Perspectives for Biodiversity and Ecosystems

Carsten Hobohm, Prof. Dr. rer. nat. habil., is full professor at the University of Flensburg since 2006 and head of the Department of Ecology and Environmental Education (Ökologie und Umweltbildung).Before he went to Flensburg, he worked at the universities of Bayreuth and Freiburg (1978-1985, Diploma in Biology), Hannover (doctoral research on plant communities and vegetation ecology of the waddensea island Norderney with subsidiary subject in Philosophy, 1987-1992), Lüneburg (postdoc position, 1992-2004, including postdoctoral lecturer qualification, Habilitation, in the field of Geobotany and Nature Conservation in 1997), Siegen (2005-2006, visiting professor in landscape and vegetation ecology).During his community service and afterwards (1985-2004) he worked for a nature conservation NGO (Schutzstation Wattenmeer) in the Waddensea area on the islands Sylt and Föhr and on different ecological audit projects for the private sector.He is interested in the relationship between nature and culture, in vegetation and landscape ecology, environmental sciences, international nature conservation policies, environmental education and environmental ethics. The nature-culture relationship can be seen as principal topic.His research focuses on the biogeography and ecology of species compositions, diversity hotspots, rare and endemic vascular plants, their habitats and ecology in response to natural and cultural processes.He published the first scientific book on Biodiversity - Biodiversität - in German language (2000). He edited a book on Endemism in Vascular Plants (2014; Plant and Vegetation 9) and on Perspectives for Biodiversity and Ecosystems (in general accepted in 2019 for publication in the series Environmental Challenges and Solutions, subm. 2020, publication expected in 2021 or 2022).He and his research group are organising, updating and analysing the database onEndemic Vascular Plants in Europe (EvaplantE), the database on Plant Endemism Assessment of Red List habitats in Europe (PEARL), and a new database on hyperendemism (Hypedata). In 2016 a Red List of European terrestrial and freshwater habitats including a small contribution of the working group was published by the European Commission, Brussels (Janssen et al. 2016; fact sheets on the internet since 2017).In 2014 and 2018 the quality of education in biology/ecology and didactics at the University of Flensburg was ranked on top in comparison with other universities in Germany (CHE ranking).In 2020 Carsten Hobohm got the Research Award of the University of Flensburg. In the same year the whole university was ranked as one of the top five universities in Germany with respect to efficiency.

• Chapter 1. Environmental History.- Chapter 2. Nature-Culture Dichotomy and Environmental Consciousness: Do We Fear the Right Things?.- Chapter 3. History of Environmental Communication and Education.- Chapter 4. Resources for Humans, Plants and Animals: Who is the Ruler of the Driver? And: Can Resource Use Explain Everything?.- Chapter 5. A Framework for Evaluation of Normative Solutions to Environmental Problems.- Chapter 6. Between Economic Valuation and Environmental Evaluation: Arguing about Environmental Value Systems.- Chapter 7. Environmental Indicators and Biodiversity Conservation Strategies.- Chapter 8. Change in Time: Risks and Predictability.- Chapter 9. Economies on Top, Nature on the Brink? A Closer Look on the Relationship between Economic Power and Threatened Nature.- Chapter 10. From Onlookers to Ecosystem-assistants: Exploring the Potentials of Ecological      Restoration Education.- Chapter 11. Distribution and Habitat Affinity of Endemic and Threatened Species - Global Assessment.- Chapter 12. Coastal Habitats, Shallow Seas and Inland Saline Steppes - Ecology, Distribution, Threats and Challenges.- Chapter 13. Wetlands - Challenges and Possibilities.- Chapter 14. Development and Future of Grassland Ecosystems – Do We Need a Paradigm Shift?.- Chapter 15. Heathland, Scrub and Savanna - Overview, Recent Trends and Outlook.- Chapter 16. Forest Ecosystems: a Functional and Biodiversity Perpective.- Chapter 17. The Future of Agricultural Land.- Chapter 18. Urban Habitats: Cities and Their Potential for Nature Protection.- Chapter 19. Land Use Change and the Future of Biodiversity.