Institute of Ecology
Organisational unit: Institute
- Junior Professorship of Sustainable Use of Natural Resources
- Professorship for Ecology, especially Animal Ecology
- Professorship for Ecology, especially Landscape Ecology and Nature Conservation
- Professorship for Ecosystem Functioning and Services
- Professorship for Vegetation Ecology and Biodiversity Conservation
Organisation profile
The Institute of Ecology is the biological and natural science department of Leuphana University of Lüneburg. Research focuses on the effects of global changes such as climate change and land use change on organisms and communities biodiversity loss as well as on biological and chemical processes. In cooperation with the human sciences, socio-economic factors of ecosystem research are considered.
Topics
Research foci at the Institute of Ecology are the effects of global change such as climate change and land use change on organisms and their communities and on biological functional and chemical processes. The focus is on the causes and effects of declining animal and plant populations as well as current biodiversity loss and the associated changes in abiotic and biotic ecosystem functions. In collaboration with human science research groups at Leuphana University, socio-economic factors of ecosystem research are also jointly considered.
Experimental research takes place both in laboratories, in greenhouses and in open spaces at Leuphana University. Further, many investigations take place in cultivated landscapes and in urban areas. The field studies are carried out in various countries of the temperate and Mediterranean latitudes and the tropics and sub-tropics, but also regionally, e.g. in Lüneburg and the Lüneburg Heath. Research cooperations exist with many different national and international universities and non-university institutions such as local nature conservation organizations and schools. Particularly noteworthy are the cooperations with the Alfred Töpfer Academy for Nature Conservation and the biosphere reserve administration Niedersächsische Elbtalaue.
The courses range from basic and advanced courses in various sub-fields of ecology and biology, including the performance of experiments in laboratory practicals and in the field, to interdisciplinary courses in the Bachelor's and Master's programs.
In interdisciplinary courses, contents from the fields of landscape ecology, botany, soil ecology, zoology, genetics and nature conservation are linked together, as well as courses that combine different disciplines of the natural sciences with those of the human sciences.
A biodiversity hotspot faces intensification of viticulture: the role of Fynbos remnants for the conservation of plants and butterflies
Loos, J., Topp, E., Burghardt, S., Talanow, K., Martín-López, B., Underhill, L. & Edge, D.
01.04.18 → 30.06.20
Project: Research
Aboveground multitrophic plant-insect interactions in a Chinese subtropical forest (FOR 891 - Teilprojekt 09)
Klein, A., Blüthgen, N. & Bruelheide, H.
01.02.11 → 31.07.13
Project: Research
Altitudinal distribution of non-native plants: the effects of climate, habitat and introduction history
01.03.06 → 31.12.10
Project: Dissertation project
iCon: Analysing plant invasions in their environmental context
Haider, S., Milanović, M. & Kühn, I.
01.01.21 → 31.12.23
Project: Research
BELOW: Analysis of root traits to test for environmental filtering and niche complementarity in grassland communities
Haider, S., Bruelheide, H., Jandt, U., Scheel, D. & Herz, K.
01.01.14 → 31.12.17
Project: Research
Archäologisches Forschungsprojekt "Schöninger Speere"
Niedersächsisches Landesamt für Denkmalpflege
27.06.11 → 01.01.21
Project: Research
Biodiversity and its role in the ecosystem services and dis-services concept in agricultural landscapes in Israel
Klein, A. & Mandelik, Y.
Ministry of Science and Culture of the state of Lower Saxony
01.12.10 → 31.12.12
Project: Research
Biodiversity and productivity in rangelands and their management
01.01.15 → 30.06.15
Project: Research
Biodiversity in Israel
German-Israeli Foundation for Scientific Research and Development
01.11.05 → 09.11.11
Project: Research