About Nato Tephnadze-Hoernchen - PhD student
Contact
Botanical Institute, AG Linstädter
University of Cologne
Zülpicher Straße 47b
D-50674 Cologne, Germany
Visitors: Kerpener Straße 59, D-50937 Cologne
Tel: +49 221 470 7906
E-Mail: ntephnad@smail.uni-koeln.de
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ResearchGate
Research Interests
I am a rangeland ecologist. Most of my research focuses on managed grasslands in the montane-subalpine belts of the Central Greater Caucasus (Kazbegi district) and the Lesser Caucasus (Bakuriani district). I aim to better understand how these habitats function, how abiotic and biotic factors influence the biodiversity of grasslands, and if there is a tendency of habitat change. Additionally, I am interested in Birch forest biodiversity and associated tall herbaceous vegetation, and the natural restoration processes of Betula litwinowii stands in the Central Greater Caucasus, as well as in biodiversity changes in the face of global environmental change.
Curriculum vitae
Academic Education
| since 10/2017 | PhD student in workgroup Range Ecology and Range Management, Botanical Institute, University of Cologne |
10/2010 - 09/2017 | PhD student in alpine ecosystem research programme, Institute of Ecology, Ilia State University, Tbilisi, Georgia |
01/2007 - 02/2010 | Master of Ecology and Conservation Biology, Ilia State University, Tbilisi, Georgia |
09/2003 - 06/2007 | Bachelor of Biology at Biology Institute, Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University, Tbilisi, Georgia |
Research Projects
03/2010 - 12/2013 | Research Assistant in the Volkswagen Foundation funded research project “AMIES - Analysing multiple interrelationships between environmental and societal processes in mountainous regions of Georgia - Interdisciplinary research to foster sustainable land use, land development, and quality of life”, Subproject C1: Changes in Phytodiversity |
09/2008 | Project Assistant (Master student) in “GLORIA – Global Observation Research Initiative in Alpine Environments”. Co-funded by the European Union |
07/2008 | Project Assistant (Master student) in “Towards sustainable use of mountain pastures in the Central Caucasus: Effect of recent land use change on plant diversity and soil stability”. Funded by the SNF programme SCOPES (Scientific Co-operation with Eastern Europe) |
Scholarships
01/2017 - 07/2017 | Android Basic Programming funded by Google |
07/2014 - 12/2014 | DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service) |
01/2013 - 07/2013 | Volkswagen Foundation |
Professional experience and additional activities
07/2015 - 12/2015 | Research assistant in Alpine ecosystem research programme, Institute of Ecology, Ilia State University, Tbilisi, Georgia |
07/2014 | Co-teacher of Master students at University of Giessen, Germany: Ecological research methods |
03/2013 | Assistant in the Volkswagen Foundation funded workshop “Natural Resources, Energy and the Environment”. Tbilisi, Georgia |
11/2012 | Participant of the winter school “Limits to Growth Revisited”, funded by Volkswagen Foundation. Visselhoevede and Hanover, Germany |
Since 08/2012 | Member of Eurasian Dry Grasslands Group |
06/2010 | Participant of the summer school “CliNCA / LUCA”, funded by Volkswagen Foundation, Giessen, Germany |
06/2008 | Participant of the “PCR lab” workshop at Ilia State University. Tbilisi, Georgia |
09/2007 - 05/2008 | Professor’s assistant at the Institute of Zoology, Ilia State University, Tbilisi, Georgia |
09/2006 - 05/2007 | Laboratory assistant at the faculty of Cytology and Developmental Biology. Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University. Tbilisi, Georgia |
Publications
Magiera A., Feilhauer H., Tephnadze N., Waldhardt R. & Otte A. (2015): Separating reflectance signatures of shrub species - a case study in the Central Greater Caucasus. – Applied Vegetation Science 19 (2): 304-315. DOI: 10.1111/avsc.12205
Tephnadze N., Abdaladze O., Nakhutsrishvili G., Simmering D., Waldhardt R. & Otte A. (2014): The impacts of management and site conditions on the phytodiversity of the upper montane and subalpine belts in the Central Greater Caucasus. – Phytocoenologia 44 (3-4): 255-282. DOI:10.1127/0340-269X/2014/0044-0579
Pütter, F. / Kremers, A. (Eds.), Abdu, N.; Ako, R.; Backhaus, J.; Bergset, L.; Bezerra, J.; Bobojonov, I.; Borges, V.; Cakirli Akyüz, N.; Callo-Concha, D.; Castro, R.; Cundill, G., Drees, R.; Escalante, N.; Haake, H.; Havemann, A.; Hezel, B.; Hotes, S.; Ibeh, L.; Karimov, A.; Köbbing, J.; Kurniawan, T.; Landry, J.; Leopold, A.; Lopes Guerreiro, L.; Månsson, A.; Marques da Silva, C.; Mawlong, L.; Moorhouse, J.; Mu, D.; Mukwaya, P.; Murguía, D.; Mutopo, P.; Nazarkina, L.; Nuss, P.; O'Brien, M.; Olaka, L.; Phelan, L.; Randrianiaiana, R.; Reichel, A.; Sakane, N.; Schmelzer, M.; Schmidt, A.; Schwerhoff, G.; Schwindenhammer, S.; Seufert, V.; Shen, W.; Shi, L.; Sop, T.; Tephnadze, N.; Tietze, F.; Tlili, I.; Wang, X.; Yazid, S.; Young, A. (2012): White Paper of the Winter School on Limits to Growth Revisited. – VolkswagenStiftung. [view paper, Download]
Invited presentation
Tephnadze, N. (2014): Vegetationserfassung und -analyse (in English; University of Giessen)
Conference and workshop presentations/posters
Hansen, W., Magiera, A., Tephnadze, N., Theissen, T., Waldhardt, R., Otte, A. (2016): Development and site conditions of subalpine Betula litwinowii stands in the Greater Caucasus, Georgia. The project AMIES II workshop poster, Giessen, Germany
Tephnadze, N., Rauner, A., Theissen, T., Simmering, D., Waldhardt, R., Otte, A. (2014): The main driving factors of the upper montane grassland diversity in the Bakuriani region (the Lesser Caucasus, Georgia). 44th annual meeting of the Ecological Society of Germany, Austria and Switzerland (GFӦ). “Integrating ecological knowledge into nature conservation and ecosystem management”. Hildesheim, Germany
Tephnadze, N., Otte, A., Rauner, A., Theissen, T. (2014): The Structure and Vegetation of Woodland Pastures and Meadows in the Lesser Caucasus of Georgia. Annual Meeting of the Reinhold-Tüxen-Gesellschaft. “Common Land and their Cultural Landscapes”. Hannover, Germany
Tephnadze, N., Abdaladze, O., Nakhutsrishvili, G., Simmering, D., Waldhardt, R., Otte, A. (2012): Quantifying the major determinants of species composition in subalpine grasslands of the Kazbegi region (Central Greater Caucasus). Workshop of the Global Mountain Biodiversity Assessment (GMBA) of DIVERSITAS in Georgia. “Distribution, Prediction and Conservation of Alpine species in the Great Caucasus”. Ilia State University field station Kazbegi, Georgia