Excursion
Please note: There are only 60 seats for each excursion destination. These will be allocated applying the ‘first come first served’ principle.
If you don’t know in which excursion you are enrolled, please get in touch with the registration! Please also get in touch with the registration on site to check to which group you have been assigned.
Lunch packages for this day will be provided at the respective meeting point!
HAINICH
!!! The excursion to the Hainich is already fully booked.
Visit Long Term Research Site in Hainich and a Canopy Walk.
The Nationalpark Hainich and its surroundings are one of the three regions where the Biodiversity-Exploratories (BE) – a large-scale and long-term functional biodiversity research project conduct their research.
On a guided tour to a forest plot, you will get introduced to the Biodiversity Exploratories and their plots. There you will get to know ongoing experiments and specifics.
Biodiversity Exploratories
The Biodiversity Exploratories are a German Science Foundation-funded research. The exploratories serve as an open research platform for all biodiversity and ecosystem research groups of Germany.
Study Objectives:
- understanding of the relationship between biodiversity of different taxa and levels
- role of land use and management for biodiversity and
- role of biodiversity for ecosystem processes
Find more information on the Exploraties in general and on the Hainich site in particular.
Logistics
Lunch packages will be provided at the meeting points in the morning!
We will split up into two groups: Bus A will go to the plots first, while Bus B will go to the Canopy Walk. Around lunchtime, the buses will swap: Bus A goes to the Canopy Walk and Bus B goes to the plots.
Meeting point: 7:45 am at the Jena bus station (see the map in the program booklet – online soon!)
Bus journey: 1:30 hour + Walk: 20 min
1 hour guided tour from members of the Local Management Teams from the Biodiversity Exploratories.
In addition, a visit to the nearby Canopy Walk with a guided tour is planned.
Arrival in Jena: ~ 6pm
BAD LAUCHSTÄDT
!!! The excursion to Bad Lauchstädt is already fully booked!
We will visit two experimental platforms and a recultivated coal pit.
Near Bad Lauchstädt, the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig and the Helmholtz Center for Environmental Research (UFZ) have several experimental platforms.
On a guided tour to the indoor research facility Ecotron and the different land use plots of Global Change Experimental Facility, you will get to know ongoing experiments and specifics.
The iDiv Ecotron
Biodiversity-ecosystem functioning research under controlled environmental conditions
The Ecotron is a joint research platform from German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) and the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ). It is an indoor research facility housing a set of 24 identical experimental units, called EcoUnits, each of which will harbour one to four isolated ecosystems confined in compartments. Species assemblages within ecosystems can be manipulated above and below the ground, varying horizontal diversity (i.e. the number of species within a trophic level) and vertical diversity (i.e. the number of trophic levels). Ecological processes in the Ecotron can be measured with non-invasive methods, while environmental conditions are either controlled for the whole set of replicates (air temperature) or for each replicate individually (e.g. irrigation, illumination, soil temperature).
Global Change Experimental Facility
Research on climatic change on ecosystems under different land use scenarios
The GCEF is a field experiment which allows the investigation of the effects of future climatic conditions on ecosystem processes under different land use scenarios. Especially higher temperatures and altered precipitation pattern in Central Germany are simulated on five different land use types. The facility is equipped with 50 plots having a size of 16 m x 24 m.
Research focus
- Impact of climate change on ecosystem functions under different land-use regimes
- Influences on community structure, especially food web structure and species interactions
- Effects on soil functions, especially structure and function of the soil biota community and processes related to nutrient cycling
- The importance of and the effects on genetic diversity and microevolutionary processes
Find more information on the iDiv Ecotron and on the UFZ GCEF.
Afterwards, we will visit the “Nebra sky disk” (unfortunately only in German) including an English guided tour and a show in the planetarium. Further English information can be obtained from Wikipedia
Logistics
Lunch packages will be provided at the meeting points in the morning!
Meeting point: 7:45 am at the bus station (see the map in the program booklet – online soon!)
Bus journey one direction: 1:30 hour
1 hour guided tour at each facility
Bus journey to the “Nebra sky disk” (30 minutes)
2 hours guided tour including the finding place of the disk and a show in the planetarium
Arrival in Jena: ~ 6pm
JENA
!!! The excursion in Jena is already fully booked.
We will visit an experimental platform, the museum of the creator of the term ‘Ecology’ and the nature and culture of Jena.
Jena Experiment
Coordinated investigation of above-ground and below-ground consumers and processes
The Jena Experiment is one of the longest-running biodiversity experiments in Europe. We have been studying biodiversity effects in experimental grassland communities for more than 10 years. This coordinated investigation of above-ground and below-ground consumers and processes, includes a full quantification of the most important element cycles, which will be used to unravel the mechanisms underlying biodiversity effects on ecosystem functioning.
Find more information on the Jena Experiment.
Phyletisches Museum
Founded by Ernst Haeckel, the Phyletisches Museum is a globally unique institution. It is not just a natural history museum but has been, from the start, a place dedicated to illustrating the development of life. Its main areas of focus are phylogeny and the theory of evolution, and it also celebrates the meeting of art and nature. The façade of the Art nouveau building, itself a cultural monument, is adorned with two important terms which Haeckel coined in Jena: Ontogenie (ontogeny) and Phylogenie (phylogeny).
Find more information on the Jena Experiment and on the Phyletisches Museum.
Jena City Tour
We will have a guided city tour through the city center including Jena’s main attractions such as St. John’s Gate (Johannistor), the Powder Tower (Pulverturm), the market square with the historic town hall, the City Church of St. Michael and much more.
Further information: https://www.jenatourismus.de/
Logistics
Lunch packages will be provided at the meeting points in the morning!
meeting point Group A: 9am at the “Hanfried” on the Jena market place (see the map in the program booklet – online soon!) – 1:30h guided city tour
meeting point Group B: 9am at the “Phyletisches Museum” (see the attached map) – 1h guided tour in the museum
afterward, the groups will swap: Group A goes to the museum (guided tour starts at 11am) and Group B will have a guided city tour starting at 10:30am
~ 2 hours break over lunch
meeting point in the afternoon: 2pm at the “Hanfried” on the Jena market place (see the map in the program booklet – online soon!)
30 minutes walk and tram to the plots of the JenaExperiment
1h guided at the JenaExperiment (3pm-4pm)
Arrival in the city center: ~ 5pm