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Nature Protection and Historical EcologyWe study causes and consequences of landscape changes by asking the following questions:Why do landscapes change?
An interdisciplinary approach is necessary to study driving forces of landscape change.
We seek to develop new methods how historical and ecological approaches can be combined.
These methods are applied in projects dealing with landscape change in general and
changes in woodlands specifically.
To be successful in the long run, nature protection needs to be integrated in the landscape planning process. However, the question arises: Can we plan landscape development?
Concepts to enhance sustainable development on the local scale are often
a tightrope walk between visionary scenarios and inherent necessity.
We want to learn more about the aspects of landscape
development which can be planned and how the interests of
nature protection can be integrated in this planning process.
Other projects are grouped around the question: How do animals use landscapes?
In the northern part of the Canton of Zürich we study the guild structure
and space use of three species of woodpeckers. We want to contribute to
the attempts to protect the Middle Spotted Woodpecker, a highly threatened
species in Switzerland. In another project the relationship between resource
availability and spatial distribution of red deer in the Canton of Glarus is examined.
The results will help to develop a successful sustainable wildlife management.
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