Stefan Zerbe

Free University of Bozen-Bolzano | Unibolzano · Faculty of Agricultural, Environmental and Food Sciences

Die Ess- oder Edelkastanie (Castanea sativa Mill.) wird als eine Baumart angesehen, die mit den prognostizierten wärmeren und in der Vegetationszeit niederschlagsärmeren Bedingungen infolge des Klimawandels gut zurechtkommen könnte. Ihre zunehmende Einbringung beziehungsweise Förderung in den Laubmischwäldern Mitteleuropas erscheint daher als sinnv...

Conclusions • The methods employed to assess the relation between greenspace and mental health vary according to the ecological scale • Ecosystems are the main focus in research and theory, species are the least focus • Increased attention to types and scales of nature is needed in both practical research and theory • Established ecological scales...

Background Greenspaces have been proven to promote mental health and wellbeing. Research is conducted in diverse fields with various methods. However, studies and theoretical concepts frequently fail to address or define the scale of the environment in question. Furthermore, the different types of greenspace at the same scale are often inconsistent...

Nature and natural elements have been proven to promote mental health and well‐being but there is a research gap regarding psychiatric environments, despite the importance of psychiatric hospitals for mental health. It is essential to understand the particular characteristics relevant for patients in these settings. We conducted semi‐structured in‐...

This systematic review offers a comprehensive analysis of the current state of knowledge regarding tourism in European traditional multifunctional cultural landscapes (TMCLs) from a landscape perspective. Adhering to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) 2020 guidelines, this study aims to identify the prin...

Protected areas are recognized as a crucial tool to mitigate ongoing trends of biodiversity loss. The effect of different levels of protection and their subsequent conservation efficiency remains, however, largely unexplored. To fill this gap, we present here an integrated approach that combines taxonomic analysis based on typical species to evalua...

Introduction Greenspaces can provide an important resource for human mental health. A growing body of literature investigates the interaction and the influence of diverse greenspace exposures. In order to gain a comprehensive understanding of the complex connection between greenspace and mental health, a variety of perspectives and methodological c...

Mountain agroecosystems in Latin America provide multiple ecosystem functions (EFs) and products from global to local scales, particularly for the rural communities who depend on them. Agroforestry has been proposed as a climate‐smart farming strategy throughout much of the region to help conserve biodiversity and enhance multiple EFs, especially i...

Zusammenfassung Vor dem Hintergrund der weltweit voranschreitenden Urbanisierung und damit der zunehmenden Bedeutung von Städten als Lebensraum für den Menschen ist es unabdingbar, die Gesundheit und das Wohlbefinden der Stadtbewohner:innen in den Mittelpunkt urbaner Planungen zu rücken. Das Forschungsförderprogramm „Stadt der Zukunft – gesunde und...

Zusammenfassung Um die urbanen Gesundheitsrisiken des Klimawandels nachhaltig zu reduzieren und zu managen, sind Klimaschutz und Klimaanpassung als komplementäre Strategien dringend erforderlich. Seit Jahrzehnten sind vielfältige positive Wirkungen von Stadtgrün und Stadtblau auf die physische und die mentale Gesundheit bekannt. Allerdings gibt es...

Global changes, particularly rising temperatures, threaten food security in smallholder mountain communities by impacting the suitability of cultivation areas for many crops. Land-use intensification, associated with agrochemical use and tillage, threatens soil health and overall agroecosystem resilience. In the Andean region, farmers often cultiva...

The UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration 2021–2030 has launched nature conservation, environmental protection, and ecosystem services' restoration on the global environmental policy agenda. However, particularly high mountain habitats being subject to erosion are up to now hardly restorable. Erosion with associated loss of vegetation, soil, and its f...

Intensification of crop rotations and associated agricultural practices are reducing the capacity of traditional fallows to restore soil fertility and provide forage in Andean cropping systems. While the implementation of improved fallows offers great promise to enhance forage provision and maintain soil productivity, effects of these practices on...

Zerbe S, Lange F, Seliger A, Leitinger G, Ammer C (2023) Wie invasiv ist die Douglasie? Ein Fallbeispiel aus dem Spessart. AFZ-DerWald 16/2023: 30-34. Die Douglasie gilt im Kontext des Klimawandels als vergleichsweise stabile Nadelbaumart, weshalb sie vor allem in Mischung vermehrt berücksichtigt wird. Ob die Verjüngung der Douglasie in Mitteleuro...

Context Syntheses of vegetation responses over the last century are rare for the Alps, and limited in chronological and taxonomical resolution. We propose that pollen records from glaciers can be used to fill this gap. Objectives Our aim is to evaluate the reliability of glacier pollen records as historical archives of biodiversity to obtain plant...

Planted monocultures of even-aged coniferous tree species are abundant worldwide but increasingly damaged by biotic and abiotic stressors and disturbances. In Central Europe, a fundamental goal of ecologically oriented forest management is thus the conversion of pure and often even-aged coniferous stands into structurally more diverse and mixed bro...

Natural forests and stands subjected to little to moderate human impact are continuously declining worldwide and with these, their biodiversity and ecosystem services. Many Nothofagus forests in the south of the South American continent are in a pristine state or only moderately impacted by humans. Forest grazing by livestock, in the past and still...

Mountain regions are fragile ecosystems and often host remarkably rich biodiversity, and thus they are especially under threat from ongoing global changes. Located in the Eastern Alps, Trentino–South Tyrol is bioculturally diverse but an understudied region from an ethnobotanical perspective. We explored the ethnomedicinal knowledge of the area fro...

The understorey vegetation of temperate forests harbours a major proportion of terrestrial biodiversity and fulfills an important role in ecosystem functioning. Over the past decades, temperate forest understoreys were found to change in species diversity and composition due to several anthropogenic and natural drivers. Currently, the conversion an...

Trotz der vielfältigen Umweltgesetzgebungen, Initiativen, Vereinbarun- gen und Konventionen auf nationaler und internationaler Ebene ist der Verlust der biologischen Vielfalt auf globaler Ebene bisher nicht signifikant aufgehalten worden. Es bedarf also neuer Strategien, insbesondere was die Renaturierung von Ökobeziehungsweise Landnutzungssystemen...

The use of traditional medicinal plants plays an important role especially in remote rural and marginalized landscapes at different latitudes. In the development of nature conservation strategies based on local knowledge and sustainable resource management, medicinal herbs have been hypothesized to be cultural key stone species. Environmental educa...

The high significance of peatlands for species, habitat, landscape and climate protection is widely recognised throughout Europe today. In addition to a brief sketch on the history of peatland use, the vegetation and site diversity of peatlands in Central Europe, their ecosystem services, national and international peatland protection initiatives,...

Restoration ecology is an interdisciplinary field of research that builds on the concepts and foundations of ecology and makes use of other disciplines of the natural and social sciences in both theory and practice. After a brief historical overview of restoration ecology or ecosystem restoration, important basic ecological terms and key concepts,...

In a concluding synthesis, the limiting factors of ecosystem restoration from an ecological, economic, and social perspective, the duration of a restoration, the still high nutrient input into the ecosystems of Central Europe, the natural dynamics of ecosystems, and the influence of public trends in environmental protection and nature conservation...

As ecosystems created by traditional land use in past centuries, lowland and mountain heaths in Central and Western Europe today have a high nature conservation value and contribute positively to local-regional development. Ecology of heaths and history of use are outlined, as well as ecosystem services and national and international conservation a...

The measures applied for the restoration of ecosystem range from the well-known measures applied in nature conservation management, agriculture, and forestry or established in the context of ecological engineering to procedures specifically developed for the restoration of ecosystems. The variety of these restoration measures, some of which are app...

The reasons and motivations for ecosystem restoration are differentiated into four categories, i.e., (1) environmental science, ecological, and nature conservation facts, (2) economic cost-benefit calculations, (3) national legislation and international conventions and agreements, and (4) environmental ethics, religious, and emotional justification...

Cost-benefit calculations play a role not only for land use and generally for nature conservation and environmental protection at the business and macro-economic level, but are also becoming increasingly important in the context of a restoration economy. Methods for measuring the costs and benefits of ecosystem restoration are briefly outlined, the...

In addition to the ecological and economic considerations of ecosystem restoration projects, knowledge of the actors or stakeholders is essential. These are identified through a stakeholder analysis. The categories of actors and stakeholders, respectively, include the local-regional, national, and international levels: A distinction is also made be...

In Central Europe, the focus of forest restoration is less on increasing the forest area than on increasing or improving the multifunctionality and ecosystem services of existing forests, particularly through an appropriate and sustainable silvicultural management. Forest history, forest ecology and vegetation as well as the ecosystem services of C...

For the identification of the restoration potential, the selection of suitable restoration or management measures, the coordination and, if necessary, the resolution of conflicts of land use with the stakeholders and the financing of restoration activities, it is indispensable to determine the objectives in advance of a restoration project. The cor...

Most rivers and their floodplains in Central Europe have lost their natural dynamics and the typical habitats due to anthropogenic interventions and land use, respectively. Nevertheless, attempts have been made for decades to restore near-natural conditions, at least in certain river sections. Today, these river restoration initiatives are strongly...

The re-introduction of animal and plant species is intended, on the one hand, to support a population threatened with extinction in a certain area or on a restoration site (reinforcement), or to bring back a plant or animal species that has disappeared within its natural range due to anthropogenic impact (re-introduction). Examples of the re-introd...

With the increasing proportion of the world’s population living in cities, urban ecosystems are of great importance as living spaces for humans. The ecological characteristics and services of urban ecosystems, the latter also with regard to the health and well-being of people in cities and urban landscapes are presented. The restoration of urban na...

The high altitudes of the mountains of Central Europe are characterised by extreme site conditions. This poses particular challenges for the restoration of mountain ecosystems, especially since, in addition to centuries of mountain agriculture, winter and summer tourism, in particular, has steadily penetrated into ever higher and more remote high m...

Before the introduction of mineral fertilizers and the widespread use of synthetic pesticides, arable land of Central Europe was home to a large variety of plant and animal species that colonized the differently and extensively managed agricultural sites alongside the crops. Accordingly, numerous typical plant communities were found on arable land,...

While small-scale extraction sites of minerals can often be restored passively, i.e., without restoration intervention, various restoration measures are applied in the case of large-scale opencast lignite mining sites and post-mining landscapes as well as mining and waste disposal sites in order to restore species-rich habitats, on the one hand, an...

In order to determine, after applying measures of ecosystem restoration, whether the set goals have been achieved, a success control is necessary. This can be carried out once after a certain period of time or by means of a continuous monitoring, ranging from short-term activities (few years) to long-term monitoring programmes (>10 years). For this...

Not least, climate change and the associated rise in sea level have put coastal habitats on the agenda of international environmental policy. In Europe, numerous projects for the restoration of coastal salt grasslands have been carried out so far, which are critically reflected here. It seems that near-natural coastal saltgrass land can be restored...

The occurrence of and invasion by non-native plant and animal species (neobiota) is often considered a problem for nature conservation and ecosystem restoration. The general perception of and approaches to “alien” species is critically examined and examples of their control in the context of ecosystem restoration are given. In some cases, non-nativ...

Central Europe is naturally very rich in lakes in many regions, partly as a result of glacial landscape history. In addition, there are a large number of artificial lakes. One of the main environmental pressures on lake ecosystems today is the load of pollutants and nutrients. Restoration measures are, therefore, very often linked to the reduction...

The current debate on the global problem of plastic and microplastic inputs into marine ecosystems shows that there is an urgent need to improve the ecological status of marine ecosystems. The EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive is an expression of international environmental policy willingness to actively address this global environmental probl...

Sandy dry grasslands occur on the coasts and in the inland. In addition to the naturally occurring succession stages after disturbance, it is primarily traditional forms of land use that have often created a diverse mosaic of vegetation structures. The extreme site conditions of the early successional stages on sandy sites are explained and their i...

Grassland is one of the most important elements of the cultural landscapes in Central Europe. Especially extensively managed, moderately or non-fertilized grassland on dry, calcareous, acidic, or wet sites harbour a high species diversity. Land-use history, ecology, and vegetation diversity are briefly presented, the ecosystem services of grassland...

Traditional agroforestry systems were once widespread in Central Europe and today mostly represent historical cultural landscape elements. These include, for example, traditional orchards (Streuobstwiesen), tree meadows, and the larch meadows and pastures of the Alps. Agroforestry systems provide a variety of services for humans, in particular, cul...

While restoration ecology, as a scientific sub-discipline of ecology, generates and analyses data and facts qualitatively and quantitatively and thus, provides restoration practice with a value-free basis for decision-making, concrete ecosystem restoration requires an assessment and a decision between different options. In addition to the natural s...

Trees can have important impacts on multiple ecosystem services and biodiversity in agricultural landscapes. The influence of trees can extend beyond forested areas and into adjacent land uses, however, this is rarely accounted for in the ecological literature. To better understand the influence of trees in Andean agroecosystems, we examined altern...

Aim Assessing the performances of different sampling approaches for documenting community diversity may help to identify optimal sampling efforts and strategies, and to enhance conservation and monitoring planning. Here, we used two data sets based on probabilistic and preferential sampling schemes of Italian forest vegetation to analyze the multif...

Zusammenfassung Die Renaturierung von Ökosystemen ist spätestens mit der Proklamation der „Dekade der Ökosystemrenaturierung 2021-2030“ durch die UN auf die globale Umweltagenda gekommen. Eine Herausforderung der nahen Zukunft wird es sein, die Oberflächengewässer und das Grundwasser dahingehend in ihren ökologischen Funktionen und Leistungen aufzu...

This study investigates the distribution of vegetation and its modern pollen representation along an elevation gradient in the Italian Alps and explores the relationships with terrain and climate variables. Moss polsters were collected at 25 sites between ca. 300 and 1400 m asl from open areas, deciduous, and conifer forests. At each site vegetatio...

Background: Worldwide mountain regions are recognized as hotspots of ethnopharmacologically relevant species diversity. In South Tyrol (Southern Alps, Italy), and due to the region’s high plant diversity and isolated population, a unique traditional botanical knowledge of medicinal plants has flourished, which traces its history back to prehistoric...

The concept of “cultural keystone species” (CKS) combines ecological and socioeconomic aspects and has a great potential for improving the overall success of conservation and restoration of ecosystems. In our study, we combined an ecological analysis of traditional medicinal plant species with an explorative analysis of the stakeholder landscape to...

National parks play an important role in the conservation of biodiversity, mainly excluding human influence following the IUCN approach. However, in Europe, they are often characterized by a high percentage of traditional cultural landscape elements, which require active management. This calls into question whether the national park protection strat...

In mountain areas where livestock farming and overgrazing have led to deforestation and the decrease of forest ecosystem services for centuries, it is necessary to develop sustainable strategies to restore forest ecosystems. We here investigate the case study of Javakheti Highland in the Southern Cau-casus (Georgia), which has been largely deforest...

In the Brazilian Cerrado, the land-use change caused by the expansion and intensification of agribusiness farming has led to dramatic socio-environmental problems. To foster sustainable development, Brazilian farming students have to learn about land use according to the Sustainable Development Goals and how to implement them on their home farm and...

The world’s mega trends of land-use and landscape development are discussed, which are urbanization and land-use intensification, particularly considering their negative consequences for the ecological as well as the socio-economic environment. Trade-offs of land-use intensification such as the loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services, eutrophic...

Although ecosystem restoration is based on the concepts, approaches, and applied aspects of restoration ecology, science and practice of restoration must go far beyond that in a multidimensional perspective. This is shown by deepening certain topics related to ecosystem and landscape restoration. Hereby, terra preta as an ancient soil management, m...

A brief and comprehensive introduction to restoration ecology is given. After a short sketch of the history of this subdiscipline of ecology, concepts, general objectives, reference systems, and a definition of ecosystem restoration are presented. Since ecosystem restoration is based on ecological key concepts such as e.g., species pool, functional...

Traditional cultural landscapes are classified and described, which might occur all around the globe or only in certain regions of the world. These landscapes have been shaped by humans over the centuries and represent a historical continuity, despite landscape dynamics and historical changes. Typically, these landscapes have a considerable proport...

This chapter lays out the foundations for this book regarding the concepts of “landscape” and “traditional cultural landscapes.” The term “cultural landscape” is introduced from a holistic perspective and examples of operationalization are given. “Traditions” should hereby be considered as a combination of elements through which it is possible to e...

The characteristics and values of traditional cultural landscapes are comprehensively outlined by addressing biodiversity, agrobiodiversity, and agrodiversity as well as ecosystem and landscape services. Additionally, cultural landscapes are considered as potentially healthy environments and approaches, and related concepts such as therapeutic land...

The city of Zhangye (Gansu Region, China) has been subjected to several changes related to the development of new profitable human activities. Unfortunately, this growth has led to a general decrease in water quality due to the release of several toxic wastes and pollutants (e.g., heavy metals) into the Heihe River. In order to assess the environme...

In order to show the broad range of the multifaceted restoration approaches and practices on the global scale, which are based on general ecological and socio-economic principles and have been locally adapted, examples are presented from Europe, Asia, and Latin America. Thus, for example, an eco-village, ancient and sustainable agricultural practic...

Sustainability should be a key concept and guideline for the revitalization and restoration of traditional cultural landscapes, with an emphasis on the traditions as well as on innovation and modernization. Following the concept of strong sustainability, the increase of degraded or lost natural capital and, thus, the restoration of ecosystems and l...

Referring to the manifold studies and the long-term experiences of the restoration of near-natural ecosystems and traditional land-use types, respectively, examples from all over the world are outlined. Additionally to rewilding as a progressive approach to nature conservation, letting nature take care of itself and enabling natural processes, part...

Traditional cultural landscapes throughout the world are well recognized in environmental policy and nature conservation practice. The multifaceted national and international initiatives for the maintenance of traditional cultural landscapes are outlined, paying particular attention to UNESCO World Heritage Sites, Globally Important Agricultural He...

Alpine rivers and their floodplains have been highly modified by human activities during the last decades. River restoration projects aim to counteract these negative impacts and to restore ecosystem services provided by riparian habitats. We studied two recently restored river sites in the Ahr/Aurino and Mareit/Mareta Rivers (Italian Alps) to inve...

Achieving urban sustainability goals, and improving the quality of life in cities, are aided by the careful selection of tree species for public green spaces. Numerous trade-offs and synergies are necessary to consider when selecting tree species for successful public green spaces and there is little data on effective species mixes. In this transdi...

Worldwide, forestry must face several challenges during the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration. The decline of biodiversity and ecosystem services, ongoing deforestation, climate change, and biological invasions must be mitigated with forest restoration and by applying sustainable forest management. Experiences with the integration of non-native tr...

The environment in healthcare facilities can influence health and recovery of service users and furthermore contribute to healthy workplaces for staff. The concept of therapeutic landscapes seems to be a promising approach in this context. The aim of this qualitative meta-analysis is to review the effects of therapeutic landscapes for different sta...

Against the background of the mega-trends of land-use change on the global scale which have been identified with urbanization, land-use intensification, and land abandonment, a plea is made for a balance between urban, rural, and natural landscapes to reach sustainability on the global scale, paying particular attention to neglected or abandoned tr...

In a concluding synthesis, a plea is made for merging traditions and innovation for sustainability and multifunctionality of cultural landscapes. Against the background of the trade-offs of urbanization and land-use intensification as well as the worldwide loss of natural and cultural heritage with land abandonment, more efforts should be put on th...

Due to climate change and a growing urban population worldwide, cities as heat islands are of increasing concern for the health and living comfort of urban populations. Accordingly, thermal comfort is an important element of bioclimatic design within cities, and areas with an abundance of hard surfaces, and a lack of tree shade, can become uncomfor...

Here, a time-scale conceptual threshold model for assessing, evaluating, documenting, and monitoring post-mining sites reclamation progress was developed. It begins from initial state I0 down to degraded state D0 (which depends on the mining). Reclamation starts with soil reconstruction R−2 up to revegetation R−1 (red zones) to reach minimum thresh...

The assessment of the ecosystem state is fundamental to understand the success of ecological rehabilitation, especially in the long-term. We aim to evaluate the rehabilitation success of a unique Mediterranean dune system site along the Tyrrhenian coast of Italy which underwent a dune consolidation intervention and species planting at the beginning...

Achieving urban sustainability goals, and improving the quality of life in cities, are aided by the careful selection of tree species for public green spaces. Numerous trade-offs and synergies are necessary to consider when selecting tree species for successful public green spaces. In this transdisciplinary research we consider the impacts of nine...

The Colchis forests contribute to the biodiversity hotspot in the Caucasus eco-region. We investigated the plant diversity of these forests in the central part of Adjara (W Georgia). The aims of our study were (i) to differentiate the forest vegetation diversity in the mountain belt forests by means of phytosociology, (ii) to associate endemic taxa...

Purpose The non-material benefits which people derive from ecosystems, cultural ecosystem services (CES), can be difficult to measure and quantify. This study aims to demonstrate the usefulness of social media analysis. Design/methodology/approach The widespread use of social media applications has provided a novel methodology for obtaining crowd-...

During the last decades, an ongoing spread of broad-leaved evergreen laurophyllous species has been reported for forests of Southern Europe. Several factors were suggested as the main drivers of the phenomenon, namely global warming, land-use change, evolutionary history, and increase in atmospheric CO2. Among laurophylls, Laurus nobilis L. is cons...

Wetlands are among the most fragile habitats on Earth and have often undergone major environmental changes. As a study case in this context, the present work aims at increasing the floristic knowledge of a reclaimed land now turned into an agricultural lowland with scarce patches of natural habitats. The study area is named Piana di Rosia, and it i...

Biodiversity loss occurring in mountain ecosystems calls for integrative approaches to improve monitoring processes in the face of human-induced changes. With a combination of vegetation and remotely-sensed time series data, we quantitatively identify the responses of land-cover types and their associated vegetation between 1987 and 2016. Fuzzy clu...

In this contribution, new data concerning the distribution of vascular flora alien to Italy are presented. It includes new records, confirmations, exclusions, and status changes for Italy or for Italian administrative regions. Nomenclatural and distribution updates published elsewhere are provided as Suppl. material 1.

Background Worldwide mountain regions are recognized as hotspots of ethnopharmacologically relevant species diversity. In South Tyrol (Southern Alps, Italy), and due to the region’s high plant diversity and isolated population, a unique traditional botanical knowledge of medicinal plants has flourished, which traces its history back to prehistoric...

Die Diskussion über nicht einheimische Arten (Neobiota) und deren Management in Umwelt- und Naturschutz ist häufig geprägt durch eine prinzipielle Ablehnung des Fremden. Hieraus leitet sich nicht selten eine Bekämpfung der Arten im Biotopmanagement und in der Ökosystemrenaturierung ab. In diesem Kapitel soll diese Problematik beleuchtet werden und...

The multifactorial process of ageing is one of the biggest biological and medical challenges of the 21st century with age-related conditions such as cardiovascular diseases, neurodegeneration and cancer being among the leading causes of death among industrialized countries. Rather than one single causative factor, a range of environmental, demograp...