CREAFTalk with Manuel Steinbauer: 'Biodiversity dynamics: from human dominated systems to the fossil record'

Join this on and offline talk for an interdisciplinary adventure, from the first arrival of humans on pristine islands to modern outdoor sports and digital tour-planning. The talk will reflect biodiversity dynamics and their interaction with humans and environment on very different timescales from decades (historic vegetation surveys) over millennia (pollen record) to the deep time fossil record. This is important as fundamental processes that generate and maintain the complex patterns of life on Earth are not only human dominated but also strongly influenced by interactions across time. Understanding the effect of human behaviour and decision-making as well as the legacy of past processes is thus central for society, which critically depends on the many vital ecosystem services provided by biodiversity and ecosystem functioning.

Manuel Steinbauer is Professor for Sport Ecology at the University of Bayreuth (Germany). He was previously Professor for Systems Paleobiology at Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (Germany) and holds a PhD in Biogeography.