An anecdotal event should be narrated. In 1984, the German university championships in orienteering (O) were organized by the University of Bielefeld. The sandy
Senne area, with a pine forest and fossil glacial sand dune hills, was an ideal
competing ground. But what would be the impacts of such an event, where runners
would go all over the forests, to find controls as fast as possible with the help of a
special O-map? Three control sites were mapped and photographed before and after
the event (Breckle et al. 1989, 2014b).
Some weeks later, because I was responsible for the event, I got a letter, which
accused me of having partly destroyed the small Ölbach Valley. Apparently this had
been a small nature reserve, though it was not marked as such. Several letters went to
and fro; as an ecologist I was being charged with destroying a nature reserve. Finally,
it could be clarified that there was not one official indicator plate in the area that
indicated the borders of the nature reserve (as is necessary according to the law), that
there was no damage (the few visible steps had disappeared after a few weeks) and
that in such a sandy area, disturbances from time to time enhance the biodiversity
and recovery of plant species; however, they were much less than the large military
tanks were doing nearby. Thus, the penalty of a 3-month jail sentence (or 50,000 DM
fine) for such an offence was not imposed. The area is in close proximity to the
British and German military exercising area in the Senne. It has been a military area
for about 120 years and now exhibits rare flora and fauna maintained by continuous
special disturbances (Breckle 1993) – maybe in future it will be part of a national
park?
Long-term studies of observation squares at former control sites since then
revealed that the natural dynamics are very obvious but have nothing to do
with any anthropogenic influences. The number of shoots of Trientalis and of
Maianthemum oscillated tremendously (Fig. 43) according to ice/rain, growth of
shading Frangula or the natural death and decay of pine trees.
10 Teaching
The topics mentioned in Table 2 illustrate the breadth of teaching but also various
research projects, which, in most cases, were characterized by an interdisciplinary
approach. The philosophy behind it was the rather important feedback between field
research and lab studies and controlled experiments where students could participate. The importance of such an approach was also stressed by Beck (2017).
Starting in Bonn and continuing in Bielefeld, I was always engaged in preparing
textbooks and their new editions, not only in ecology (see above, Breckle 1999,
2002a, b, c, d) but also in pharmaceutical biology (Kating and Breckle 1978, 1981;
Leistner and Breckle 1988, 1992, 1997, 2000a, b, 2008, 2014).
The ongoing research projects were done in close cooperation with local people
and institutions. We used all opportunities to inform relevant stakeholders, to raise
capacity building and to improve resource management by organizing small meetings and symposia and, of course, by participating in talks and posters at relevant
Vegetation, Climate and Soil: 50 Years of Global Ecology
49
Senne area, with a pine forest and fossil glacial sand dune hills, was an ideal
competing ground. But what would be the impacts of such an event, where runners
would go all over the forests, to find controls as fast as possible with the help of a
special O-map? Three control sites were mapped and photographed before and after
the event (Breckle et al. 1989, 2014b).
Some weeks later, because I was responsible for the event, I got a letter, which
accused me of having partly destroyed the small Ölbach Valley. Apparently this had
been a small nature reserve, though it was not marked as such. Several letters went to
and fro; as an ecologist I was being charged with destroying a nature reserve. Finally,
it could be clarified that there was not one official indicator plate in the area that
indicated the borders of the nature reserve (as is necessary according to the law), that
there was no damage (the few visible steps had disappeared after a few weeks) and
that in such a sandy area, disturbances from time to time enhance the biodiversity
and recovery of plant species; however, they were much less than the large military
tanks were doing nearby. Thus, the penalty of a 3-month jail sentence (or 50,000 DM
fine) for such an offence was not imposed. The area is in close proximity to the
British and German military exercising area in the Senne. It has been a military area
for about 120 years and now exhibits rare flora and fauna maintained by continuous
special disturbances (Breckle 1993) – maybe in future it will be part of a national
park?
Long-term studies of observation squares at former control sites since then
revealed that the natural dynamics are very obvious but have nothing to do
with any anthropogenic influences. The number of shoots of Trientalis and of
Maianthemum oscillated tremendously (Fig. 43) according to ice/rain, growth of
shading Frangula or the natural death and decay of pine trees.
10 Teaching
The topics mentioned in Table 2 illustrate the breadth of teaching but also various
research projects, which, in most cases, were characterized by an interdisciplinary
approach. The philosophy behind it was the rather important feedback between field
research and lab studies and controlled experiments where students could participate. The importance of such an approach was also stressed by Beck (2017).
Starting in Bonn and continuing in Bielefeld, I was always engaged in preparing
textbooks and their new editions, not only in ecology (see above, Breckle 1999,
2002a, b, c, d) but also in pharmaceutical biology (Kating and Breckle 1978, 1981;
Leistner and Breckle 1988, 1992, 1997, 2000a, b, 2008, 2014).
The ongoing research projects were done in close cooperation with local people
and institutions. We used all opportunities to inform relevant stakeholders, to raise
capacity building and to improve resource management by organizing small meetings and symposia and, of course, by participating in talks and posters at relevant
Vegetation, Climate and Soil: 50 Years of Global Ecology
49