What is CIBRA?

The Centre for Integrative Biodiversity research and Applied Ecology (CIBRA) provides a research platform on which partners from science and conservation practice work on interdisciplinary topics in biodiversity research and applied ecology. The aim is to better understand the interactions between humans, the environment and biodiversity, and to use this knowledge to develop solutions for the conservation and sustainable use of biological resources.

CIBRA provides the opportunity to actively test innovative and integrative methods in biodiversity research – for a future-oriented environmental monitoring. We not only translate our findings into practical applications, but also communicate our knowledge to the educational, political and social communities.

CIBRA at CAMPUS EARTH

© Dr. Hilke Hollens-Kuhr

With an information stand, CIBRA took part in the university-wide CAMPUS EARTH, where the diverse sustainability activities at the University of Münster were presented to the public and university members. CIBRA showed the planned activities to link research, teaching and transfer in the fields of biodiversity and applied ecology more closely. The focus was on the citizen science project ‘Tierisch vielfältig. Biodiversity in Münster's new housing estates’, in which citizens actively help to record the biodiversity in their neighbourhoods.

Guide to the restoration of bog vegetation

© Jonah Winkler

Peatlands are an important part of the carbon cycle on a global scale. As a potential carbon sink, it is of great importance to restore them after their almost complete destruction in Germany and other European countries. In order for a peatland to be able to absorb carbon again after it has been drained, the vegetation must be restored after rewetting. This requires extensive cultivation of the vegetation that is to be established on the bog.
Read more here.

CIBRA and DDA seal their cooperation

Photo, from left to right: Prof. Dr. Sascha Buchholz (Head of CIBRA), Dr. Johannes Wahl (DDA Executive Board), Dr. Christoph Sudfeldt (Chairman of the DDA Executive Board), Dr. Jakob Katzenberger (DDA Executive Board), Dr. Malte Conrady (CIBRA), not in the picture: Nadja Pernat (CIBRA)
© I. Tigges

By signing a cooperation agreement the Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research and Applied Ecology (CIBRA) and the DDA will combine their expertise in the field of biodiversity in the future. The aim of the cooperation is to develop scientifically sound findings in order to improve the protection of biodiversity in our increasingly intensively used environment.

Together with the Institute of Geology and Palaeontology at Münster University and the LWL Museum of Natural History, CIBRA and the DDA will form a strong regional network for species conservation. The unifying goal: to investigate complex functional relationships between the organisms living in our region and their environment and to initiate practical nature conservation projects. As the organizer of national bird monitoring, the DDA offers promising starting points here. In addition, the cooperation partners will support each other in teaching, training young scientists and mobilizing the research infrastructure. Innovative research approaches will help to bring together the expertise of the partners.