Dr. Carsten Lemmen
Research
My research is embedded in the programme-oriented funding structure of the Helmholtz-Association in the Earth and Environment programme and the topic 4 "Coastal Transition Zones under Natural and Human Pressures". Within their subtopic 4.2 "Coastal systems sustainability against the backdrop of natural and anthropogenic drivers" I focus on:
- Adaptive Trait-Based Modeling of phytoplankton, macrozoobenthos and past societies. Mechanistic and heuristic formulation of aggregate processes in these different social and ecological systems.
- Integration of Adaptive Trait Based models and other ecosystem process models into Earth System Models using the Framework for Aquatic Biogeochemical Models (FABM).
- Modular coupling of Earth System component models, especially with the Earth System Modeling Framework (ESMF) and following Good Modeling Practises
- Behavioural changes in coastal fisheries
Network
I advise in the national KDM Multiuse strategy group on offshore wind and ecosystem modeling; I develop models and perform simulations on the river Elbe in the Helmholtz innovation pool AGRIO and the ElbeXtreme DAM mission. With U.S. partners, I contribute coupling infrastructure to biogeochemistry and the next-generation hurricane forecasting model at NOAA. Advocating for good modeling practises and standards is part of my work for the global Open Modeling Foundation.
Media
Research
Since 2007 Senior researcher at the Institute of Coastal Systems Analysis and Modeling, Helmholtz-Zentrum Hereon, Germany. Researcher in ancient socio-environmental interaction modeling. Project management, software development.
Since 2012 Archaeosociomodeling consultant at C.L. Science Consult, Lüneburg
2006-2007 PostDoc at the Copernicus Institute for Sustainable Development, Utrecht University, The Netherlands.. Software development and project management.
2005-2006 PostDoc at the Institute for Chemistry and Dynamics of the Geosphere, Forschungszentrum Jülich, Germany. Investigation of chemistry-climate interactions, chemistry-climate modelling and numerical model development, software release and licensing.
2001 Junior researcher at the Institute for Southern Ocean Studies, University of Tasmania, Australia. Research on “Stable states in a Southern Ocean food web model under a changing climate."
Education
2005 PhD (Dr. rer. nat.) in atmospheric physics awarded by Bergisch University Wuppertal, Germany
2002-2005 PhD student at the Institute for Chemistry and Dynamics of the Geosphere, Forschungszentrum Jülich, Germany
2001 Dipl. Environmental Scientist, Carl-von-Ossietzky University Oldenburg, Germany
1996-2001 Studies of Marine environmental sciences at Carl-von-Ossietzky University Oldenburg, Germany
Teaching
Since 2012 Experimental physics, Leuphana University Lüneburg
Since 2014 Ecosystem Modeling, Leuphana University Lüneburg
2014-2019 Physics didactics, Leuphana University Lüneburg
2011 Ecosystems in Global change, Leuphana University Lüneburg
2010/2011 Model systems in Global Change research, Leuphana University Lüneburg
2009 Umwelt- und Landschaftsgeschichte, Zurich University
2007-2009 Biogeochemical cycles, Christian-Albrechts-Unversity Kiel
Statistics (Jan 2025) Hirsch-Index 21, 2632 citations to 52 cited papers; 100+ oral and poster contributions.
- Ismael Kherroubi Garcia , Christopher Erdmann, Sandra Gesing, Michael Barton, Lauren Cadwallader, Geerten Hengeveld, Christine R. Kirkpatrick, Kathryn Knight, Carsten Lemmen, Rebecca Ringuette, Qing Zhan, Melissa Harrison, Feilim Mac Gabhann, Natalie Meyers, Cailean Osborne, Charlotte Till, Paul Brenner, Matt Buys, Min Chen, Allen Lee, Jason Papin, Yuhan Rao (2025) Ten simple rules for good model-sharing practices. PLoS Comput Biol 21(1): e1012702. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1012702
- Krishna S, Lemmen, C, Örey S, Rehren J, Pane J D, Mathis M, Püts M, Hokamp S, Pradhan H K, Hasenbein M, Scheffran J and Wirtz K W (2025) Interactive effects of multiple stressors in coastal ecosystems. Front. Mar. Sci. 11:1481734. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2024.1481734
- Wirtz, K. W., Antunes, N., Diachenko, A., Laabs, J., Lemmen, C., Lohmann, G., McLaughlin, R., Zorita, E., & Gronenborn, D. (2024). Multicentennial cycles in continental demography synchronous with solar activity and climate stability. Nature Communications, 15(1). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-54474-w
- Lemmen, C., Hokamp, S., Örey, S., & Scheffran, J. (2024): Viable North Sea (ViNoS): A NetLogo Agent-based Model of German Small-scale Fisheries. Journal of Open Source Software, 9(95), 5731, doi:10.21105/joss.05731
- Lemmen, C., & Sommer, P.S. (2024): Good modelling software practices. Ecological Modelling, Vol 498, 110890, doi:10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2024.110890
- Wirtz, K. W., Hofmeister, R., Klingbeil, K., & Lemmen, C. (2024). MOSSCO Southern North Sea coastal gradient bentho-pelagic ecosystem simulation 2000-2012. World Data Center for Climate (WDCC) at DKRZ. doi:10.26050/WDCC/MOSSCO_grad2000-2011
- Wirtz, K. W., Hofmeister, R., Klingbeil, K., & Lemmen, C. (2024). MOSSCO Southern North Sea Long-term bentho-pelagic ecosystem simulation 1961-2012. World Data Center for Climate (WDCC) at DKRZ. doi:10.26050/WDCC/MOSSCO_sim1961-2012
- Martin, A.P., Dominguez, A.B., Baker, C.A., Baumas, C.M.J., Bisson, K.M., Cavan, E., Freilich, M., Galbraith, E., Galí, M., Henson, S., Kvale, K.F., Lemmen, C., Luo, J.Y., McMonagle, H., de Melo Viríssimo, F., Möller, K.O., Richon, C., Suresh, I., Wilson, J.D., Woodstock, M.S., & Yool, A. (2024): When to add a new process to a model – and when not: A marine biogeochemical perspective. Ecological Modelling, Vol 498, 110870, doi:10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2024.110870
- Stelzenmüller, V., Rehren, J., Örey, S., Lemmen, C., Krishna, S., Hasenbein, M., Püts, M., Probst, W. N., Diekmann, R., Scheffran, J., Bos, O. G., & Wirtz, K. (2024). Framing future trajectories of human activities in the German North Sea to inform cumulative effects assessments and marine spatial planning. Journal of Environmental Management, 349. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2023.119507
- Wirtz, K. W., Hofmeister, R., Klingbeil, K., & Lemmen, C. (2024). MOSSCO Southern North Sea coastal gradient bentho-pelagic ecosystem simulation 2000-2012. World Data Center for Climate (WDCC) at DKRZ. https://doi.org/10.26050/WDCC/MOSSCO_grad2000-2011
- Wirtz, K. W., Hofmeister, R., Klingbeil, K., & Lemmen, C. (2024). MOSSCO Southern North Sea Long-term bentho-pelagic ecosystem simulation 1961-2012. World Data Center for Climate (WDCC) at DKRZ. https://doi.org/10.26050/WDCC/MOSSCO_sim1961-2012
- Lemmen, C., & Gronenborn, D. (2023): The Diffusion of People and Cultures in the Course of the Spread of Farming. In: Bunde, A., Caro, J., Chmelik, C., Kärger, J., & Vogl, G. (eds): Diffusive Spreading in Nature, Technology and Society. Springer, Cham., doi:10.1007/978-3-031-05946-9_17
- Lemmen, C., Hokamp, S., Örey, S., Scheffran, J., Seo, J., & Probst, W. N. (2023). Viable North Sea (ViNoS) (Software, version 1.0.0). Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7928200
- Bellou, N., Gambardella, C., Karantzalos, K., Gama Monteiro, J., Canning-Clode, J., Kemna, S., Arrieta-Giron, C.A., & Lemmen, C. (2021): Global assessment of innovative solutions to tackle marine litter. Nat Sustain 4, 516–524, doi:10.1038/s41893-021-00726-2
- Xu X, Lemmen C and Wirtz KW (2020) Less Nutrients but More Phytoplankton: Long-Term Ecosystem Dynamics of the Southern North Sea. Front. Mar. Sci. 7:662. doi:10.3389/fmars.2020.00662
- Feurdean, A., Vannière, B., Finsinger, W., Warren, D., Connor, S.C., Forrest, M., Liakka, J., Panait, A., Werner, C., Andrič, M., Bobek, P., Carter, V.A., Davis, B., Diaconu, A.-C., Dietze, E., Feeser, I., Florescu, G., Gałka, M., Giesecke, T., Jahns, S., Jamrichová, E., Kajukało, K., Kaplan, J., Karpińska-Kołaczek, M., Kołaczek, P., Kuneš, P., Kupriyanov, D., Lamentowicz, M., Lemmen, C., Magyari, E.K., Marcisz, K., Marinova, E., Niamir, A., Novenko, E., Obremska, M., Pędziszewska, A., Pfeiffer, M., Poska, A., Rösch, M., Słowiński, M., Stančikaitė, M., Szal, M., Święta-Musznicka, J., Tanţău, I., Theuerkauf, M., Tonkov, S., Valkó, O., Vassiljev, J., Veski, S., Vincze, I., Wacnik, A., Wiethold, J., & Hickler, T. (2020): Fire hazard modulation by long-term dynamics in land cover and dominant forest type in eastern and central Europe. Biogeosciences, 17, 1213–1230, doi:10.5194/bg-17-1213-2020
- Lemmen, C. (2018): North Sea ecosystem-scale model-based quantification of net primary productivity changes by the benthic filter feeder <i>Mytilus edulis</i>, Water, 10(11), 1527 doi:10.3390/w10111527
- Lemmen, C. (2018): Simulated net primary productivity (NPP) in the southern North Sea 2003-2013 for a simulation with and without consideration of benthic filtration by Mytilus edulis. PANGAEA, doi:10.1594/PANGAEA.892274
- Slavik, K., Lemmen, C., Zhang, W., Kerimoglu, O., Klingbeil, K., Wirtz, K.W. (2018): The large scale impact of offshore windfarm structures on pelagic primary production in the southern North Sea. Hydrobiologia, pp 1–19, doi:10.1007/s10750-018-3653-5
- Lemmen, C., Hofmeister, R., Klingbeil, K., Nasermoaddeli, M. H., Kerimoglu, O., Burchard, H., Kösters, F., and Wirtz, K. W. (2018): Modular System for Shelves and Coasts (MOSSCO v1.0) – a flexible and multi-component framework for coupled coastal ocean ecosystem modelling, Geosci. Model Dev., https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-2017-138
- C. Lemmen and D. Gronenborn (2018): The Diffusion of Humans and Cultures in the Course of the Spread of Farming. Chapter 19 in: Diffusive Spreading in Nature, Technology and Society. A. Bunde, J. Caro, J. Kärger, G. Vogl (Eds.). Springer Fundamentals, 333-349, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-67798-9_17
- Robinson, D. T., Di Vittorio, A., Alexander, P., Arneth, A., Barton, C. M., Brown, D. G., Kettner, A., Lemmen, C., O'Neill, B. C., Janssen, M., Pugh, T. A. M., Rabin, S. S., Rounsevell, M., Syvitski, J. P., Ullah, I., and Verburg, P. H. (2018): Modelling feedbacks between human and natural processes in the land system, accepted for Earth Syst. Dynam., 2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-2017-68
- Gronenborn, D., Strien, H.C., Lemmen, C.: Population Dynamics, Social Resilience Strategies, and Adaptive Cycles in Early Farming Societies of SW Central Europe, Quaternary International (2017), 446, 54-65, doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2017.01.018
- C. Lemmen, R. Hofmeister, K. Klingbeil, M.H. Nasermoaddeli (2017): Modular System for Shelves and Coasts (MOSSCO v1.0.1), Open source software, doi:10.5281/zenodo.806770
- Nasermoaddeli, M. H., Lemmen, C., Stigge, G, Kerimoglu, O, Burchard, H, Klingbeil, K., Hofmeister, R., Kreus, M., Wirtz, K. W. and Kösters, F., (2017): A model study on the large-scale effect of macrofauna on the suspended sediment concentration in a shallow shelf sea Estuarine, Coastal, Shelf Science, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecss.2017.11.002
- Lemmen, C. (2016): Menschgemachter Klimawandel schon vor 3000 Jahren? Das frühe Anthropozän. In: Busch, R. “Die erste Geesthachterin und ihre Zeit — neue Indizien und Erkenntnisse nach 3.000 Jahren. Die Frau aus dem Totenhaus von Grünhof-Tesperhude”, GeesthachtMuseum!, 35–47
- Vannière, B., Blarquez, O., Rius, D., Doyen, E., Brücher, T., Colombaroli D., Connor S., Feurdean A., Hickler T., Lemmen C., Leys B., Massa C., Olofsson J. (2016): 7000-year human legacy of elevation-dependent European fire regimes. Quat. Science Rev. 132, 206–212, doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2015.11.012
- W. F. Ruddiman, D. Q. Fuller, J. E. Kutzbach, P. C. Tzedakis, J. O. Kaplan, E. C. Ellis, S. J. Vavrus, C. N. Roberts, R. Fyfe, F. He, C. Lemmen, J. Woodbridge (2016): Late Holocene climate: natural or anthropogenic? Rev. Geophys., 54(1), 93-118 doi:10.1002/2015RG000503
- C. Lemmen (2015): Cultural and Demic Diffusion of First Farmers, Herders, and their Innovations Across Eurasia. Documenta Praehistorica 42, 93–102, doi:10.4312/dp.42.5
- Janssen, Annette B.G., C. Lemmen et al. (2015): Exploring, exploiting and evolving diversity of aquatic ecosystem models: a community perspective, Aquatic Ecology 49 (4), 513–548, doi:10.1007/s10452-015- 9544-1
- C. Lemmen (2015): Gradient adaptive dynamics describes innovation and resilience at the society scale. Chap- ter 22, 405–415, in: “Mathematics in Archaeology”, edited by J.A. Barcelo, Taylor & Francis, doi:10.1201/b18530-26
- C. Lemmen, K. Haberkorn, R. Blender, K. Fraedrich, and K. W. Wirtz (2015): Global Land Use and technological Evolution Simulations to Quantify Interactions between Climate and Pre-industrial Cultures, in: Integrated Analysis of Interglacial Climate Dynamics, edited by M. Schulz and A. Paul., 103–108, Springer, doi:10.1007/978-3-319-00693-2_17
- R. Hofmeister, C. Lemmen, O. Kerimoglu & K. Wirtz, M.H. Nasermoaddeli (2014) The Predominant Processes Controlling Vertical Nutrient and Suspended Matter Fluxes across Domains - Using the New MOSSCO System from Coastal Sea Sediments up to the Atmosphere. In: Proc. Int. Conference on Hydroengineering, ed. Lehfeldt & Kopmann, Bundesanstalt für Wasserbau, Hamburg, pp 890-896
- Lemmen, C. (2014): Boserup and Malthus at work in a global model of the transitions to agriculture. In: Ester Boserup’s Legacy on Sustainability: Orientations for Contemporary Research, Chapter 6, edited by M. Fischer-Kowalski, Springer, Vienna, Austria doi:10.1007/978-94-017-8678-2_6
- Lemmen, C. and K. W. Wirtz (2014): On the sensitivity of the simulated Neolithic transition in Europe to climate extremes. J. Archeol. Sci. 51, 65-72 doi:10.1016/j.jas.2012.10.023
- M. H. Nasermoaddeli, F. Kösters, C. Lemmen, K.W. Wirtz (2014): First Results of Modelling Benthos Influence on Sediment Entrainment Using a Generic Approach within the MOSSCO Framework, In: Proc. Int. Conference on Hydroengineering, ed. Lehfeldt & Kopmann, Bundesanstalt für Wasserbau, Hamburg
- Lemmen, C. (2013), Different mechanisms shaped the transition to farming in Europe and the North American Woodland. Archaeol. Ethnogr. Anthropol. Eurasia 41 (3), also published in Russian language in volume 35 (3), pp 48–58, doi:10.1016/j.aeae.2014.03.007
- Lemmen, C., and A. Khan (2012): A simulation of the Neolithic transition in the Indus Valley, In: Climates, Landscapes, and Civilizations, edited by L. Giosan et al., Geophys. Monogr. Ser. 198, 107–114, AGU, Washington, doi:10.1029/2012GM001217
- Kaplan, J.O., K.M. Krumhardt, E.C. Ellis, W.F. Ruddiman, C. Lemmen and K. Klein-Goldewijk (2011): Holocene carbon emissions as a result of anthropogenic land cover change, Holocene 21 (5), 775–791, doi:10.1177/0959683610386983
- Lemmen, C., D. Gronenborn and K.W. Wirtz (2011): A simulation of the Neolithic transition in Western Eurasia. J. Archaeol. Sci. 38, 3459–3470, doi:10.1016/j.jas.2011.08.008
- Gaillard, M.-J., S. Sugita, F. Mazier, A.-K. Trondman, A. Broström, T. Hickler, J.O. Kaplan, E. Kjellström, U. Kokfelt, P. Kuneš, C.Lemmen, P. Miller J. Olofsson, A. Poska, M. Rundgren, B. Smith, G. Strandberg, R. Fyfe, A.B. Nielsen, T. Alenius, L. Balakauskas, L. Barnekow, H.J.B. Birks, A. Bjune, L. Björkman, T. Giesecke, K. Hjelle, L. Kalnina, M. Kangur, W.O. van der Knaap, T. Koff, P. Lagerås, M. Latlałowa, M. Leydet, J. Lechterbeck, M. Lindbladh, B. Odgaard, S. Peglar, U. Segerström, H. Stedingk and H. Seppä (2010): Holocene land-cover reconstructions for studies on land cover-climate feedbacks. Clim. Past 6 (4), 483–499, doi:10.5194/cp-6-483-2010
- Lemmen, C. and K. W. Wirtz (2010): Socio-technological revolutions and migration waves re-examining early world history with a mathematical model. In: The Spread of the Neolithic to Central Europe, D. Gronenborn and J. Petrasch (Ed.), RGZM Tagungen, 2010
- Lemmen, C. (2010): World distribution of land cover changes during Pre- and Protohistoric Times and estimation of induced carbon releases. Géomorphologie : relief, processus, environnement, 2009 (4), 303-312, doi:10.4000/geomorphologie.7756
- Wirtz,K., K. Bernhardt, G .Lohmann and C. Lemmen (2010): Mid-Holoceneregional reorganization of climate variability: Analyses of proxy data in the frequency domain. Palaeogeogr. Palaeoclimatol. Palaeoecol. 298 (3–4), 189–200, doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2010.09.019