In particular, ZALF explores problems regarding: the role of agricultural landscapes in climate change (adaptation and mitigation), heightened region-specific land pressure, the risk of increasingly one-sided land use, intensified cultivation of genetically modified plants, the compatibility of alternative cultivation with conventional production, intensified cultivation of renewable resources or energy crops, nature conservation, tourism, soil conservation, water protection and water management requirements.
ZALF brings together scientific competence from agricultural science, geo- and biosciences to socio-economics. At its headquarter in Müncheberg, ZALF derives its research questions from societal questions which are of high relevance in agricultural landscapes. They are addressed in three interdisciplinary Research Areas, which are closely interlinked via topical and methodological interfaces. The thematic work in the Research Areas is reinforced and interlinked by two Research Platforms, each combining research and services. The numerous ZALF research infrastructures at the field and landscape scale are clustered in the "Experimental Infrastructure Platform".
At its headquarters in Müncheberg, ZALF houses six institutes, several central work groups and facilities to support research. Field experimentation at ZALF is carried out at Dedelow, in the northeastern part of Uckermark. External sites are located at Paulinenaue, west of Berlin in Havelland, and at Müncheberg. ZALF has been a member of the Leibniz Association since 1992.
