BESTMAP

With the support of the European Union, we investigated the impact of agri-environmental practices (AEP) in the Mulde river basin in Saxony, Germany. This document compiles our results, informing on farmers’ motivations for (not) participating in AEP, the spatial distribution of AEP, and on the impacts of AEP on biodiversity and ecosystem services. We give recommendations to achieve broader adoption of AEP to achieve positive impacts on biodiversity and ecosystem services.

Wissenschaft – was geht mich das an?

Together with Miriam Holzapfel and other members of “Die Junge Akademie” (Young Academy), Anna Cord published this children’s book, which tells 30 life stories of scholars from the humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, and engineering — to inspires enthusiasm for research. 

Guidelines for successful transdisciplinary research

Transdisciplinary research actively involves non-academic stakeholders in the development of research questions and the entire research process. This results in scientifically sound systemic and target knowledge, as well as practical solutions for socially relevant challenges. However, this close connection to practice also brings with it specific requirements. The policy brief from the FEdA project ECO²SCAPE highlights the success factors and challenges. 

Rewarding biodiversity in agriculture through passive acoustic monitoring

The success of biodiversity conservation measures is audible: Passive Acoustic Monitoring (PAM) can help measure the success of biodiversity conservation measures in agriculture – and reward them based on results. PAM broadens the focus on biodiversity to include acoustically active groups such as birds, bats, and insects, thus complementing existing assessment methods for the success of agri-environmental measures. The policy brief from the FEdA project ECO²SCAPE shows how the use of PAM can be successfully implemented.

Interview with local newspaper

News article in Every three weeks, the  scientists  replace the memory cards and batteries. They analyze the recordings from Hennef in Bonn. Cord's team there includes Ogawa, two other colleagues who have already earned their doctorates, a doctoral candidate, a technician, an assistant, an intern, and several students. One student is writing her master's thesis within the Wiesengut project. 

Iwanami Shoten Science Magazin

Through our (former) Japanese colleague Ryo Ogawa, we had the chance to share our research through a popular science maganized from Japan. Ryo, together with Nina Hagemann and Anna Cord, was interviewed on the conservation of wild birds in agricultural lands of Saxony, Germany.