Applied Physical Geography
and Floodplain Institute Neuburg-Ingolstadt
The Professorship of Applied Physical Geography intends to promote the connection between university research and teaching with practical elements in order to introduce students to their profession already during their studies.
The discipline focuses on topics from the fields of renaturation, floodplain ecology and flood protection as well as from the field of land cover/ land use change (LC/LU). In many areas, the monitoring of changes is also a priority. Recent research projects have also focused on ecosystem services and stakeholder management. In terms of methodology, much of the work is supported by GIS, modeling, and remote sensing, in addition to the usual subject-specific fieldwork.
The Professorship also manages the Floodplain Institute Neuburg-Ingolstadt which is a central research institute of the Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt.
Work carried out by members of the Floodplain Institute
The talking tree
![[Translate to English:] Jasmin Meixner und Christian Schuth_Foto Jochner-Oette](/fileadmin/_processed_/7/a/csm_Jasmin_Meixner_und_Christian_Schuth_Foto_Jochner-Oette_347db1fe83.webp)
“Else” reports daily on how she is doing. The key data: temperature, humidity, and water supply — because Else is a tree, or more precisely, an alder buckthorn. She lives in the teaching and research forest of the Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt (KU) in the Adelschlag forest district and has been equipped with sensors. As a “talking tree,” she will provide data in the future to analyze the influence of environmental factors on trees.
ZDF broadcasts documentary about the Floodplain Institute Neuburg-Ingolstadt
![[Translate to English:] Ein Bild, das das Interview zwischen Prof. Dr. Stammel und dem ZDF zeigt.](/fileadmin/_processed_/7/1/csm_Stammel_ZDF_414b1c9040.webp)
For the documentary “Every tree counts – New ideas for saving the forests,” a team of the German broadcaster ZDF visited the Floodplain Institute at the KU in Neuburg an der Donau and spoke with the deputy director, Prof. Dr. Barbara Stammel, and research assistants Veronika Ullmann and Christian Schuth. In Neuburg, the Floodplain Institute is conducting long-term monitoring to investigate the effects on flora and fauna of reconnecting a river with the adjacent floodplain forest. Through the so-called dynamization of the Danube floodplains between Neuburg and Ingolstadt, i.e., the permanent diversion of part of the Danube as well as targeted flooding and dry phases, a forest area of around 2,000 hectares was renaturalized here about 20 years ago. Since then, the Aueninstitut has been providing scientific support for the measure.
The film is available in the ZDF media library until February 07, 2027 (click here)