Conference in Metz, France

The annual conference by the Ecological Society of Germany, Austria and Switzerland met together with the French and European Ecological Societies. About a thousand ecologists gathered in Metz in France to present and discuss new perspectives in ecological research. In an oral presentation, I showed the usefulness of ecological-economic models for supporting sustainable management of degraded rainforest systems where both socio-economic and ecological functions are the goals. I demonstrated the model EFForTS-ABM that is able to assess relationships among functions at different spatial and temporal scales, and identify major trade-offs and synergies. Our results are an important basis for identifying management options that minimize losses in ecological functions while still allowing for economic benefits. In addition to presenting my own research, I chaired a session (Nature and Society) and a symposium (Rainforest transformation into agricultural lands: current and future challenges) for the first time at a conference. For the symposium, Arne Wenzel, Gustavo Paterno, Kerstin Wiegand and I invited speakers from different institutes with different perspectives in rainforest research. Talks ranged from presenting new methods on how to assess biodiversity at the landscape scale, results from field experiments in tropical regions, and large-scale biodiversity surveys. With this symposium we could showcase recent advances in ecological research on consequences and sustainable alternatives of rainforest transformation and highlight research challenges and future perspectives on rainforest transformation. I ended the conference by going on an excursion around Metz and visiting some grassland restoration sites.