Michael Strauch

Dr. Michael Strauch is a researcher at the Department of Computational Landscape Ecology, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research – UFZ, Leipzig, Germany. He specializes in integrated process-based watershed modeling and multi-objective optimization of land-use allocation, focusing on the impacts of land use intensity, landscape composition, and configuration on water-related ecosystem services, agricultural production, and biodiversity. His work involves coupling simulation models with heuristic search algorithms using the generic model integration tool CoMOLA and advancing the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT).

• Key Research Areas:
  • Trade-offs and synergies among ecosystem services
  • Stakeholder-driven land use strategies
  • Climate change adaptation in water resources
  • SWAT+/CoMOLA tool development

Recent publications highlight his contributions to optimizing agri-environmental practices (2025), addressing soil data gaps in European catchments (2024), and modeling climate-deforestation impacts in Amazonia (2025). His work spans projects like BiodivERsA TALE and OPTAIN, with a focus on multifunctional agricultural landscapes.