Leibniz Center for Tropical Marine Research

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Leibniz Center for Tropical Marine Research (ZMT)
Leibniz Center for Tropical Marine Research (ZMT)
The ZMT researches the ecology of tropical coastal systems (e.g. coral reefs, mangrove forests, sea grass meadows).
Category: research Institute
Carrier: State of Bremen
Legal form of the carrier: gGmbH since 2012
Membership: Leibniz Association
Facility location: Bremen
Type of research: Basic research , applied research
Subjects: Natural and Social Sciences
Areas of expertise: Oceanography , ecology , tropical marine biology , chemistry , socioeconomics
Management: Hildegard Westphal (Scientific Director), Nicolas Dittert (Commercial Director)
Employee: over 210
Homepage: www.leibniz-zmt.de

The Leibniz Center for Tropical Marine Research ( ZMT ) in Bremen is the largest German research center for the ecology of tropical seas and coasts.

It was founded in 1991 by the Association for the Promotion of Scientific Research in the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (VFwF e.V.), as an affiliated institute of the University of Bremen .

In May 2006 the Science Council recommended the ZMT's admission to the Leibniz Association (WGL). Since January 1st, 2009 the ZMT has been a full member of the WGL. The ZMT is also a member of the Leibniz Biodiversity Association, the German Marine Research Consortium and the Northwest Marine Research Association .

The scientists at the ZMT record and evaluate the regional and global effects of global climate change , urban development, tourism projects , etc. on people and biodiversity in tropical coastal regions and their ecosystems in order to ensure environmentally friendly development in them, as they are particularly demanding due to the developments mentioned above be taken.

mission

The mission of the ZMT is:

  • Planning and implementation of partnership projects for a better understanding of marine tropical ecosystems with regard to their protection and their sustainable development.
  • Training and teaching in the field of tropical aquatic ecology and in building scientific capacity within the framework of cooperation with tropical partner countries. This includes the Master’s degree in Tropical Marine Ecology (International Studies in Aquatic Tropical Ecology) ISATEC in cooperation with the University of Bremen.
  • Coordination and communication between scientists, institutions and organizations with regard to tropical ecological topics. The ZMT offers regular events on marine biological topics for the general public and specialist audience.

background

The most important tropical coastal ecosystems, such as coral reefs, mangrove forests and seagrass meadows, are closely interrelated in physical, biological and geochemical terms as a transition area between land and water. In the marine ecosystems of the tropical regions of the world, the diversity of organisms is huge. Coral reefs are considered to be the “ rainforests of the seas”, which refers to the comparable biodiversity and structural wealth of the two systems. Mangroves serve to protect the coast and are an important livelihood for the local population.

Given rising population pressures in tropical countries, the role of biodiversity in reefs is of great importance. According to an international study, the number of people in countries with coral reefs will double within the next 50 to 100 years. The increasing loss of biodiversity in reefs weakens their users and their resources .

With its scientific research, the ZMT tries to better understand the tropical marine ecosystems. In further steps, measures to protect them can be initiated from the knowledge, for example about the degree of degradation of reefs .

history

In 1991 the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen founded the Center for Tropical Marine Ecology (ZMT). Gotthilf Hempel was the initiator and founding director . Hempel was the founding director of the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research (AWI) in Bremerhaven as early as 1980 . Venugopalan Ittekkot followed Gotthilf Hempel and shaped the ZMT for over 10 years. During this time, deep collaborations with scientific institutions in Indonesia and Brazil developed. The ZMT is constantly expanding. The ZMT was admitted to the Leibniz Association (WGL) in 2009 . The ZMT became a GmbH , which from then on had to do business itself. In 2010 Hildegard Westphal came to the ZMT as the new director. In 2010/2011 the institute was restructured and today consists of four scientific departments and an infrastructure department.

In 2015, the Association of Taxpayers reported on tax waste as part of the project "Sustainability analysis for the intensive culture of pilgrim clams in the Sechura Bay in northern Peru" that was carried out at the ZMT.

At the beginning of 2017, the ZMT changed its name from Leibniz Center for Tropical Marine Ecology to Leibniz Center for Tropical Marine Research . According to the ZMT, the aim is to “take account of the growing interdisciplinary breadth that encompasses both the social and natural sciences”. The interdisciplinary orientation of the institute began in 2005 with "Social-ecological system analysis" ( Marion Glaser ) as the first social science working group at the ZMT. Since 2010 the working groups “Carbon and Nutrient Cycles” (Tim Rixen), “Geoecology and Carbonate Sedimentology” (Hildegard Westphal), “Tropical Marine Microbiology” (Astrid Gärdes), “Institutions and Behavioral Economics” (Achim Schlüter), “Submariner” have been added Groundwater discharge ”(Nils Moosdorf) and“ Sociology of development and knowledge ”( Anna-Katharina Hornidge ). In 2017, around 200 guest scientists, doctoral students, technical staff and professors worked at the institute.

Nicolas Dittert became Commercial Director of the ZMT in 2017. Prior to that, he was head of administration at the MARUM - Center for Marine Environmental Sciences at the University of Bremen.

Research for practice

The ZMT also sees its task in the implementation of scientific findings in practical applications of marine protection . Researchers at the ZMT are practically breeding spare parts for corals that are supposed to be used to revive coral reefs. Fragments of coral grow on the tiles. This method has been used in the aquarium trade for a long time and the colonies that have been cultivated can be transplanted into the damaged reefs. In Indonesia, the ZMT tried to plant corals in the Bunaken National Park in the north of Sulawesi without success. However, if successful, the transplant can give a damaged reef "jump start".

Teaching and training

In cooperation with the University of Bremen, the ZMT is involved in training and teaching in the field of tropical aquatic ecology.

The ZMT oversees the Master’s degree in Tropical Marine Ecology (International Studies in Aquatic Tropical Ecology) ISATEC in cooperation with the University of Bremen.

The graduate school SUTAS (Sustainable Use of Tropical Aquatic Systems) was established in 2013 . With an interdisciplinary perspective, SUTAS is primarily concerned with socio-ecological issues in tropical coastal regions. With the graduate school, the ZMT wants to span the spectrum of its research from ecology and marine resources to health issues. In 2012, in the Leibniz competition procedure, the institute was awarded the contract to finance this graduate school. Doctoral candidates from various disciplines work together on topics from a target region, which should enable an interdisciplinary exchange and a broad understanding of the tropical coastal systems. In 2013 the first group started in Zanzibar , where the ZMT has been active for years. The graduate school is open to related research topics from other tropical regions. The consortium that came together for SUTAS includes the ZMT, the Universities of Bremen and Oldenburg, the Jacobs University Bremen , the Leibniz Institute Senckenberg am Meer and BIPS (Leibniz Institute for Prevention Research and Epidemiology) as well as the International Ocean Institute ( IOI). In addition, the research institutions of the target countries (for the current focus the Institute of Marine Sciences and the State University of Zanzibar ) are among the partners.

Since September 1, 2012, the ZMT has also been a training company for specialist employees as clerks for office communication, specialists for media and information services and IT specialists.

working area

The departments of the ZMT exchange their respective research results and work together on projects.

Departments and working groups:

  • Biogeochemistry and Geology ( Hildegard Westphal )
    • Carbon and nutrient cycles (Tim Rixen)
    • Ecological Biogeochemistry (Tim Jennerjahn)
    • Geoecology and Carbonate Sedimentology (Hildegard Westphal)
    • Tropical Marine Microbiology (Astrid Gärdes)
    • Submarine groundwater runoff (Nils Moosdorf)
  • Social Sciences (Achim Schlüter)
    • Institutions and Behavioral Economics (Achim Schlüter)
    • Social-ecological system analysis ( Marion Glaser )
    • Development and Knowledge Sociology ( Anna-Katharina Hornidge )
    • Deliberation, Evaluation and Sustainability (Marie Fujitani)

Cooperations

Fish processing in Indonesia. The ZMT conducts interdisciplinary research on resources, use, protection and biology of marine systems with a focus on Southeast Asia.
Traditional fishing in Sulawesi (photo 1935). The department of social sciences researches environmental history and a. in Sulawesi .

The ZMT cooperates with institutes and facilities worldwide. The focus is on marine biology institutes and universities in tropical and subtropical regions.

The ZMT maintains close ties to China. In February 2011, a new center for marine science research was launched in the Chinese coastal city of Qingdao : the Ocean University of China (OUC).

The Leibniz Center for Tropical Marine Research (ZMT) and the Christian Albrechts University of Kiel (CAU) with the Leibniz Institute for Marine Sciences (IFM-GEOMAR) have their long-standing trilateral cooperation with the opening of the Center for German-Chinese Cooperation in the marine sciences 2011.

Since April 2011, the ZMT has been involved in two projects in the joint project CARIMA, which investigates the influence of natural and man-made factors on the monsoons in Central Asia. In addition to other German research institutes for marine and geosciences, the State Key Laboratory of Marine Geology in Shanghai is involved. The project is financed by the BMBF as part of the research and sustainable development program in the field of earth system research .

Furnishing

The ZMT has several chemical and biological laboratories as well as seawater test facilities for experiments and the evaluation of samples taken in the field. Scientific equipment for sampling and documentation is available for field work in various countries.

At the beginning of 2011, the ZMT put its expanded experimental seawater aquarium facility MAREE (MARine Experimental Ecology) into operation. The ZMT is the only facility in Germany to have 24 mesocosms . The ZMT is planning to carry out a number of experimental studies that were previously not possible in this form. With the system, additional laboratory experiments can be carried out under controlled conditions. MAREE has five independent water cycles and a total of more than 60 keeping aquariums for carrying out scientific experiments. The system is equipped in such a way that a number of environmental conditions such as temperature , nutrient and light availability as well as acidity and water flow can be varied. In addition, from 2011 ecophysiological experiments are to be undertaken in order to understand the metabolism of marine animals in relation to environmental changes. The scientific optimization of the breeding of economically and ecologically important marine organisms (for example anemonefish , sea ​​urchins , corals ) is to become an important MAREE research area.

Financing and organization

The ZMT as part of the Leibniz Association by the federal and state governments. Third-party funds are also acquired. Many projects are partially financed by the BMBF or the DFG.

Professorships

  • Agostino Merico , AG Systems Ecology, Theoretical Ecology and Modeling , group leader,
  • Martin Zimmer , AG Mangrove Ecology , Ecology , group leader
  • Achim Schlüter , institutions and behavioral economics, social sciences , group leader
  • Hildegard Westphal AG Geoecology and Carbonate Sedimentology, Biogeochemistry and Geology , Group and Department Leader, Director of the ZMT (since December 2010)
  • Matthias Wolff , AG Resource Management, Theoretical Ecology and Modeling , group leader
  • Anna-Katharina Hornidge , (Development and Knowledge Sociology), group and department leader
  • Nils Moosdorf (submarine groundwater runoff, group leader)

Former professors

  • Christian Wild , former group leader of the coral reef ecology group, today University of Bremen

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The role of biodiversity in coral reefs ( Memento from January 14, 2017 in the Internet Archive )
  2. ^ Leibniz Center for Tropical Marine Research (ZMT). Retrieved on October 9, 2018 (German).
  3. ^ Jonas Rosenberger: The nine bizarre tax projects of 2015 . deutsche-handwerks-zeitung.de. March 17, 2015. Accessed July 14, 2019.
  4. ↑ a b New name from 2017: ZMT is now called Leibniz Center for Tropical Marine Research. In: idw-online.de. January 3, 2017, accessed January 5, 2017 .
  5. ↑ Zmt expands management level: Dr. Nicolas Dittert becomes commercial director of the Leibniz Center for Tropical Marine Research in Bremen . ZMT. January 16, 2017. Retrieved July 14, 2019.
  6. ^ Structure ( Memento from May 28, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
  7. ↑ New experimental saltwater aquarium facility ( Memento from February 24, 2016 in the Internet Archive )

Coordinates: 53 ° 6 ′ 28.2 "  N , 8 ° 50 ′ 45.5"  E