In 1995 Prof. Dr. Morawetz (University of Leipzig) installed the first canopy crane movable on a rail track in Venezuela (Estado amazonas) in order to investigate the canopy ecology of a tropical rain forest. Meanwhile there are numerous canopy projects in tropical regions, but we find only four similar projects in forest ecosystems in temperate zones.

Therefore the University of Leipzig installed a new canopy crane in an almost natural floodplain forest in the north-west of Leipzig city (Nature sanctuary "Burgaue"). This project was established in co-operation with the Centre for Environmental Research Leipzig-Halle (UFZ) and the city of Leipzig.
Like the Venezuelan canopy crane the Leipzig crane is a construction crane (Type Liebherr 71 EC) which is 40 m tall and has a jib of 45 m length. The whole crane is movable on a 120 m long rail track. By means of two types of gondolas the scientist will have the exclusive chance to perform long term measurements and observations in a forest canopy area of about 1.5 hectare.

A team of scientists of meteorology, ecology, zoology and forestry will participate in this innovative and multidisciplinary research project. Climatic processes on the canopy-atmosphere interface, as well as the impact of pollutants on the a nature near forest in the city vicinity will be investigated.
Furthermore research projects on the little known plant-animal interactions in the canopy and especially questions on biodiversity will be carried out. The investigations will focus on basic research but also on applied environmental aspects. The Leipzig Canopy Crane plays the key role in this project because only this device will enable the research mentioned above.

Objectives of the research project:

To gain new knowledge on structure, dynamics and function of the forest

To gain more insight in some interactions between the canopy and the city near atmosphere

To reveal some interactions between animals and plants in the canopy for a better understanding of functional biodiversity

To reveal some interactions between organisms of the canopy and the understorey

To gain new knowledge on genetic variability of forest trees in order to assess competition in the stand

The research results will provide basic insights for future strategies on the conservation and the use of our forest. Furthermore a better assessment of the importance of the floodplain forest for the city climate and city ecology will be possible. In the project area which is part of the nature sanctuary "Burgaue" thrives a species and structure rich forest which can be categorised as nature near floodplain forest of the upper fluvial zone.

The forest in this area is product of long term human impact by using old oak trees as timber wood while other species were cut much more frequently and used e.g. as firewood. This way of utilisation ended in 1870. Since that time tree species which were cut before grew up into the canopy. Thus the actual canopy is formed by very old oak trees (> 250 y.) and younger species of e.g. ash and lime tree (>130 y.). A peculiarity of the stand is its amount of dead wood which provides an important habitat for some rare and threatened insect species such as some beetle species. This fact led to the assessment of the area as a very valuable nature sanctuary.

Co-ordination:
Prof. Dr. Wilfried Morawetz
Universität Leipzig Institut für Botanik
Spezielle Botanik & Botanischer Garten, Herbarium LZ
Johannisallee 21-23 D-04103 Leipzig
Tel.: (0341) 9738591
Fax: (0341) 9738549
E-mail:morawetz@uni-leipzig.de

Funding:
Umweltforschungszentrum Leipzig-Halle GmbH
Permoserstraße 15 D-04318 Leipzig
Tel.: (0341) 235-2242
Fax: (0341) 235-2791

Co-operation:
Stadt Leipzig Abteilung Stadtforsten
Stadtforstamt und Forstbehörde der Stadt Leipzig
Teichstraße 20 04092 Leipzig
Tel.: (0341) 309410
Fax: (0341) 3094138

Sponsoring:
Liebherr-Werk Biberach GmbH
Postfach 1663
D-88396 Biberach an der Riß
Tel.: (07351) 410
Fax: (07351) 41225