Geobotany - Conceptual Framework
Geobotany covers a broad spectrum of scientific problems considering all aspects
of vegetation.
The co-existence and interaction of plants may be looked at from different
aspects as floristic characteristics, chorology,
coenology (including symmorphology and synsystematics) and ecology (autecology,
demecology and synecology).
Understanding these manifestations in vegetation, particularly in the dynamics
of vegetation, requires to connect many of these aspects.
Our research and teaching has a strong applied aspect, whether we are dealing
with forestry and silviculture, nature conservation, or broader land use
management issues.
As a science, geobotany has two cognitive strategies:
(1) Top down approach. The explanation of the object of research
by “breaking it down” into components. The description of ecosystems by
labelling them in terms of their plant compositional characteristics proves to
serve purposes particularly well. Central Europe offers particularly suitable
conditions for developing exactly this approach: the number of plant species is
manageable, the flora is well-known, the geomorphology and geology are diverse.
This leads to recurring site units which can be relatively well distinguished
even on site, and therefore also leads to a clear definition of vegetation units.
(2) Bottom up approach. This approach attempts to explain the
general ecological system by studying the individual components and their
interactions. Using this approach, process-oriented population biology and parts
of experimental ecology can answer causal questions on coenology and
particularly on the dynamics of vegetation.
We apply a question- and object-related combination of both research approaches
in order to develop the scientific bases of modern ecosystem management,
especially focused on forest ecosystems. This will enable us to comment on a
range of topical questions which forestry and forest management might ask in
order to ecological improve their operations. Questions where geobotany may
provide helpful support include natural vegetation and site conditions, dynamics
of forest stands which are close to an undisturbed natural stand situation,
stand stability under changing conditions, and assessments of ecological values
and exhaustion of certain plant communities and vegetation complexes, their
current and required protection status, and the development of nature
conservation strategies.
The scientific emphasis of TUM - Geobotany is on:
- the description and ecological interpretation of vegetation units;
- the analysis of interactions between environmental conditions and
vegetation units;
- the causal analysis of changes in vegetational composition and the
development of vegetation units;
- the investigation of ecological processes;
- the transfer of knowledge to forest and landscapemanagement
Building on this, we focus our research on the promotion of conserving and
maintaining plants, plant communities and ecosystems, and the development of
concepts for sustainable land use.
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