Prof Ben Strohbach

Associate Professor

Programme Coordinator - Master of Natural Resource Management

PI - SBAPP Project

Department of Natural Resource Sciences

Natural Resource

Email: bstrohbach@nust.na

Telephone:

+264 61 207 2183

Office Location:

Office Block, Office Number 126

Qualifications

PhD.: Veg. Ecol. (GER) (HAM)

M.Sc.: (Botany) (Potch.)

B.Sc.: (Hons) (Potch.)

Biography

Research interest:

My interests lie in vegetation- and landscape ecology, ranging from baseline studies to applied management options. I am leading the Vegetation Survey of Namibia project, specifically aiming at providing a baseline description of the natural vegetation of Namibia. This project covers a large variety of climatic zones, landscapes and ecosystems in Namibia. Vegetation description and mapping is done at large (regional or landscape) scale, as well as at local small-scale studies on particular farm and/or conservancies. A spin-off from this project is the mapping and description of the ecosystems of Namibia. In collaboration with colleagues from the Dept of Architecture as well as from the Gobabeb-Namib Research Institute we created a map of 194 terrestrial ecosystems and 24 freshwater and related ecosystems. This ecosystems map follows the Global Ecosystem Typology of the IUCN and has already been published. We are presently working on incorporating this map into the global Atlas of ecosystems. We are also in a process of describing these ecosystems in terms of their environmental and climatic characteristics, their dominant vegetation and their farming potential. In the process we are involving a multitude of experts on the various ecosystems as well as Citizen Science through the use of iNaturalist. We hope to publish the ecosystem descriptions within the next year.

Key publications:

Hüttich, C., Gessner, U., Herold, M., Strohbach, B. J., Schmidt, M., Keil, M., & Dech, S. (2009). On the Suitability of MODIS Time Series Metrics to Map Vegetation Types in Dry Savanna Ecosystems: A Case Study in the Kalahari of NE Namibia. Remote Sensing, 1(4), 620–643. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs1040620

Strohbach, B. J., & Jürgens, N. (2010). Towards a user-friendly vegetation map of Namibia: ground truthing approach to vegetation mapping. In U. Schmiedel & N. Jürgens (Eds.), Patterns and Processes at Regional Scale (Vol. 2, pp. 46–56). Göttingen & Windhoek: Klaus Hess Publishers.

Strohbach, B. J., & Jankowitz, W. J. (2012). Phytosociology of the Farm Haribes in the Nama-Karoo Biome of southern Namibia. Koedoe - African Protected Area Conservation and Science, 54(1), 8–20. http://dx.doi.org/10.4102/koedoe.v54i1.1038

Strohbach, B. J. (2013). Vegetation of the Okavango River valley in Kavango West, Namibia. Biodiversity & Ecology, 5, 321–339. https://doi.org/DOI: 10.7809/b-e.00286

Strohbach, B. J. (2014). Vegetation of the Eastern Communal Conservancies in Namibia: I. Phytosociological descriptions. Koedoe - African Protected Area Conservation and Science, 56(1).

Strohbach, B. J., & Kutuahuripa, J. T. (2014). Vegetation of the Eastern Communal Conservancies in Namibia: II. Environmental drivers. Koedoe - African Protected Area Conservation and Science, 56.

Strohbach, B. J., & Walters, H. J. A. (2015). An overview of grass species used for thatching in the Zambezi, Kavango East and Kavango West Regions, Namibia. Dinteria, 35, 13–42.

Strohbach, B. J., Ntesa, C., Kabajani, M., Shidolo, E. K., & D’Alton, C. D. (2015). Prosopis encroachment along the Fish River at Gibeon, Namibia. I. Habitat preferences, population densities and the effect on the environment. Dinteria, 35, 53–73.

Strohbach, B. J., Kabajani, M. W., Ntesa, C., Ndjamba, J., Shekunyenge, A., & Amutenya, J. U. (2015). Prosopis encroachment along the Fish River at Gibeon, Namibia. II. Harvestable wood biomass. Dinteria, 35, 74–87.

Strohbach, B. J. (2017). Vegetation of the Auas-Oanob Conservancy in the Khomas Hochland of Namibia. Namibian Journal of Environment, 1.

Oldeland, J., Große-Stoltenberg, A., Naftal, L., & Strohbach, B. J. (2017). The potential of UAV derived image features for discriminating savannah tree species. In R. Díaz-Delgado, R. Lucas, & C. Hurford (Eds.), The Roles of Remote Sensing in Nature Conservation (pp. 183–201). Springer International Publishing.

Strohbach, B. J. (2018). Determining the degree of deforestation in the Omusati Region, northern Namibia, with the aid of drone imagery. In R. Revermann, K. M. Krewenka, U. Schmiedel, J. M. Olwoch, J. Helmschrot, & N. Jürgens (Eds.), Climate Change and Adaptive Land Management in southern Africa (pp. 370–377). Göttingen & Windhoek: Klaus Hess Publishers.

Jürgens, N., Strohbach, B. J., Lages, F., Schmiedel, U., Finckh, M., Sichone, P., … Zigelski, P. (2018). Biodiversity observation – an overview of the current state and first results of biodiversity monitoring studies. In R. Revermann, K. M. Krewenka, U. Schmiedel, J. M. Olwoch, J. Helmschrot, & N. Jürgens (Eds.), Climate Change and Adaptive Land Management in southern Africa. Göttingen & Windhoek: Klaus Hess Publishers.

Knox, N., Strohbach, B. J., & De Cauwer, V. (2018). Potential use of 3D-derived products generated from unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) imagery for monitoring forest degradation and woodland structure changes in the Namibian dry woodlands. In R. Revermann, K. M. Krewenka, U. Schmiedel, J. M. Olwoch, J. Helmschrot, & N. Jürgens (Eds.), Climate Change and Adaptive Land Management in southern Africa (pp. 378–379). Göttingen & Windhoek: Klaus Hess Publishers.

Strohbach, B. J. (2018). Making more of vegetation classification results: A Livestock Farming Suitability Index as tool for Land-Use Planning in Namibia. Phytocoenologia, 48(1), 7–22. https://doi.org/10.1127/phyto/2017/0182

Strohbach, B. J., Hauptfleisch, M., Green-Chituti, A., & Diener, S. M. (2018). Determining rehabilitation effectiveness at the Otjikoto Gold Mine, Otjiozondjupa Region, Namibia, using high-resolution NIR aerial imagery. Namibia Journal of Environment, 2(A), 134–146. https://doi.org/10.64640/968v6p19

Strohbach, B. J., Adank, W. F., Coetzee, M. E., & Jankowitz, W. J. (2019). A baseline description of the vegetation and soils of Farm Klein Boesman, Khomas Region, Namibia. Namibian Journal of Environment, A, 3, 37–55. https://doi.org/10.64640/wgp8mz88

Strohbach, B. J. (2019). Vegetation of the Thornbush Savanna of central Namibia: Baseline description of the present vegetation at Farm Erichsfelde, Otjizondjupa Region. Namibia Journal of Environment, A, 3, 17–36. https://doi.org/10.64640/h3p66m17

Strohbach, B. J. (2021). A reconnaissance vegetation survey of the Khomas Hochland in western Namibia: Vegetation Descriptions. Bothalia - African Biodiversity & Conservation, 51(2). https://doi.org/10.38201/btha.abc.v51.i2.4

Treichel, C., Strohbach, B. J., Carr, S., Loots, S., & Neckel, A. (2021). Euryops walterorum, a declining restricted-range endemic of the Greater Gamsberg. Namibian Journal of Environment, 5(A), 25–38. https://doi.org/10.64640/1yn6bz32

Irob, K., Blaum, N., Baldauf, S., Kerger, L., Strohbach, B., Kanduvarisa, A., Lohmann, D., & Tietjen, B. (2022). Browsing herbivores improve the state and functioning of savannas: A model assessment of alternative land-use strategies. Ecology and Evolution, 12(3), e8715. https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.8715

Sabatini, F. M., Jiménez-Alfaro, B., Jandt, U., Chytrý, M., Field, R., Kessler, M., Lenoir, J., Schrodt, F., Wiser, S. K., Khan, M. A. S. A., Attorre11, F., Cayuela, L., De Sanctis11, M., Dengler, J., Haider, S., Hatim, M. Z., Indreica1, A., Jansen, F., Pauchard, A., … Bruelheide, H. (2022). Global patterns of vascular plant alpha diversity. Nature Communications. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-32063-z

Wildermuth, B., Oldeland, J., Arning, C., Gunter, F., Strohbach, B., & Jürgens, N. (2022). Spatial patterns and life histories of Macrotermes michaelseni termite mounds reflect intraspecific competition: Insights of a temporal comparison spanning 12 years. Ecography, 2022(9), e06306. https://doi.org/10.1111/ecog.06306

Strohbach, B. J., & Strohbach, M. M. (2023). A first syntaxonomic description of the vegetation of the Karstveld in Namibia. Vegetation Classification and Survey, 4, 241–284. https://doi.org/10.3897/VCS.99045

Strohbach, B., Strydom, E., Nesongano, W. C., Zimmerman, I., De Cauwer, V., & Coetzee, M. (2024). Assessment of the Impact of Bush Encroachment and Bush Control on Soil Organic Carbon in Namibia (p. 149). Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit. http://the-eis.com/elibrary/search/30970

Hähn, G. J. A., Damasceno, G., Alvarez-Davila, E., Aubin, I., Bauters, M., Bergmeier, E., Biurrun, I., Bjorkman, A. D., Bonari, G., Botta-Dukát, Z., Campos, J. A., Čarni, A., Chytrý, M., Ćušterevska, R., De Gasper, A. L., De Sanctis, M., Dengler, J., Dolezal, J., El-Sheikh, M. A., … Bruelheide, H. (2024). Global decoupling of functional and phylogenetic diversity in plant communities. Nature Ecology & Evolution, 8(12). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-024-02589-0

Loranty, M. M., Brown, M. B., Fennessy, J., Hauptfleisch, M., Marufu, V., Stabach, J. A., & Strohbach, B. (2025). Phenological Variation in Habitat Type Inferred from High-Resolution Satellite Imagery in a Diversely Managed Conservation Landscape. African Journal of Wildlife Research, 55(sp2). https://doi.org/10.3957/056.055.0364

Van der Waal, C., Dierkes, K., Strydom, E., Kruger, A., Thompson, S., & Strohbach, B. (2024). Review and Consolidation of Namibia’s Bush Thickening Maps (p. 34). Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism with the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit. http://the-eis.com/elibrary/search/30969

Naftal, L., De Cauwer, V., & Strohbach, B. J. (2024). Potential distribution of vegetation types under climate change scenarios along an aridity gradient in Namibia. Vegetation Classification and Survey, 5, 127–151. https://doi.org/10.3897/VCS.99050

Strohbach, B., Coetzee, M., Marais, E., & Maggs-Kölling, G. (2025). Ecosystems of Namibia Map vs4.0 [Dataset]. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/ZENODO.18057413

Member for

10 months

Prof Ben Strohbach

Associate Professor

Qualifications

Biography

Member for

About Namibia University of Science and Technology