Geobiology

This article deals with the biological-geoscientific research direction. For the doctrine of the relationship between humans and their domestic environment, see building biology .

Geobiology is an interdisciplinary field of research that uses the methodologies of geosciences i. w. S. and biology are linked to explore the interactions between the biosphere on the one hand and the lithosphere , earth's atmosphere and hydrosphere on the other. The aim is a holistic picture of the system earth and its development in space and time. The holistic approach of geobiology is the attempt to solve complex problems that go beyond the content, methods and goals of individual bio- or geoscientific subdisciplines.

While the geosciences bring knowledge about the history of the earth , about fossil living worlds , about endogenous and exogenous dynamics , about plate tectonics , about the formation conditions, physical and chemical properties of minerals and rocks in the common research area, biology examines the biosphere and its subunits such as ecosystems , Populations , individuals, genes , etc. It gives an insight into the dynamics and functioning of recent living systems .

Research areas

A key topic of geobiology is geomicrobiology , which studies the interaction between bacteria and minerals / rocks as substrates . Other research topics are the origin of life , the preconditions for life on planetary worlds , life under extreme environmental conditions (e.g. at hydrothermal vents ) and the " coevolution " of living beings and the abiotic earth, which lead to an increase in the complexity and diversity of living systems to the development of man and his culture . These questions show the relationship to astrobiology , which, however, also relies on other natural sciences such as astronomy and planetology as a basis.

Among other things, the following disciplines in geosciences i. w. S. and Biology share in geobiological research: palaeontology and palaeoecology , biogeography and palaeobiogeography , climatology and paleoclimatology , Biogeomorphologie , Pedology , Landscape Ecology and Environmental Sciences , biogeochemistry , geomicrobiology , physiology and genetics .

Geobiology in the strict sense

'Geobiology' also refers to a biological research area that deals with the distribution and spatial arrangement of living beings and communities depending on their constitution and environment.

The geobiology i. e. S. can be divided into two sub-disciplines: geobotany and geozoology . It is also closely related to biogeography , a sub-discipline of geography . The areas of expertise of both sciences are very similar.

Working directions of geobiology i. e. S. are:

• the area client , dealing with the spread of animal and plant communities concerned. Area diagnosis and flora analysis are available as working methods .
• the animal and plant ecology , which deals with the relationship of animals and plants among themselves and the interactions of the organisms with their habitat. When working methods that are site analysis , the ecosystem modeling , the material balance and the biomonitoring available.
• the paleobiogeography . It has the geological causes for the origin and distribution of animals and plants as an object of investigation. The working methods available include radiocarbon dating (also known as the C14 method ), pollen analysis and dendrochronology .
• the Biozönologie , which deals with the formation and spread of animal and plant communities. Plant sociological recordings , succession analyzes and vegetation mapping are available as working methods .

See also : Biogeography  and Landscape Ecology

literature

• C. Ash, B. Hanson, C. Norman: Earth, Air, Fire and Water. In: Science. 296, 2002, p. 1055. (Introductory article to a series of geobiology publications in the same Science edition)
• N. Noffke: Geobiology - a holistic scientific discipline. In: Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. 219, 2005, pp. 1-3.
• C. Cockell: Impossible extinction: natural catastrophes and the supremacy of the microbial world. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2003, ISBN 0-521-81736-6 .
• D. Schwartzmann: Life, temperature and the earth: the self-organizing biosphere. Columbia University Press, New York 1999.

Web links

• Department of Geobiology at the Faculty of Geosciences and Geography at the University of Göttingen
• GeoBio-Center of the Ludwig Maximilians University in Munich
• Paleontology & Geobiology , Department for Geo- & Environmental Sciences at the Ludwig Maximilians University in Munich