Agroecology (2012 - ongoing)
I did my PhD and first PostDoc for the EFForTS project in the Agroecology group at the University of Göttingen under the supervision of Teja Tscharntke and later, also Ingo Grass and Catrin Westphal.
We sampled birds, bats and other soniferous animals across different land-use systems across the province of Jambi, Sumatra, Indonesia, mainly using acoustic recordings, to infer taxonomic and functional responses of animal communities to land use transformations in these tropical landscapes. Selected soundscape recordings are on ecoSound-web.
Data from exclusion experiments and diet analyses based on mist-netting samples unraveled the functional role of birds and bats, and we uncovered the economic importance of birds with a caged bird market survey in the city of Jambi.
From 2016 to 2019, I scientifically coordinated a multidisciplinary, large-scale oil palm management experiment (OPMX) to find ways to reduce the environmental footprint of plantations while maintaining profits.
Authored publications:
Darras, K., Corre, M.D., Formaglio, G., Tjoa, A., Potapov, A., Brambach, F., Sibhatu, K.T., Grass, I., Tscharntke, T., Angulo Rubiano, A., Buchori, D., Drescher, J., Fardiansah, R., Hölscher, D., Irawan, B., Kneib, T., Krashevska, V., Krause, A., Kreft, H., Li, K., Maraun, M., Polle, A., Ryadin, A.R., Rembold, K., Scheu, S., Tarigan, S., Valdés-Uribe, A., Yadi, S., Veldkamp, E., 2019. Reducing fertilizer and avoiding herbicides in oil palm plantations - ecological and economic valuations. Front. For. Glob. Change 2. https://doi.org/10.3389/ffgc.2019.00065
Paoletti, A. & Darras, K., Jayanto, H., Grass, I., Kusrini, M., Tscharntke, T., 2018. Amphibian and reptile communities of upland and riparian sites across Indonesian oil palm, rubber and forest. Global Ecology and Conservation 16, e00492. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gecco.2018.e00492
Darras, K., Rahman, D., Sugito, W., Mulyani, Y., Prawiradilaga, D., Rozali, A., Fitriawan, I., Tscharntke, T., 2018. Birds of primary and secondary forest and shrub habitats in the peat swamp of Berbak National Park, Sumatra. F1000Research 7, 229. https://doi.org/10.12688/f1000research.13996.2
Denmead, L.H. & Darras, K., Clough, Y., Diaz, P., Grass, I., Hoffmann, M.P., Nurdiansyah, F., Fardiansah, R., Tscharntke, T., 2017. The role of ants, birds and bats for ecosystem functions and yield in oil palm plantations. Ecology 98, 1945–1956. https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.1882
Prabowo, W.E. & Darras, K., Clough, Y., Toledo-Hernandez, M., Arlettaz, R., Mulyani, Y.A., Tscharntke, T., 2016. Bird Responses to Lowland Rainforest Conversion in Sumatran Smallholder Landscapes, Indonesia. PLOS ONE 11, e0154876. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0154876
We sampled birds, bats and other soniferous animals across different land-use systems across the province of Jambi, Sumatra, Indonesia, mainly using acoustic recordings, to infer taxonomic and functional responses of animal communities to land use transformations in these tropical landscapes. Selected soundscape recordings are on ecoSound-web.
Data from exclusion experiments and diet analyses based on mist-netting samples unraveled the functional role of birds and bats, and we uncovered the economic importance of birds with a caged bird market survey in the city of Jambi.
From 2016 to 2019, I scientifically coordinated a multidisciplinary, large-scale oil palm management experiment (OPMX) to find ways to reduce the environmental footprint of plantations while maintaining profits.
Authored publications:
Darras, K., Corre, M.D., Formaglio, G., Tjoa, A., Potapov, A., Brambach, F., Sibhatu, K.T., Grass, I., Tscharntke, T., Angulo Rubiano, A., Buchori, D., Drescher, J., Fardiansah, R., Hölscher, D., Irawan, B., Kneib, T., Krashevska, V., Krause, A., Kreft, H., Li, K., Maraun, M., Polle, A., Ryadin, A.R., Rembold, K., Scheu, S., Tarigan, S., Valdés-Uribe, A., Yadi, S., Veldkamp, E., 2019. Reducing fertilizer and avoiding herbicides in oil palm plantations - ecological and economic valuations. Front. For. Glob. Change 2. https://doi.org/10.3389/ffgc.2019.00065
Paoletti, A. & Darras, K., Jayanto, H., Grass, I., Kusrini, M., Tscharntke, T., 2018. Amphibian and reptile communities of upland and riparian sites across Indonesian oil palm, rubber and forest. Global Ecology and Conservation 16, e00492. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gecco.2018.e00492
Darras, K., Rahman, D., Sugito, W., Mulyani, Y., Prawiradilaga, D., Rozali, A., Fitriawan, I., Tscharntke, T., 2018. Birds of primary and secondary forest and shrub habitats in the peat swamp of Berbak National Park, Sumatra. F1000Research 7, 229. https://doi.org/10.12688/f1000research.13996.2
Denmead, L.H. & Darras, K., Clough, Y., Diaz, P., Grass, I., Hoffmann, M.P., Nurdiansyah, F., Fardiansah, R., Tscharntke, T., 2017. The role of ants, birds and bats for ecosystem functions and yield in oil palm plantations. Ecology 98, 1945–1956. https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.1882
Prabowo, W.E. & Darras, K., Clough, Y., Toledo-Hernandez, M., Arlettaz, R., Mulyani, Y.A., Tscharntke, T., 2016. Bird Responses to Lowland Rainforest Conversion in Sumatran Smallholder Landscapes, Indonesia. PLOS ONE 11, e0154876. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0154876
Co-authored publications:
Wenzel, A., Westphal, C., Ballauff, J., Berkelmann, D., Brambach, F., Buchori, D., Camarretta, N., Corre, M.D., Daniel, R., Darras, K., Erasmi, S., Formaglio, G., Hölscher, D., Iddris, N.A.-A., Irawan, B., Knohl, A., Kotowska, M.M., Krashevska, V., Kreft, H., Mulyani, Y., Mußhoff, O., Paterno, G.B., Polle, A., Potapov, A., Röll, A., Scheu, S., Schlund, M., Schneider, D., Sibhatu, K.T., Stiegler, C., Sundawati, L., Tjoa, A., Tscharntke, T., Veldkamp, E., Waite, P.-A., Wollni, M., Zemp, D.C., Grass, I., 2024. Balancing economic and ecological functions in smallholder and industrial oil palm plantations. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 121, e2307220121. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2307220121
Rasmussen, L.V., Grass, I., Mehrabi, Z., Smith, O.M., Bezner-Kerr, R., Blesh, J., Garibaldi, L.A., Isaac, M.E., Kennedy, C.M., Wittman, H., Batáry, P., Buchori, D., Cerda, R., Chará, J., Crowder, D.W., Darras, K., DeMaster, K., Garcia, K., Gómez, M., Gonthier, D., Hidayat, P., Hipólito, J., Hirons, M., Hoey, L., James, D., John, I., Jones, A.D., Karp, D.S., Kebede, Y., Kerr, C.B., Klassen, S., Kotowska, M., Kreft, H., Llanque, R., Levers, C., Lizcano, D.J., Lu, A., Madsen, S., Marques, R.N., Martins, P.B., Melo, A., Nyantakyi-Frimpong, H., Olimpi, E.M., Owen, J.P., Pantevez, H., Qaim, M., Redlich, S., Scherber, C., Sciligo, A.R., Snapp, S., Snyder, W.E., Steffan-Dewenter, I., Stratton, A.E., Taylor, J.M., Tscharntke, T., Valencia, V., Vogel, C., Kremen, C., 2024. Joint environmental and social benefits from diversified agriculture. Science 384, 87–93. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adj1914
Zemp, D.C., Guerrero-Ramirez, N., Brambach, F., Darras, K., Grass, I., Potapov, A., Röll, A., Arimond, I., Ballauff, J., Behling, H., Berkelmann, D., Biagioni, S., Buchori, D., Craven, D., Daniel, R., Gailing, O., Ellsäßer, F., Fardiansah, R., Hennings, N., Irawan, B., Khokthong, W., Krashevska, V., Krause, A., Kückes, J., Li, K., Lorenz, H., Maraun, M., Merk, M.S., Moura, C.C.M., Mulyani, Y.A., Paterno, G.B., Pebrianti, H.D., Polle, A., Prameswari, D.A., Sachsenmaier, L., Scheu, S., Schneider, D., Setiajiati, F., Setyaningsih, C.A., Sundawati, L., Tscharntke, T., Wollni, M., Hölscher, D., Kreft, H., 2023. Tree islands enhance biodiversity and functioning in oil palm landscapes. Nature 1–6. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-023-06086-5
Potapov, A.M., Drescher, J., Darras, K., Wenzel, A., Janotta, N., Nazarreta, R., Kasmiatun, Laurent, V., Mawan, A., Utari, E.H., Pollierer, M.M., Rembold, K., Widyastuti, R., Buchori, D., Hidayat, P., Turner, E., Grass, I., Westphal, C., Tscharntke, T., Scheu, S., 2024. Rainforest transformation reallocates energy from green to brown food webs. Nature. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-024-07083-y
Iddris, N.A.-A., Formaglio, G., Paul, C., von Groß, V., Chen, G., Angulo-Rubiano, A., Berkelmann, D., Brambach, F., Darras, K.F.A., Krashevska, V., Potapov, A., Wenzel, A., Irawan, B., Damris, M., Daniel, R., Grass, I., Kreft, H., Scheu, S., Tscharntke, T., Tjoa, A., Veldkamp, E., Corre, M.D., 2023. Mechanical weeding enhances ecosystem multifunctionality and profit in industrial oil palm. Nat Sustain 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-023-01076-x
Krings, C.H., Darras, K., Hass, A., Batáry, P., Fabian, Y., 2022. Not only hedgerows, but also flower fields can enhance bat activity in intensively used agricultural landscapes. Basic and Applied Ecology. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.baae.2022.05.00
Grass, I., et al., 2020. Trade-offs between multifunctionality and profit in tropical smallholder landscapes. Nat Commun 11, 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-15013-5
Krishna, V.V., Darras, K., Grass, I., Mulyani, Y.A., Prawiradilaga, D.M., Tscharntke, T., Qaim, M., 2019. Wildlife trade and consumer preference for species rarity: an examination of caged-bird markets in Sumatra. Envir. Dev. Econ. 1–22. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1355770X19000081
Janra, M.N. et al., 2018. Knemidokoptiasis in a Wild Bird, the Little Spiderhunter (Arachnothera longirostra cinireicollis), in Sumatra, Indonesia. Journal of Wildlife Diseases. https://doi.org/10.7589/2018-02-054
Barnes, A.D. et al., 2017. Direct and cascading impacts of tropical land-use change on multi-trophic biodiversity. Nature Ecology & Evolution. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-017-0275-7
Clough, Y. et al., 2016. Land-use choices follow profitability at the expense of ecological functions in Indonesian smallholder landscapes. Nature Communications 7, 13137. https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms13137
Dislich, C. et al., 2017. A review of the ecosystem functions in oil palm plantations, using forests as a reference system. Biol Rev 92, 1539–1569. https://doi.org/10.1111/brv.12295
Maas, B. et al., 2016. Bird and bat predation services in tropical forests and agroforestry landscapes. Biol Rev 91, 1081–1101. https://doi.org/10.1111/brv.12211
Student supervision:
PhD theses:
Drivers in the context of agri-environmental measures and their interacting ecological effects on bird activity, species richness, and pollinating insects, Isabelle Arimond, University of Göttingen
MSc theses:
Tree biodiversity enrichment and its effects on bat activity and diversity in oil palm plantations in Indonesia, Natalia M. Parra Rojas, University of Göttingen
Bird diversity benefits from large and diverse tree islands but not mechanical weeding within an oil palm landscape in Sumatra, Andres Angulo Rubiano, University of Göttingen
Assessment of bats and nocturnal insects in flower fields and hedgerows - effects of landscape management, Celina Herrera Krings, University of Göttingen
An analysis of herpetofaunal communities of the densely farmed Jambi province, Indonesia, Alessio Paoletti, University of Groningen
Bat reference collection of alarm and echolocation calls, Eka Sulpin Ariyanti, University of Lampung
Influence of tropical lowland rainforest transformation systems on the community, trophic and genetic structure of bats in Jambi, Sumatra, Neil Jun Lobite, University of Manila
Dietary and functional analysis of birds in transformation systems of Jambi, Sumatra, Indonesia, Arite Hildebrandt, University of Göttingen
The bird community response to different land-uses in Jambi, Sumatra, Indonesia, Edho Walesa Prabowo, University of Bern
BSc theses:
Acoustic survey of bat communities in rainforest transformation systems of Jambi, Indonesia, Thibaud Fabrice Glaesener, University of Göttingen
Rat diversity in mature and young oil palm plantations, Mustaem, Universitas Jambi
Wenzel, A., Westphal, C., Ballauff, J., Berkelmann, D., Brambach, F., Buchori, D., Camarretta, N., Corre, M.D., Daniel, R., Darras, K., Erasmi, S., Formaglio, G., Hölscher, D., Iddris, N.A.-A., Irawan, B., Knohl, A., Kotowska, M.M., Krashevska, V., Kreft, H., Mulyani, Y., Mußhoff, O., Paterno, G.B., Polle, A., Potapov, A., Röll, A., Scheu, S., Schlund, M., Schneider, D., Sibhatu, K.T., Stiegler, C., Sundawati, L., Tjoa, A., Tscharntke, T., Veldkamp, E., Waite, P.-A., Wollni, M., Zemp, D.C., Grass, I., 2024. Balancing economic and ecological functions in smallholder and industrial oil palm plantations. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 121, e2307220121. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2307220121
Rasmussen, L.V., Grass, I., Mehrabi, Z., Smith, O.M., Bezner-Kerr, R., Blesh, J., Garibaldi, L.A., Isaac, M.E., Kennedy, C.M., Wittman, H., Batáry, P., Buchori, D., Cerda, R., Chará, J., Crowder, D.W., Darras, K., DeMaster, K., Garcia, K., Gómez, M., Gonthier, D., Hidayat, P., Hipólito, J., Hirons, M., Hoey, L., James, D., John, I., Jones, A.D., Karp, D.S., Kebede, Y., Kerr, C.B., Klassen, S., Kotowska, M., Kreft, H., Llanque, R., Levers, C., Lizcano, D.J., Lu, A., Madsen, S., Marques, R.N., Martins, P.B., Melo, A., Nyantakyi-Frimpong, H., Olimpi, E.M., Owen, J.P., Pantevez, H., Qaim, M., Redlich, S., Scherber, C., Sciligo, A.R., Snapp, S., Snyder, W.E., Steffan-Dewenter, I., Stratton, A.E., Taylor, J.M., Tscharntke, T., Valencia, V., Vogel, C., Kremen, C., 2024. Joint environmental and social benefits from diversified agriculture. Science 384, 87–93. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adj1914
Zemp, D.C., Guerrero-Ramirez, N., Brambach, F., Darras, K., Grass, I., Potapov, A., Röll, A., Arimond, I., Ballauff, J., Behling, H., Berkelmann, D., Biagioni, S., Buchori, D., Craven, D., Daniel, R., Gailing, O., Ellsäßer, F., Fardiansah, R., Hennings, N., Irawan, B., Khokthong, W., Krashevska, V., Krause, A., Kückes, J., Li, K., Lorenz, H., Maraun, M., Merk, M.S., Moura, C.C.M., Mulyani, Y.A., Paterno, G.B., Pebrianti, H.D., Polle, A., Prameswari, D.A., Sachsenmaier, L., Scheu, S., Schneider, D., Setiajiati, F., Setyaningsih, C.A., Sundawati, L., Tscharntke, T., Wollni, M., Hölscher, D., Kreft, H., 2023. Tree islands enhance biodiversity and functioning in oil palm landscapes. Nature 1–6. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-023-06086-5
Potapov, A.M., Drescher, J., Darras, K., Wenzel, A., Janotta, N., Nazarreta, R., Kasmiatun, Laurent, V., Mawan, A., Utari, E.H., Pollierer, M.M., Rembold, K., Widyastuti, R., Buchori, D., Hidayat, P., Turner, E., Grass, I., Westphal, C., Tscharntke, T., Scheu, S., 2024. Rainforest transformation reallocates energy from green to brown food webs. Nature. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-024-07083-y
Iddris, N.A.-A., Formaglio, G., Paul, C., von Groß, V., Chen, G., Angulo-Rubiano, A., Berkelmann, D., Brambach, F., Darras, K.F.A., Krashevska, V., Potapov, A., Wenzel, A., Irawan, B., Damris, M., Daniel, R., Grass, I., Kreft, H., Scheu, S., Tscharntke, T., Tjoa, A., Veldkamp, E., Corre, M.D., 2023. Mechanical weeding enhances ecosystem multifunctionality and profit in industrial oil palm. Nat Sustain 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-023-01076-x
Krings, C.H., Darras, K., Hass, A., Batáry, P., Fabian, Y., 2022. Not only hedgerows, but also flower fields can enhance bat activity in intensively used agricultural landscapes. Basic and Applied Ecology. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.baae.2022.05.00
Grass, I., et al., 2020. Trade-offs between multifunctionality and profit in tropical smallholder landscapes. Nat Commun 11, 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-15013-5
Krishna, V.V., Darras, K., Grass, I., Mulyani, Y.A., Prawiradilaga, D.M., Tscharntke, T., Qaim, M., 2019. Wildlife trade and consumer preference for species rarity: an examination of caged-bird markets in Sumatra. Envir. Dev. Econ. 1–22. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1355770X19000081
Janra, M.N. et al., 2018. Knemidokoptiasis in a Wild Bird, the Little Spiderhunter (Arachnothera longirostra cinireicollis), in Sumatra, Indonesia. Journal of Wildlife Diseases. https://doi.org/10.7589/2018-02-054
Barnes, A.D. et al., 2017. Direct and cascading impacts of tropical land-use change on multi-trophic biodiversity. Nature Ecology & Evolution. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-017-0275-7
Clough, Y. et al., 2016. Land-use choices follow profitability at the expense of ecological functions in Indonesian smallholder landscapes. Nature Communications 7, 13137. https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms13137
Dislich, C. et al., 2017. A review of the ecosystem functions in oil palm plantations, using forests as a reference system. Biol Rev 92, 1539–1569. https://doi.org/10.1111/brv.12295
Maas, B. et al., 2016. Bird and bat predation services in tropical forests and agroforestry landscapes. Biol Rev 91, 1081–1101. https://doi.org/10.1111/brv.12211
Student supervision:
PhD theses:
Drivers in the context of agri-environmental measures and their interacting ecological effects on bird activity, species richness, and pollinating insects, Isabelle Arimond, University of Göttingen
MSc theses:
Tree biodiversity enrichment and its effects on bat activity and diversity in oil palm plantations in Indonesia, Natalia M. Parra Rojas, University of Göttingen
Bird diversity benefits from large and diverse tree islands but not mechanical weeding within an oil palm landscape in Sumatra, Andres Angulo Rubiano, University of Göttingen
Assessment of bats and nocturnal insects in flower fields and hedgerows - effects of landscape management, Celina Herrera Krings, University of Göttingen
An analysis of herpetofaunal communities of the densely farmed Jambi province, Indonesia, Alessio Paoletti, University of Groningen
Bat reference collection of alarm and echolocation calls, Eka Sulpin Ariyanti, University of Lampung
Influence of tropical lowland rainforest transformation systems on the community, trophic and genetic structure of bats in Jambi, Sumatra, Neil Jun Lobite, University of Manila
Dietary and functional analysis of birds in transformation systems of Jambi, Sumatra, Indonesia, Arite Hildebrandt, University of Göttingen
The bird community response to different land-uses in Jambi, Sumatra, Indonesia, Edho Walesa Prabowo, University of Bern
BSc theses:
Acoustic survey of bat communities in rainforest transformation systems of Jambi, Indonesia, Thibaud Fabrice Glaesener, University of Göttingen
Rat diversity in mature and young oil palm plantations, Mustaem, Universitas Jambi
Ecosystem Services (2010 - 2014)
During my second master project, I worked with Dr. Thomas Cherico Wanger to assess the worldwide provision of ecosystem services by bats. I was then hired as research assistant in the Agroecology group to complete the data assignment of our bigger Mammals and EcoSystem Services (MESS) project.
Authored publication:
Wanger, T.C. & Darras, K., Bumrungsri, S., Tscharntke, T., Klein, A.-M., 2014. Bat pest control contributes to food security in Thailand. Biological Conservation 171, 220–223. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2014.01.030
Authored publication:
Wanger, T.C. & Darras, K., Bumrungsri, S., Tscharntke, T., Klein, A.-M., 2014. Bat pest control contributes to food security in Thailand. Biological Conservation 171, 220–223. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2014.01.030
Community Ecology (2008 - 2011)
During my first master project, I worked in the STORMA project with Yann Clough. I assessed diversity patterns of nymphalid butterflies in cacao plantations of Central Sulawesi, Indonesia. Using sets of biotic and abiotic data, I found that the abundance of most taxa had specific environmental determinants, stressing the need to preserve varied habitats in the landscape to protect butterfly beta-diversity.
Co-authored publications:
Clough et al., Biodiversity Patterns and Trophic Interactions in Human-dominated Tropical Landscapes in Sulawesi (Indonesia): Plants, Arthropods and Vertebrates, in Tropical Rainforests and Agroforests Under Global Change, ed. Teja Tscharntke et al. (Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer Berlin Heidelberg, 2010), 15–71, http://www.springerlink.com/content/n170513v62968603/.
Clough et al., Combining High Biodiversity with High Yields in Tropical Agroforests, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (May 2, 2011), http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2011/04/27/1016799108.abstract.
Co-authored publications:
Clough et al., Biodiversity Patterns and Trophic Interactions in Human-dominated Tropical Landscapes in Sulawesi (Indonesia): Plants, Arthropods and Vertebrates, in Tropical Rainforests and Agroforests Under Global Change, ed. Teja Tscharntke et al. (Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer Berlin Heidelberg, 2010), 15–71, http://www.springerlink.com/content/n170513v62968603/.
Clough et al., Combining High Biodiversity with High Yields in Tropical Agroforests, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (May 2, 2011), http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2011/04/27/1016799108.abstract.
