Veranstaltungen 2010

Symposium GfÖ Meeting Gießen 2010

Drought, Stress and Variability: Drylands as Model Ecosystems for Understanding Climate Change 

Thematic Area: B1; Convenors: Anja Linstädter, Karsten Wesche 

 Drylands have been considered as the ‘unappreciated gift’ of nature. They comprise more than 40 % of the earth’s land surface and host more than one third of the world’s total human population. Dry environments are subject to particularly strong environmental controls: rainfall is scarce and its variability is high on both on spatial and temporal scales. Not only plants and animals, but also human land use activities have to adapt to these harsh and unpredictable conditions. Various strategies are employed which increase the scale of resource use across time and space. In this sense, drylands are model ecosystems for understanding how to accommodate sparse, patchy and uncertain resource distributions. This is particularly important as climate change projections indicate that in many biomes worldwide (including drylands), rainfall will decrease and its variability will increase, leading to a higher frequency of extreme events. 

This session aims to convene dryland scientists who study strategies of plants, animals, and of human land management do deal with a high environmental variability. Studies from other biomes explicitly dealing with biophysical variability and its impact on resource use strategies are also welcome. 

Further informations... http://www.gfoe-giessen-2010.de/