268
II JOlllt Research ProJccb
volved. When the opportunity arose to study the effects of the ice winter 1995/96,
ELA W AT was extended for 3 months. In the course of the project, demand grew
for hydrographic and ecological modelling to help with the analysis of temporal
and spatial distribution patterns, and both efforts were finally added to the project
in 1996. ELA W A T was further prolonged for a synthesis of the results. Altogether
the project thus ran until December 1997. The quick and flexible reactions of the
funding agency to the requirements and research needs were very favourable for
the overall success of ELA W A T.
In spite of the extension, a time constraint remained which demanded a concentration on the major goal and did not allow a flexible reaction to some specific
events which arose during the course of the research. For example, it was not
possible to investigate the anoxic areas in the backbarrier tidal flat of the island of
Baltrum, which developed in summer 1996, although that would have been an
ideal large-scale natural defaunation experiment (Chap. 6; 7). Thus, for the topic
of ELA W AT, an exceptional situation was missed. This shows that an investigation of sudden events is not possible if funds have to be applied for first. Only
established institutions with a sufficient budget and experienced scientific staff can
react to such situations.
The sub-projects had half a year to analyse their data and write their reports,
which proved to be too short a time, especially for combining results from several
sub-projects, as was the idea of a joint project. The writing of publications based
on the collaboration of several sub-projects was postponed beyond the end of the
project.
During ELA W A T, a normal, a mild and an ice winter occurred, and the investigations covered a wide range of possible boundary conditions. If the project
would have taken place with a time shift of just a year or two, these boundary
conditions would have been different again and our results probably would have
been as well. Disturbance effects could also only be temporarily assessed, but not
with their full consequences. For example, for studying the effect on a population
the entire life span of the respective organism has to be dealt with (Grimm et al.
1992, Chap. 10), and this exceeded the project time for most benthic organisms in
the Wadden Sea. The limited project time was also an obstacle for the assessment
of the reference dynamic, which was essential for the analysis of stability properties. Thus long-term data from other parts of the Wadden Sea had to be used as
well for the analysis given in Chap. 9. An ecosystem approach targeting stability
properties demands a longer-termed project.
Spatial realization
The concentration on a main study area for all sub-projects was rational to facilitate interdisciplinary collaboration. The field work for ELA W AT was carried out
in the main study area of the "Ecosystem Research Wadden Sea" in Lower
Saxony, the backbarrier system of the island of Spiekeroog (Chap. 3.1). The
choice fell on this backbarrier system because of logistic reasons and of prior
research that had been carried out there by some of the institutions involved in the
ecosystem research. The ecosystem research concentrated mainly on the intertidal;
both supratidal (salt marshes and dunes) and subtidal areas (with the exception of
II JOlllt Research ProJccb
volved. When the opportunity arose to study the effects of the ice winter 1995/96,
ELA W AT was extended for 3 months. In the course of the project, demand grew
for hydrographic and ecological modelling to help with the analysis of temporal
and spatial distribution patterns, and both efforts were finally added to the project
in 1996. ELA W A T was further prolonged for a synthesis of the results. Altogether
the project thus ran until December 1997. The quick and flexible reactions of the
funding agency to the requirements and research needs were very favourable for
the overall success of ELA W A T.
In spite of the extension, a time constraint remained which demanded a concentration on the major goal and did not allow a flexible reaction to some specific
events which arose during the course of the research. For example, it was not
possible to investigate the anoxic areas in the backbarrier tidal flat of the island of
Baltrum, which developed in summer 1996, although that would have been an
ideal large-scale natural defaunation experiment (Chap. 6; 7). Thus, for the topic
of ELA W AT, an exceptional situation was missed. This shows that an investigation of sudden events is not possible if funds have to be applied for first. Only
established institutions with a sufficient budget and experienced scientific staff can
react to such situations.
The sub-projects had half a year to analyse their data and write their reports,
which proved to be too short a time, especially for combining results from several
sub-projects, as was the idea of a joint project. The writing of publications based
on the collaboration of several sub-projects was postponed beyond the end of the
project.
During ELA W A T, a normal, a mild and an ice winter occurred, and the investigations covered a wide range of possible boundary conditions. If the project
would have taken place with a time shift of just a year or two, these boundary
conditions would have been different again and our results probably would have
been as well. Disturbance effects could also only be temporarily assessed, but not
with their full consequences. For example, for studying the effect on a population
the entire life span of the respective organism has to be dealt with (Grimm et al.
1992, Chap. 10), and this exceeded the project time for most benthic organisms in
the Wadden Sea. The limited project time was also an obstacle for the assessment
of the reference dynamic, which was essential for the analysis of stability properties. Thus long-term data from other parts of the Wadden Sea had to be used as
well for the analysis given in Chap. 9. An ecosystem approach targeting stability
properties demands a longer-termed project.
Spatial realization
The concentration on a main study area for all sub-projects was rational to facilitate interdisciplinary collaboration. The field work for ELA W AT was carried out
in the main study area of the "Ecosystem Research Wadden Sea" in Lower
Saxony, the backbarrier system of the island of Spiekeroog (Chap. 3.1). The
choice fell on this backbarrier system because of logistic reasons and of prior
research that had been carried out there by some of the institutions involved in the
ecosystem research. The ecosystem research concentrated mainly on the intertidal;
both supratidal (salt marshes and dunes) and subtidal areas (with the exception of