Human Development in Landscapes

People

	Alumnus Hannes Knapp (Germany, 1981) M.Sc. in Biology hknapp@gshdl.uni-kiel.de
PhD project	Habitat Harz: The Environmental History of a Mountain Area and its Foothills. Main aims of the project are to elucidate human impact on the vegetation in detail and to cast more light into woodland and charcoal usage by human. Moreover to separate natural and anthropogenic influences to obtain a detailed history of the vegetation dynamics and the climate since the early Holocene focusing on the late Holocene. Therefore my investigation is based on four palaeobotanical studies on different archives, altitudes and timescale in the Harz Mountains: Charcoal analyses on kilns above 600 m a.s.l. (kiln- and dendro-anthracology; Modern Times) Charcoal analyses on archaeological excavations (archaeo- and dendro-anthracology) in combination with the analyses of botanical macro-remains in the middle Harz (Middle Ages) Palynology of peat-bog cores in the upper Harz (Early to late Holocene) Stable isotope geochemistry on a peat profile (since the Iron Age) In general, wood charcoal analysis provides site-related information on species occurrence and woodland composition while pollen analyses gives the possibility of reconstructing local and/or regional vegetation diachronically. But for separating between the climate signal and human activity a comparison with non botanical proxies is essential. For the first time in the Harz we apply a high resolution multi-proxy analyses on a peat profile to elucidate climate variability (temperature and hydrology) and to compare it with human activity. This investigation is in cooperation with the Institute of Bio- and Geosciences – IBG 3: Agrosphere (Research Centre Jülich) and based on the analyses of d 13C_cellulose and 18O_cellulose from Sphagnum L. and of palynology (transfer functions, cooperation with Dr. Norbert Kühl, Bonn). Additionally flux-rate, the humification and loss on ignition were measured.
Research interests	Paleoenvironmental reconstruction, Climate and environmental changes, Vegetation dynamics and human impact
Post PhD Position	Postdoctoral Position at the University of Mainz
Education	01/2009 Member of the Graduate School “Human Development in Landscapes” Thesis: Habitat Harz - The environmental history of a mountain area and its foothills. 10/2008 Graduation as Diplom-Biologe, Diploma thesis: Palynological reconstruction of vegetation dynamics during the Saalian-Eemian transition in the southwest German alpine foreland. 07/2007 Examination in Ecology and Evolution of plants, Ecology and Evolution of animals - Molecular Evolution and in Geology - Micropalaeontology. 2003 - 2008 Studies of Biology at the Goethe-University Frankfurt and the Research Institute Senckenberg.
Work experience	01/2006 – 08/2008 Student research assistant at the Institute of Geoscience, Working Group Paleoenvironmental Dynamics Group. 01/2006 – 06/2006 Student research assistant at the project Biodiversity mapping and monitoring in the Taunus Mountains, Hessen, Germany. 01/2006 – 06/2006 Tutorial student assistant at the course "Taxonomy and ecology" 06/2005 – 12/2006 Student assistant at the Research Institute Senckenberg, Department for Botany and Molecular Evolution. 05/2004 – 12/2004 Student assistant at the Research Institute Senckenberg, Department for Botany and Molecular Evolution. 08/ 2004 – 09/2004 Student assistant on the palaeontological excavation at the Eckfeld Maar, Naturhistorisches Museum Mainz, Germany. 02/2003 – 03/2003 Course in nature conservation, hydrology and landscape ecology. 10/2002 – 11/2002 Internship, Working Group Biodiversity mapping, Research Institute Senckenberg. 05/2002 – 07/2002 Internship in biochemistry, Goethe-University, Frankfurt. 01/1996 – 03/1996 Internship Museum of Prehistoric and Protohistoric Archaeology, Frankfurt.
Selected publications	Accepted Knapp, H. (in print). Archäobotanische Untersuchungen an Verhüttungsplätzen aus dem Mittelharz (10.-13. Jh.) mit Schwerpunkt auf Holzkohlenanalysen: Lässt sich die Holznutzung zwischen verschiedenen Verhüttungsplätzen (Kupfer- und Silberschmelzplätzen) und dem metallurgischen Montangewerbe unterscheiden? Accepted Knapp, H., Vincent, R., Kirleis, W., & Nelle, O. (in press). Woodland history in the upper Harz Mountains revealed by kiln site, soil sediment and peat charcoal analyses. Quaternary International (2012), 1-13. Accepted Robin, V., Knapp, H., Bork, H.-R. & Nelle, O. (in press). Complementary use of pedoanthracology and peat macro-charcoal analysis for fire history assessment: Illustration from central Germany. Quaternary International (2012), 1-11 In progress Knapp, H., Kirleis, W., & Nelle. Woodland
Memberships	Senckenbergische Naturforschende Gesellschaft Frankfurt am Main Paläontologische Gesellschaft European Geosciences Union

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