionally, opinions on tourism of station members were surveyed. Visitor activity is increasing and diversifying. There is thus some conflict with conservation, research, and logistics, although it is currently local and temporary. Increasing human activity and its possible cumulative effects should be monitored and appropriately managed. On the basis of our findings, site-specific guidelines and visitor zones (e.g., within an "Antarctic Specially Managed Area") are recommended.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2013
Significance Land-use intensification is a major threat to biodiversity. So far, however, studies... more Significance Land-use intensification is a major threat to biodiversity. So far, however, studies on biodiversity impacts of land-use intensity (LUI) have been limited to a single or few groups of organisms and have not considered temporal variation in LUI. Therefore, we examined total ecosystem biodiversity in grasslands varying in LUI with a newly developed index called multidiversity, which integrates the species richness of 49 different organism groups ranging from bacteria to birds. Multidiversity declined strongly with increasing LUI, but changing LUI across years increased multidiversity, particularly of rarer species. We conclude that encouraging farmers to change the intensity of their land use over time could be an important strategy to maintain high biodiversity in grasslands.
Increasing tourism in the Antarctic Peninsula region concerns scientists, policy-makers, and tour... more Increasing tourism in the Antarctic Peninsula region concerns scientists, policy-makers, and tourist companies with its potential negative effects on wildlife. Site-specific ecological studies have been initiated to examine differences in population dynamics and distribution of animals as well as their behavioural and physiological reactions to humans. Penguin Island (southeast of King George Island, South Shetland Islands, Antarctica) is frequently visited by tourists due to its high species diversity and aesthetic value. In two seasons, the authors conducted a bird census and studied behaviour and heart-rate changes of southern giant petrels and skuas relating to tourist visits on Penguin Island. Management recommendations are given, based on the study results. The protection of southern giant petrels should be increased by having a minimum distance of 50 m for all visitors. The eastern, southern, and western parts of the island should not be visited and should serve as refuge are...
In soil, Acidobacteria constitute on average 20% of all bacteria, are highly diverse, and are phy... more In soil, Acidobacteria constitute on average 20% of all bacteria, are highly diverse, and are physiologically active in situ . However, their individual functions and interactions with higher taxa in soil are still unknown. Here, potential effects of land use, soil properties, plant diversity, and soil nanofauna on acidobacterial community composition were studied by cultivation-independent methods in grassland and forest soils from three different regions in Germany. The analysis of 16S rRNA gene clone libraries representing all studied soils revealed that grassland soils were dominated by subgroup Gp6 and forest soils by subgroup Gp1 Acidobacteria . The analysis of a large number of sites ( n = 57) by 16S rRNA gene fingerprinting methods (terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism [T-RFLP] and denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis [DGGE]) showed that Acidobacteria diversities differed between grassland and forest soils but also among the three different regions. Edaphic p...
ABSTRACT Silvicultural practices lead to changes in forest composition and structure and may impa... more ABSTRACT Silvicultural practices lead to changes in forest composition and structure and may impact species diversity from the overall regional species pool to stand-level species occurrence. We explored to what extent fine-scale occupancy patterns in differently managed forest stands are driven by environment and ecological traits in three regions in Germany using a multi-species hierarchical model. We tested for the possible impact of environmental variables and ecological traits on occu- pancy dynamics in a joint modelling exercise while taking possible variation in coefficient estimates over years and plots into account. Bird species richness differed across regions and years, and trends in species richness across years were different in the three regions. On the species level, forest management affected occupancy of species in all regions, but only 3–5% of the total assemblage-level variation in occurrence probability was explained by either forest type and suc- cessional stage and < 1% by forest edge. On the assemblage level, bird occurrence decreased with body mass in all regions. Species with smaller breeding ranges had lower occurrence probabilities in one region, while later spring arrival decreased occurrence probabilities in the two other regions. Spatial variation in the effect size of trait covariates such as species phylogeny and breeding strata showed that variation in patch occupancy due to fine-scale differences in forest management is, to some extent, predictable from ecological traits. Our results show that environ- mental factors and ecological traits jointly predict variation in bird occupancy patterns and their response to forest management. Observations at the fine scale of forest stands, at which conservation efforts can be arranged along with forest management practices in heterogeneous environments, have been shown to provide meaningful insights despite the difficulties involved in monitoring mobile organisms such as birds at the plot level.
Wilderness areas have become extremely scarce in Germany. However, managed cultural landscapes di... more Wilderness areas have become extremely scarce in Germany. However, managed cultural landscapes differing in land use intensity and land-scape heterogeneity also offer diverse habitats for organisms. The mainte-nance of stable and functional ecosys-tems is clearly a high ...
The Fildes Region, King George Island, is characterized by a high biodiversity and accommodates s... more The Fildes Region, King George Island, is characterized by a high biodiversity and accommodates six permanent stations and an airport. Therefore it plays a key role as the logistic centre for the Antarctic Peninsula. Different interests like scientific research, conservation of flora and fauna, protection of places of geological and historical value, station operations, transport logistics and tourism regularly overlap in the region in space and time. The aim of this study is to create a scientific description of the biotic and abiotic parameters of this region. Human activities and environmental impacts in the Fildes Region were quantified. The ongoing study indicates new developments in the area, e.g. station extensions, new combination of tourism, multiplication of scientific activities. Those findings illustrate the increasing conflict between different forms of utilisation of the region and the legally agreed environmental protection (Environmental Protocol) and stress that if ...
In Mitteleuropa prägt der Mensch seit vielen Jahrhunderten durch vielfältige Bewirtschaftungsform... more In Mitteleuropa prägt der Mensch seit vielen Jahrhunderten durch vielfältige Bewirtschaftungsformen die Landschaftsstrukturen. Die biologische Vielfalt wurde dadurch teilweise erhöht (ELLENBERG 1996, STÖCKLIN et al. 2007), aber gegenwärtig nimmt sie vor allem aufgrund anhaltender großund kleinskaliger Veränderungen der Landnutzung ab (MEA 2005). Die Veränderungen des Landnutzungstyps und dessen Intensität beruhen auf Entscheidungen der Bewirtschafter. Sie werden von der Verfügbarkeit und den Kosten für Arbeitskräfte und Maschinen sowie von den zu erwartenden Gewinnspannen und Subventionszahlungen für bestimmte Güter und Dienstleistungen bestimmt. Da alle Ebenen der Biodiversität – genetische Diversität, Artendiversität und die Diversität an Lebensgemeinschaften und biologischen Interaktionen zwischen Individuen (WILSON 1992) – durch Landnutzungsänderungen beeinflusst werden können, sind für ein umfassendes Verständnis von Landnutzungseffekten auf die Biodiversität Studien auf all diesen ökologischen Ebenen notwendig.
Tourism is a rapidly growing industry in the Antarctic, particularly on King George Island where ... more Tourism is a rapidly growing industry in the Antarctic, particularly on King George Island where wildlife areas, research stations, or their vicinity are frequently visited. A comprehensive assessment of the environment and human activities in the Fildes Peninsula region was conducted, and spatiotemporal patterns were analyzed. Additionally, opinions on tourism of station members were surveyed. Visitor activity is increasing and diversifying. There is thus some conflict with conservation, research, and logistics, although it is currently local and temporary. Increasing human activity and its possible cumulative effects should be monitored and appropriately managed. On the basis of our findings, site-specific guidelines and visitor zones (e.g., within an "Antarctic Specially Managed Area") are recommended.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2013
Significance Land-use intensification is a major threat to biodiversity. So far, however, studies... more Significance Land-use intensification is a major threat to biodiversity. So far, however, studies on biodiversity impacts of land-use intensity (LUI) have been limited to a single or few groups of organisms and have not considered temporal variation in LUI. Therefore, we examined total ecosystem biodiversity in grasslands varying in LUI with a newly developed index called multidiversity, which integrates the species richness of 49 different organism groups ranging from bacteria to birds. Multidiversity declined strongly with increasing LUI, but changing LUI across years increased multidiversity, particularly of rarer species. We conclude that encouraging farmers to change the intensity of their land use over time could be an important strategy to maintain high biodiversity in grasslands.
Increasing tourism in the Antarctic Peninsula region concerns scientists, policy-makers, and tour... more Increasing tourism in the Antarctic Peninsula region concerns scientists, policy-makers, and tourist companies with its potential negative effects on wildlife. Site-specific ecological studies have been initiated to examine differences in population dynamics and distribution of animals as well as their behavioural and physiological reactions to humans. Penguin Island (southeast of King George Island, South Shetland Islands, Antarctica) is frequently visited by tourists due to its high species diversity and aesthetic value. In two seasons, the authors conducted a bird census and studied behaviour and heart-rate changes of southern giant petrels and skuas relating to tourist visits on Penguin Island. Management recommendations are given, based on the study results. The protection of southern giant petrels should be increased by having a minimum distance of 50 m for all visitors. The eastern, southern, and western parts of the island should not be visited and should serve as refuge are...
In soil, Acidobacteria constitute on average 20% of all bacteria, are highly diverse, and are phy... more In soil, Acidobacteria constitute on average 20% of all bacteria, are highly diverse, and are physiologically active in situ . However, their individual functions and interactions with higher taxa in soil are still unknown. Here, potential effects of land use, soil properties, plant diversity, and soil nanofauna on acidobacterial community composition were studied by cultivation-independent methods in grassland and forest soils from three different regions in Germany. The analysis of 16S rRNA gene clone libraries representing all studied soils revealed that grassland soils were dominated by subgroup Gp6 and forest soils by subgroup Gp1 Acidobacteria . The analysis of a large number of sites ( n = 57) by 16S rRNA gene fingerprinting methods (terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism [T-RFLP] and denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis [DGGE]) showed that Acidobacteria diversities differed between grassland and forest soils but also among the three different regions. Edaphic p...
ABSTRACT Silvicultural practices lead to changes in forest composition and structure and may impa... more ABSTRACT Silvicultural practices lead to changes in forest composition and structure and may impact species diversity from the overall regional species pool to stand-level species occurrence. We explored to what extent fine-scale occupancy patterns in differently managed forest stands are driven by environment and ecological traits in three regions in Germany using a multi-species hierarchical model. We tested for the possible impact of environmental variables and ecological traits on occu- pancy dynamics in a joint modelling exercise while taking possible variation in coefficient estimates over years and plots into account. Bird species richness differed across regions and years, and trends in species richness across years were different in the three regions. On the species level, forest management affected occupancy of species in all regions, but only 3–5% of the total assemblage-level variation in occurrence probability was explained by either forest type and suc- cessional stage and < 1% by forest edge. On the assemblage level, bird occurrence decreased with body mass in all regions. Species with smaller breeding ranges had lower occurrence probabilities in one region, while later spring arrival decreased occurrence probabilities in the two other regions. Spatial variation in the effect size of trait covariates such as species phylogeny and breeding strata showed that variation in patch occupancy due to fine-scale differences in forest management is, to some extent, predictable from ecological traits. Our results show that environ- mental factors and ecological traits jointly predict variation in bird occupancy patterns and their response to forest management. Observations at the fine scale of forest stands, at which conservation efforts can be arranged along with forest management practices in heterogeneous environments, have been shown to provide meaningful insights despite the difficulties involved in monitoring mobile organisms such as birds at the plot level.
Wilderness areas have become extremely scarce in Germany. However, managed cultural landscapes di... more Wilderness areas have become extremely scarce in Germany. However, managed cultural landscapes differing in land use intensity and land-scape heterogeneity also offer diverse habitats for organisms. The mainte-nance of stable and functional ecosys-tems is clearly a high ...
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