Data collection of the SeBAS project was completed with the last field campaign in September 2023. The SeBAS project is part of the large research platform biodiversity exploratories and aims to explore land-use effects on plant diversity, ecosystem functions and ecosystem services in grasslands at different spatial scales. Unusually warm and sunny weather provided good conditions to carry out the field work in the three exploratories Schorfheide-Chorin, Hainich-Dün and Schwäbische Alb in Germany. This was particularly advantageous for the non-destructive measurement of vegetation characteristics using field spectroscopy. On the other hand, the stable weather conditions encouraged the farmers to mow their fields, thus many of the study sites were no longer suitable for data collection. Despite these circumstances, research on real managed grasslands is a unique feature of the biodiversity exploratories.

The master’s student Michelle Eckhardt accompanied PhD candidate Sophia Meyer for field work in all the three exploratory regions. Michelle is doing her master’s thesis within the scope of the SeBAS project. We also met our new cooperation partners from the SensGrün project of Technische Universität Berlin, for a day each in the exploratory Schorfheide-Chorin and Hainich-Dün. It was really nice to exchange ideas and we are looking forward to a fruitful collaboration.

A great thanks to everyone who supported the field work in June and September this year!