Dr. Christian Troost

Senior Researcher and Lecturer

is a researcher and senior lecturer at the department of Land Use Economics at the University of Hohenheim. His research employs farm-level and agent-based models to analyze land and resource use decisions and agricultural livelihoods in a diversity of farming systems around the world. (Chile, Germany and Ethiopia have been core focus areas.) He has ample experience in interdisciplinary research and the integration of socioeconomic and biophysical models (plant and landscape models, pastoral models, hydrological models). His methodological focus centers on advancing methods and software for the parameterization, validation, and massive uncertainty analysis of bioeconomic farm-level and agent-based models, including the use of high-performance computing and parallelization. He is an active developer of the MPMAS software package.

His research has been rewarded with the Gerhard-Fürst Prize (2015) of the Federal Statistical Office and the Südwestbankpreis (2015).

Christian Troost teaches farm system and agent-based simulation modeling as well as production and environmental economics in PhD, MSc and BSc courses.

Christian Troost studied Geography (BSc, 2006) in Bochum and Agricultural Economics (MSc. 2009) in Hohenheim and Wageningen and obtained a doctoral degree in agricultural sciences from the University of Hohenheim (2014).

Contact

  • Land Use Economics (490d) [Senior Researcher and Lecturer]

Dr. Christian Troost
+49 711 459 23637
christian.troost@uni-hohenheim.de
Wollgrasweg 43, room 221
70599 Stuttgart

Publications

  • Yismaw, H., Troost, C., Berger, T. (2024): Dark clouds building up over trees? A simulation-based assessment of smallholder acacia investment in Ethiopia. International Association of Agricultural Economists (IAAE), 2024 Conference, August 2-7, 2024, New Delhi, India. https://doi.org/10.22004/ag.econ.344393
  • Berger, T., Gimpel, H., Stein, A., Troost, C., Asseng, S., Bichler, M., Bieling, C., Birner, R., Grass, I., Kollmann, J., Leonhardt, S.D., Schurr, F.M., Weisser, W., (2024): Hybrid intelligence for reconciling biodiversity and productivity in agriculture. Nature Food 1–3. (https://doi.org/10.1038/s43016-024-00963-6)
  • Berger, U., Bell, A., Barton, C.M., Chappin, E., Dreßler, G., Filatova, T., Fronville, T., Lee, A., van Loon, E., Lorscheid, I., Meyer, M., Müller, B., Piou, C., Radchuk, V., Roxburgh, N., Schüler, L., Troost, C., Wijermans, N., Williams, T.G., Wimmler, M.-C., Grimm, V., (2024): Towards reusable building blocks for agent-based modelling and theory development. Environmental Modelling & Software 175, 106003. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsoft.2024.106003
  • Yismaw, H., Troost, C., Berger, T, (2024): Smallholder adaptation through agroforestry: Agent-based simulation of climate variability in Ethiopia. In: Weyers, C.-M., Proceedings 8th bwHPC Symposium 2022. http://dx.doi.org/10.18419/opus-14626
  • Kayamo, S.E., Troost, C., Yismaw, H., Berger, T. (2023): The financial value of seasonal forecast-based cultivar choice: Assessing the evidence in the Central Rift Valley of Ethiopia. Climate Risk Management 41, 100541. (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.crm.2023.100541).
  • Troost, C., Huber, R., Bell, A.R., van Delden, H., Filatova, T., Le, Q.B., Lippe, M., Niamir, L., Polhill, J.G., Sun, Z., Berger, T. (2023): How to Keep it Adequate: A Protocol for Ensuring Validity in Agent-Based Simulation. Environmental Modelling & Software, 159, 105559. (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsoft.2022.105559)
  • Münzberg, A., Troost, C., Reinosch, N., Martini, D., Seuring, L., Niehus, A., Srivastava, R., Streck, T., Berger, T., Bernardi, A. (2023): Landwirtschaftliche Ertragsvorhersage im Kontext begrenzter realer Trainingsdatensätze: Ein Transfer-Learning-Ansatz unter Verwendung tiefer neuronaler Netze. Gesellschaft für Informatik e.V. (GI) GI. (Hrsg.): INFORMATIK 2023, Lecture Notes in Informatics (LNI),  vol. 337,  p. 1515-1525.  Gesellschaft für Informatik, Bonn 2023.
  • Reinosch, N., Münzberg, A., Martini, D., Niehus, A., Seuring, L., Troost, C., Kumar Srivastava, R., Berger, T., Streck, T., Bernardi, A. (2023): SIMLEARN – Ontologiegestützte Integration von Simulationsmodellen, Systemen für maschinelles Lernen und Planungsdaten. In: Hoffmann, C., Stein, A., Ruckelshausen, A., Müller, H., Steckel, T. & Floto, H. (Hrsg.), 43. GIL-Jahrestagung, Resiliente Agri-Food-Systeme. Lecture Notes in Informatics. Bonn: Gesellschaft für Informatik e.V.. (pp. 477-482).(Link)
  • Troost, C., Parussis-Krech, J. Mejaíl, M., Berger, T., (2023): Boosting the Scalability of Farm-Level Models: Efficient Surrogate Modeling of Compositional Simulation Output. Computational Economics, 62(3): 721–759 (doi.org/10.1007/s10614-022-10276-0)
  • Marohn, C., Troost, C., Warth, B., Bateki, C., Zijlstra, M., Anwar, F., Williams, B., Descheemaeker, K., Berger, T., Asch, F., Dickhoefer, U., Birner, R., Cadisch, G. (2022): Coupled biophysical and decision-making processes in grassland systems in East African savannahs - A modelling framework. Ecological Modelling, 474, 110113 (doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2022.110113)
  • Warrach-Sagi, K., Ingwersen, J., Schwitalla, T., Troost, C., Aurbacher, J., Jach, L., Berger, T., Streck, T., Wulfmeyer, V. (2022): Noah-MP with the generic crop growth model Gecros in the WRF model: Effects of dynamic crop growth on land-atmosphere interaction. Journal of Geophysical Research - Atmosphere, 127 (14): e2022JD036518 (https://doi.org/10.1029/2022JD036518 Open Access)
  • Münzberg, A., Troost, C., Bernardi, A. (2022): Using Transfer Learning for Quality Improved Forecasting of Temporal Agricultural Processes by Adapting Convolutional Neural Networks, INFORMATIK 2022, Lecture Notes in Informatics (LNI), Proceedings - Series of the Gesellschaft fur Informatik (GI), P-326, pp. 1495 - 1503, doi: 10.18420/inf2022_128
  • Münzberg, A., Troost, C., Martini, D., Mendoza, F., Srivastava, R., Berger, T., Seuring, L., Reinosch, N., Streck, T., Bernardi, A. (2022): Machine Learning on Simulated and Real Farm Data Based on an Ontology-Controlled Data Infrastructure. In: Martin, A., Hinkelmann, K., Fill, H.-G., Gerber, A., Lenat, D., Stolle, R., van Harmelen, F. (Eds.), Proceedings of the AAAI 2022 Spring Symposium on Machine Learning and Knowledge Engineering for Hybrid Intelligence (AAAI-MAKE 2022), Stanford University, Palo Alto, California, USA, March 21-24, 2022. (Open Access)
  • Weber, T. K. D., Ingwersen, J., Högy, P., Poyda, A., Wizemann, H.-D., Demyan, M. S., Bohm, K., Eshonkulov, R., Gayler, S., Kremer, P., Laub, M., Funkiun Nkwain, Y., Troost, C., Witte, I., Reichenau, T., Berger, T., Cadisch, G., Müller, T., Fangmeier, A., Wulfmeyer, V., Streck, T. (2022): Multi-site, multi-crop measurements in the soil-vegetation-atmosphere continuum: a comprehensive dataset from two climatically contrasting regions in southwestern Germany for the period 2009-2018. Earth System Science Data, 14, 1153–1181 (https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-14-1153-2022 Open Access)
  • Mössinger, J., Troost, C., Berger, T., (2022): Bridging the gap between models and users: A lightweight mobile interface for optimized farming decisions in interactive modeling sessions. Agricultural Systems 195, 103315. (doi.org/10.1016/j.agsy.2021.103315 Open Access)
  • Carauta, M., Troost, C., Guzman-Bustamante, I., Hampf, A., Libera, A., Meurer, K., Bönecke, E., Franko, U., de Aragão Ribeiro Rodrigues, R., Berger, T. (2021): Climate-related land use policies in Brazil: How much has been achieved with economic incentives in agriculture? Land Use Policy 109, 105618. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2021.105618
  • Eisele, M., Troost, C., Berger, T., (2021). How Bayesian are farmers when making climate adaptation decisions? A computer laboratory experiment for parameterising models of expectation formation. Journal of Agricultural Economics 72(3): 805-828 (doi.org/10.1111/1477-9552.12425 Open Access)
  • Berger, T., Bernardi, A., Martini, D., Münzberg, A., Parussis, J., Streck, T., Troost, C. (2020): Combining Machine Learning and Simulation Modelling for Better Predictions of Crop Yield and Farmer Income. In: van Griensven, A., Nossent, J., Ames, D. (Eds.) Proceedings 10th International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software. Brussels, Belgium.
  • Mendoza Tijerino, F., Troost, C., Berger, T. (2020): Digital Support for Farm Investment Decisions: Climate Change and Economies of Size in Farm Mechanisation. In: van Griensven, A., Nossent, J., Ames, D. (Eds.) Proceedings 10th International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software. Brussels, Belgium.
  • Troost C., Berger T. (2020). Formalising validation? Towards criteria for valid conclusions from agent-based simulation. In: van Griensven, A., Nossent, J., Ames, D.P. (Eds.) Proceedings 10th International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software. Brussels, Belgium.
  • Troost C., Duan X., Gayler S., Heinlein F., Klein C., Aurbacher J., Demyan M.S., Högy P., Laub M., Ingwersen J., Kremer P., Mendoza Tijerino F., Otto L. H., Poyda A., Warrach-Sagi K., Weber T. K. D., Priesack E., Streck T., Berger T. (2020): The Bioeconomic Modelling System MPMAS-XN: Simulating Short and Long-term Feedback Between Climate, Crop growth, Crop Management and Farm Management. In: van Griensven, A., Nossent, J., Ames, D.P. (Eds.) Proceedings 10th International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software. Brussels, Belgium.
  • Marohn, C., Warth, B., Troost, C., Bateki, C., Dickhöfer, U., Berger, T., Asch, F., Birner, R., Cadisch, G.(2020): Landscape-scale interactions between pastures, crops, trees and cattle in savanna grassland systems. In: van Griensven, A., Nossent, J., Ames, D. (Eds.) Proceedings 10th International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software. Brussels, Belgium.
  • Huber, R., Bakker, M., Balmann, A., Berger, T., Bithell, M., Brown, C., Grêt-Regamey, A., Xiong, H., Le, Q. B., Mack, G., Meyfroidt, P., Millington, J., Müller, B., Polhill, J. G., Sun, Z., Seidl, R., Troost, C., Finger, R., (2018): Representation of decision-making in European agricultural agent-based models. Agricultural Systems 167, 143 - 160 (doi.org/10.1016/j.agsy.2018.09.007)
  • Hampf, A. C., Carauta, M., Latynskiy, E., Libera, A. A., Monteiro, L., Sentelhas, P., Troost, C., Berger, T., Nendel, C. (2018): The biophysical and socio-economic dimension of yield gaps in the southern Amazon - A bio-economic modelling approach. Agricultural Systems 165, 1 - 13. (doi.org/10.1016/j.agsy.2018.05.009)
  • Wossen, T.,  Berger, T., Haile, M., Troost, C. (2018): Impacts of climate variability and food price volatility on household income and food security of farm households in East and West Africa. Agricultural Systems 163, 7-15.  (doi.org/ 10.1016/j.agsy.2017.02.006)
  • Berger, T., Troost, C., Wossen, T., Latynskiy, E., Tesfaye, K., Gbegbelegbe, S. (2017): Can smallholder farmers adapt to climate variability, and how effective are policy interventions? Agent-based simulation results for Ethiopia. Agricultural Economics 48 (6): 693-706. (doi.org/ 10.1111/agec.12367)
  • Troost, C., Berger, T. (2017): Simulating climate change adaptation and structural change in agriculture using microsimulation and agent-based modeling. In: Sabine Richling, Martin Baumann, Vincent Heuveline (Eds.) Proceedings of the 3rd bwHPC-Symposium Heidelberg 2016. https://books.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/heibooks/reader/download/308/308-4-79234-1-10-20171002.pdf
  • Troost, C., Berger, T. (2016): Simulating structural change in agriculture: Modelling farming households and farm succession. In: Sauvage, S., Sánchez-Pérez, J.M., Rizzoli, A.E. (Eds.), 2016. Proceedings of the 8th International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software, July 10-14, Toulouse, FRANCE. ISBN: 978-88-9035-745-9.
  • Troost, C., Berger, T. (2016):  Advances in probabilistic and parallel agent‐based simulation: Modelling climate change adaptation in agriculture. In: Sauvage, S., Sánchez-Pérez, J.M., Rizzoli, A.E. (Eds.), 2016. Proceedings of the 8th International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software, July 10-14, Toulouse, FRANCE. ISBN: 978-88-9035-745-9.
  • Troost, C. (2016): Mikrosimulation landwirtschaftlicher Produktion auf der Schwäbischen Alb. Wirtschaft und Statistik 1/2016 (Open Access)
  • Warrach-­Sagi, K., Troost, C., Ingwersen, J., Demyan, S., Aurbacher, J., Högy, P., Berger, T., Cadisch, G., Poyda, A., Streck, T., Wulfmeyer, V., (2016): An Integrated Land System Model System to study soil-­vegetation-­atmosphere feedbacks in agricultural landscapes under climate change. International Conference on Regional Climate-CORDEX 2016 (ICRC-CORDEX 2016), May 17-20, 2016, Stockholm, Sweden.
  • Troost, C., Berger, T. (2015): Process-based simulation of regional agricultural supply functions in Southwestern Germany using farm-level and agent-based models. In: International Association of Agricultural Economists, 2015 Conference, August 9-14, 2015, Milan, Italy. (Open Access)
  • Berger, T., Wossen, T., Troost, C., Latynskiy, E., Tesfaye, K., Gbegbelegbe, S. (2015): Adaptation of farm-households to increasing climate variability in Ethiopia: Bioeconomic modeling of innovation diffusion and policy interventions. International Association of Agricultural Economists, 2015 Conference, August 9-14, 2015, Milan, Italy (Open Access).
  • Troost, C., Berger, T. (2015): Dealing with Uncertainty in Agent-Based Simulation: Farm-Level Modeling of Adaptation to Climate Change in Southwest Germany. American Journal of Agricultural Economics. 97: 833-854. (doi.org/10.1093/ajae/aau076)
  • Troost, C., Walter, T., Berger, T. (2015): Climate, energy and environmental policies in agriculture: Simulating likely farmer responses in Southwest Germany. Land Use Policy 46, 50 - 64. (doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2015.01.028 Open Access)
  • Arnold, R. T., Troost, C., Berger, T. (2015): Quantifying the economic importance of irrigation water reuse in a Chilean watershed using an integrated agent-based model. Water Resources Research 51 (1), 648-668. (doi.org/10.1002/2014WR015382 Open Access)
  • Troost, C. (2014.) Agent-based modeling of climate change adaptation in agriculture: a case study in the Central Swabian Jura. Stuttgart, University of Hohenheim, Univ. Diss., pp. 280.
  • Latynskiy, E., Berger, T., Troost, C. (2014): Assessment of Policies for Low-Carbon Agriculture by means of Multi-Agent Simulation. In: Ames, D.P., Quinn, N.W.T., Rizzoli, A.E. (Eds.), Proceedings of the 7th International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software, June 15-19, San Diego, California, USA. www.iemss.org/society/index.php/iemss-2014-proceedings
  • Berger, T., Troost, C. (2014): Agent-based Modelling of Climate Adaptation and Mitigation Options in Agriculture. Journal of Agricultural Economics,  65, 323-348 (doi.org/10.1111/1477-9552.12045 Open Access)
  • Troost, C., Calberto, G., Berger, T., Ingwersen, J., Priesack, E., Warrach-Sagi, K., Walter, T. (2012): Agent-based modeling of agricultural adaptation to climate change in a mountainous area of Southwest Germany. In: Seppelt, R.; Voinov, A.; Lange, S. & Bankamp, D. (ed.): International Environmental Modelling and Software Society (iEMSs): 2012 International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software: Managing Resources of a Limited Planet, Sixth Biennial Meeting, Leipzig, Germany. 
  • Berger, T., Troost, C. (2012): Agent-based Modelling in the Agricultural Economics Tradition of Recursive Farm Modelling and Adaptive Micro-Systems. In: Seppelt, R.; Voinov, A.; Lange, S. & Bankamp, D. (ed.): International Environmental Modelling and Software Society (iEMSs): 2012 International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software: Managing Resources of a Limited Planet, Sixth Biennial Meeting, Leipzig, Germany.
  • Troost, C., Berger, T.,  Latynskiy, E.  (2010): Building Integrated Assessment Tools for Climate Change Adaptation in Agriculture -- A Case for Coupled Land Model Systems at Regional Scale with Fine Resolution. Contributed Paper at the 117th Seminar of the EAAE: Climate Change, Food Security and Resilience of Food and Agricultural Systems in Developing Countries: Mitigation and Adaptation Options, November 25-27, 2010. Stuttgart-Hohenheim
  • Latynskiy, E., Troost, C., Berger, T. (2010): Impacts of Climate Variability and Climate Change on Agriculture and Rural Poverty in Central Chile. Contributed Paper at the 117th Seminar of the EAAE: Climate Change, Food Security and Resilience of Food and Agricultural Systems in Developing Countries: Mitigation and Adaptation Options, November 25-27, 2010. Stuttgart-Hohenheim.
  • Berger, T., Schilling, C., Troost, C., Latynskiy, E. (2010): Knowledge-Brokering with Agent-Based Models: Some Experiences from Irrigation-Related Research in Chile. In: David A. Swayne, Wanhong Yang, A. A. Voinov, A. Rizzoli, T. Filatova (Eds.), International Environmental Modelling and Software Society (iEMSs) 2010 International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software, Ottawa, Canada. (Open Access)
  • Arnold, T., Uribe, H., Troost, C., Berger, T. (2010): Irrigation Management in Chile: Integrated Modeling of Access to Water. In: David A. Swayne, Wanhong Yang, A. A. Voinov, A. Rizzoli, T. Filatova (Eds.), International Environmental Modelling and Software Society (iEMSs) 2010 International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software, Ottawa, Canada. (Open Access).

Research Projects

  • Adaptation of farm-households to increasing climate variability in Ethiopia – Bio-economic modeling of innovation diffusion and policy interventions.
  • Carbiocial – Carbon sequestration, biodiversity and social structures in Southern Amazonia: implementation of carbon-optimized land management strategies, Teilprojekt SP12: Agro-Economic Modelling: Agent-based assessment of land management strategies (BMBF)
  • DFG Project PAK346: Structure and Functions of Agricultural Landscapes under Global Climate Change - Subproject P6: Agent-based modeling and assessment of human-environment interactions.

Department of Land Use Economics (490d)

Wollgrasweg 43
2nd floor, room 236
70599 Stuttgart

Head of Department
Prof. Dr. Thomas Berger
+49 711 459 24116
i490d@uni-hohenheim.de

Administrative Office
Diana Veit
+49 711 459 24117
d.veit@uni-hohenheim.de