Integrated Biodiversity Management in Exemplar Regions of Colombia (ColBioDiv)

Molecular Inventory of Lichens using DNA Barcoding (Robert Lücking, Biology, FUB-BGBM; Bibiana Moncada, Biology, Universidad Distrital Francisco José de Caldas; María Cristina Martínez Habibe, Biology, UniNorte; Pierine España Puccini, PhD Candidate, Biology, UniNorte)
Lichens are highly diverse and play important roles in Andean ecosystems and dry forests, particularly in the water and nutrient cycle and as bioindicators of environmental health. The aim of this project is to undertake an inventory of lichens in the Andean region (páramo, subandine forest, dry valleys) around Bogotá and the dry forests around Barranquilla, supported by DNA barcoding, in collaboration with the Jardín Botánico de Bogotá (JBB), the Universidad Distrital Francisco José de Caldas, and UniNorte. This approach has unveiled an unexpected species diversity, including many species new to science, including among taxa that were presumably well-known. As an example, the basidiolichen Cora, until recently thought to represent a single species, up to now corresponds to at least 32 species in the Cruz Verde/Sumapaz páramo complex in the district of Bogotá alone, almost half of which are exclusive to this complex. This has important implications for conservation management of Colombian páramos. In Colombian dry forests, lichens are systematically inventoried for their diversity of secondary chemical compounds and their potential pharmaceutical applications, in a project by PhD candidate Pierine España Puccini, spearheaded by María Cristína Martínez at UniNorte.

Phylogeny and Biogeography of Selected Plant Groups (Astrid de Mestier, PhD candidate Biology, FUB-BGBM)
The aim of this PhD project is to understand the evolutionary history of selected plant groups that are characteristic components of the Caribbean flora. The focus is on the analysis of molecular biological and morphological data (reconstruction of phylogeny, age estimation, ancestral character states). This, in combination with distribution data, provides insight into historical distribution patterns (ancestral area analysis) which enables the reconstruction of patterns of diversification within the Neotropics. Particularly those evolutionary processes that have taken place between Colombia and the Caribbean Islands.

Work package III is a landscape sensitivity assessment focusing on climate change and land use change as the main factors influencing the dynamic equilibrium of landscapes. Through this threshold values are estimated, which, if exceeded, lead to an impairment of the resilience of the landscapes and ecosystems, and the corruption of ecosystem services.

Model Region Andes (Norbert Anselm,  PhD candidate Physical Geography, FU Berlin)
In the Andean model region (drainage basin of the Rio Bogotá) the focus is on water and water availability for the metropolitan area of Bogotá. Within several working steps I) the trends and causes for land use and land cover change, II) the precipitation distribution, availability, the topographical and ENSO impacts on it and III) runoff characteristics for the Sabana de Bogotá are investigated. These steps are used for a numerical estimation of the drainage basin to draw future development scenarios.

Model Region Caribbean (Henry Schubert, PhD candidate Physical Geography, FU Berlin)
In the Caribbean model region the focus is on analysing the relation between landscape sensitivity, soil erosion risk and land use/land cover changes at various scales. While at the regional scale the trends and causes of land use and land cover changes in the department of Atlántico are investigated, at the local scale the focus is on a comparative analysis of natural resource management and soil erosion risk in the communities of El Morro in the municipality of Tubará and the El Palomar regional protected area in the municipality of Piojó.

Work package IV analyses the human dimension (drivers, social and economic actors, political institutions, civil organizations) of integrated biodiversity management and their interactions. The aim is to reconstruct the social and political embeddedness of biodiversity loss and biodiversity management in both model regions. The focus is on social actors, political institutions, and legal norms in regards to the various conflicting uses of biodiversity (e.g. water), and includes an analysis of the production of an order of biodiversity by several state actors in interactions with economic groups and civil society.

Political Ordering Processes of Biodiversity in Colombia - The Cases of Bogotá and Barranquilla (Dr. Markus Rauchecker, Lateinamerika Institut, FU Berlin)
In this sub-project, the socio-political processes that underlie in the transformation and loss of biodiversity in Colombia are analysed. The political handling of the loss of biodiversity is traced by numerous breaking points and conflicts. These are found at the site of the links that bind the biological, social and political realms. These orders are not articulated adequately amongst themselves and are fragmented internally. The project centers on the fragmentations and divisions in the political realm that result of normative conflicts, and the interactions between international, national and regional legal dispositions, in diverse political scenarios.