Department of Environmental Systems Science

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Dr. Fritz Kleinschroth

Dr. Fritz Kleinschroth

Dr. Fritz Kleinschroth

Lecturer at the Department of Environmental Systems Science

ETH Zürich

Ökosystemmanagement

CHN G 75.1

Universitätstrasse 16

8092 Zürich

Switzerland

  • +41 44 632 89 45
  • http://fritzK.weebly.com
  • 0000-0002-7614-2123
  • V-Card (vcf, 1kb)

Additional information

Research area

Landscape approaches and ecological mapping

The main focus of my work is to analyze how vegetation cover reflects human land use and management. This information helps me to analyze the ecology of coupled land-infrastructure systems across urban-to-rural gradients. I use and produce maps, satellite and drone images to investigate how their accessibility influences equitable sustainability transformations and transdisciplinary learning. I follow a land system science approach on social-ecological interactions, trying to reconcile multiple land use and nature conservation interests.

I supervise BSc and MSc students at ETHZ. Please contact me if you are interested.

 

My ecological interests were shaped both by my work in a national park on the German North-Sea coast and by my fascination with abandoned railway stations while studying landscape planning in Berlin. Since then, I became engaged in multiple research projects in Asia, Latin America and Africa, mostly focusing on vegetation dynamics during and after human disturbances. After working as a habitat mapper in Germany for three years, I pursued my PhD studies in France and UK on temporal and spatial dynamics of frontier roads built into the Congo Basin rainforests for selective logging. At ETH Zürich, I started as a PostDoc, leading the Ecosystem Management part of a EU-funded project on the water-energy-food nexus. As a senior scientist, I am leading projects on river restoration, integrated landscape approaches, the need for urban greenspaces since the COVID-19 pandemic, and the use of drone imagery to engage with stakeholders.

 

Education

2020-2022 - Fellow of the Postdoc Academy for Transformational Leadership financed by Robert Bosch Stiftung, Germany and hosted by HU Berlin, Leuphana University Lüneburg, Stockholm Resilience Centre and DRIFT Rotterdam

2016 - PhD dual degree (Erasmus Mundus joint doctorate fellowship) in Ecology and Biodiversity from AgroParisTech, France and Forestry from Bangor University, UK. Co-affiliated with CIRAD, Montpellier. Thesis title: Roads in the rainforests: Legacy of selective logging in Central Africa.

2011 - Diplom-Ingenieur degree in Landscape Planning at Technische Universität Berlin, Germany (equivalent to Masters). Specialization in ecosystem sciences, environmental management, urban ecology and GIS.

Additional information

Publications

  • Kleinschroth, F., Savilaakso, S., Kowarik, I., Martinez, P. J., Chang, Y., Jakstis, K., Schneider, J., & Fischer, L. K. (2024). Global disparities in urban green space use during the COVID-19 pandemic from a systematic review. Nature Cities. https://doi.org/10.1038/s44284-023-00020-6call_made
  • Bieri, D., Joshi, N., Wende, W., & Kleinschroth, F. (2024). Increasing demand for community gardening before , during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Urban Forestry & Urban Greening, 92, 128206. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ufug.2024.128206call_made
  • Savilaakso, S., Lausberg, N., Waeber, P. O., Hillgén, O., Isotalo, A., Kleinschroth, F., Djenontin, I. N. S., Boul Lefeuvre, N., & Garcia, C. A. (2023). Whose perspective counts? A critical look at definitions of terms used for natural and near-natural forests. One Earth, 6(11), 1477–1493. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.oneear.2023.10.003call_made
  • Kangi, G., Dondeyne, S., Kleinschroth, F., & Orshoven, J. Van. (2023). Variation of the Omo Delta between 1990 and 2018 : What remote sensing data reveal and models explain. Land Degradation & Development. https://doi.org/10.1002/ldr.4958call_made

  • Kleinschroth, F. (2023): Students’ perceptions of active learning: Experiences from a course on urban ecological research. ETH Learn. Teach. J. 4, 53–69 (2023). https://learningteaching.ethz.ch/index.php/lt-eth/article/view/232

  • Waeber, P.O., Carmenta, R., Carmona, N.E., Garcia, C.A., Falk, T., Fellay, A., Ghazoul, J., Reed, J., Willemen, L., Zhang, W., Kleinschroth, F. (2023). Structuring the complexity of integrated landscape approaches into selectable, scalable, and measurable attributes. Environmental Science and Policy 147, 67–77. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsci.2023.06.003call_made
  • Löfqvist, S., Kleinschroth, F., Bey, A., Bremond, A. de, DeFries, R., Dong, J., Fleischman, F., Lele, S., Martin, D. A., Messerli, P., Meyfroidt, P., Pfeifer, M., Rakotonarivo, S. O., Ramankutty, N., Ram, V., & Garrett, R. D. (2022). How social considerations improve equity and effectiveness of ecosystem restoration. BioScience, biac099. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1093/biosci/biac099call_made
  • Kleinschroth, F., Banda, K., Zimba, H., Dondeyne, S., Nyambe, I., Spratley, S., & Winton, R. S. (2022). Drone imagery to create a common understanding of landscapes. Landscape and Urban Planning, 104571. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2022.104571call_made
  • Kleinschroth, F., & Wilkes-Allemann, J. (2022). Natürliche Fragmente inmitten des Baubooms. Schweizerische Zeitschrift Für Forstwesen, 173, 250–251. https://doi.org/10.3188/szf.2022.0250call_made
  • Kleinschroth, F. (2022): Zurich’s urban beaver is a crowd-pleaser. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, 20: 369. DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/fee.2543call_made
  • Garcia, C. A., Savilaakso, S., Verburg, R. W., Stoudmann, N., Fernbach, P., Sloman, S. A., …, Kleinschroth, F., …, Waeber, P. O. (2022). Strategy games to improve environmental policymaking. Nature Sustainability, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-022-00881-0call_made
  • Kleinschroth, F., Lumosi, C., Bantider, A., Anteneh, Y., & van Bers, C. (2021). Narratives underlying research in African river basin management. Sustainability Science, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11625-021-01044-4call_made
  • Amos, S., Mengistu, S., & Kleinschroth, F. (2021). Three decades of pastoralist settlement dynamics in the Ethiopian Omo Delta based on remote sensing data. Human Ecology. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1007/s10745-021-00257-6call_made
  • Kleinschroth, F., Mekuria, W., Schwatke, C., & McCartney, M. (2021). Ecosystem services in changing social-ecological systems. In J. Lautze, M. McCartney, & J. Gibson (Eds.), The Omo-Turkana Basin Cooperation for Sustainable Water Management (pp. 78–101). London: Routledge Earthscan.
  • Winton, R. S., Teodoru, C. R., Calamita, E., Kleinschroth, F., Banda, K., Nyambe, I., & Wehrli, B. (2021. Anthropogenic influences on Zambian water quality: hydropower and land-use change. Environmental Science: Processes & Impacts. https://doi.org/10.1039/d1em00006ccall_made
  • Savilaakso, S., Lausberg, N., Garcia, C. A., Grenacher, R., Kleinschroth, F., & Waeber, P. O. (2021). Definitions of and Perspectives on Forests of High Value: A Systematic Map Protocol. Forests, 12, 876. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.3390/f12070876call_made
  • Winton, R., F. Kleinschroth, E. Calamita, M. Botter, C. Teodoru, I. Nyambe, and B. Wehrli (2020). Potential of aquatic weeds to improve water quality in natural waterways of the Zambezi catchment. Scientific Reports 10: 15467. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-72499-1call_made
  • Kleinschroth, F., and I. Kowarik (2020): COVID-19 crisis demonstrates the urgent need for urban greenspaces. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 18: 318-319. https://doi.org/10.1002/fee.2230call_made
  • Kleinschroth, F., R. S. Winton, E. Calamita, F. Niggemann, M. Botter, and B. Wehrli (2020): Living with floating vegetation invasions. Ambio. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-020-01360-6call_made
  • Kleinschroth, F., Rayden, T. and Ghazoul, J. (2019): The dilemma of maintaining intact forest through certification, Frontiers in Forests and Global Change 2: 72 doi: 10.3389/ffgc.2019.00072call_made
  • Kleinschroth, F., Laporte, N., Laurance, W. F., Goetz, S.J. and Ghazoul, J. (2019): Road expansion and persistence in forests of the Congo Basin, Nature Sustainability 2: 628–634. http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41893-019-0310-6call_made.
  • Trolliet, F., Vogt, M. and Kleinschroth, F. (2019): How does FSC certification of forest management benefit conservation of biodiversity? In: M. Vogt, ed. (2019): Sustainability Certification Schemes in the Agricultural and Natural Resource Sectors Outcomes for Society and the Environment, Routledge, London.
  • Ghazoul, J. and Kleinschroth, F. (2018). A global perspective is needed to protect environmental defenders. Nature Ecology & Evolution 2: 1340–1342. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-018-0640-1call_made
  • Kleinschroth, F., Garcia, C. and Ghazoul, J. (2018). Reconciling certification and intact forest landscape conservation. Ambio. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-018-1063-6call_made
  • Kleinschroth, F. and Healey, J.R. (2017). Impacts of logging roads on tropical forests. Biotropica 49: 620-635. https://doi.org/10.1111/btp.12462call_made
  • Laurance, W.F., Mahmoud, I.M. and Kleinschroth, F. (2017). Infrastructure Expansion and the Fate of Central African Forests. In: Brouwer, M. 2017. Central African Forests forever. MB Partner in Communicatie, Bunnik, the Netherlands, pp. 88–95.
  • Kleinschroth, F., Healey, J. R., Gourlet-Fleury, S., Mortier, F., and Stoica, R. (2017). Effects of logging on roadless space in intact forest landscapes of the Congo Basin. Conservation Biology 31 (2): 469–480. https://doi.org/10.1111/cobi.12815call_made
  • Karsenty, A., Romero, C., Cerutti, P.O., Doucet, J.-L., Putz, F.E., Bernard, C., Atyi, R.E., Douard, P., Claeys, F., Desbureaux, S., Blas, D.E. de, Fayolle, A., Fomété, T., Forni, E., Gond, V., Gourlet-Fleury, S., Kleinschroth, F., Mortier, F., Nasi, R., Nguinguiri, J.C., Vermeulen, C. and de Wasseige, C. (2017). Deforestation and timber production in Congo after implementation of sustainable management policy: A reaction to the article by J.S. Brandt, C. Nolte and A. Agrawal (Land Use Policy 52:15–22). Land use policy, 65, 62–65.
  • Haurez, B., Daïnou,K., Vermeulen, C., Kleinschroth, F., and Mortier, F., Gourlet-Fleury, S. and Doucet, J. (2017). A look at Intact Forest Landscapes (IFLs) and their relevance in Central African forest policy. Forest Policy and Economics 80: 192–199.
  • O’Leary, B.C., Kvist, K., Bayliss, H.R., Derroire, G., Healey, J.R., Hughes, K., Kleinschroth, F., Sciberras, M., Woodcock, P. and Pullin, A.S. (2016): The reliability of evidence review methodology in environmental science and conservation. Environmental Science & Policy 64: 75-82.
  • Kleinschroth, F., Healey J. R., Sist P., Mortier F., and Gourlet-Fleury S. (2016): How persistent are the impacts of logging roads on Central African forest vegetation? Journal of Applied Ecology 53: 1127-1137. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2664.12661call_made
  • Kleinschroth, F., Gourlet-Fleury S., Sist P., Gond V., and Healey J. R. (2016): Logging roads in tropical forests: Synthesis of literature written in French and English highlights environmental impact reduction through improved engineering. Bois et Forêts des Tropiques 328(2):13-26. https://doi.org/10.19182/bft2016.328.a31299call_made
  • Kleinschroth, F., Healey J. R., and Gourlet-Fleury S. (2016): Sparing forests in Central Africa: re-use old logging roads to avoid creating new ones. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 14(1):9-10. https://doi.org/10.1002/FEEKleinscrothletter.1call_made
  • Kleinschroth, F., Gourlet-Fleury, S., Sist, P., Mortier, F. and Healey, J.R. (2015): Legacy of logging roads in the Congo Basin: how persistent are the scars in forest cover? Ecosphere 6(4):64 http://dx.doi.org/10.1890/ES14-00488.1call_made
  • Kleinschroth, F., Schöning, C., Kung’u, J.B., Kowarik, I. and Cierjacks, A. (2013): Regeneration of the East African timber tree Ocotea usambarensis in relation to historical logging. Forest Ecology and Management 291: 396–403 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2012.11.021call_made
  • Cierjacks, A., Kleinschmit, B., Babinsky, M., Kleinschroth, F., Markert, A., Menzel, M., Ziechmann, U., Schiller, T., Graf, M. and Lang, F. (2010): Carbon stocks of soil and vegetation on Danubian floodplains. Journal of Plant Nutrition and Soil Science 173: 644-653
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