Institute of Ecology
Organisational unit: Institute
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.
Main research areas
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.
TreeDi: TreeDiversity Interactions (TreeDi): The role of tree-tree interactions in local neighbourhoods in Chinese subtropical forests - International Research Training Group funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG)
Härdtle, W. (Project manager, academic), von Oheimb, G. (Project manager, academic), Fichtner, A. (Project manager, academic), Perles-García, M. D. (Project staff), Bruelheide, H. (Project manager, academic) & Wang, Y. (Project manager, academic)
01.04.18 → 30.09.22
Project: Research
Impacts of plant invasions on the taxonomic, phylogenetic and functional homogeni-zation of mountain ecosystems across a broad latitudinal gradient
Haider, S. (Project staff), Pauchard, A. (Project manager, academic), Cavieres, L. (Project manager, academic), Bustamante, R. (Project manager, academic), García, R. A. (Project manager, academic) & Marticorena, A. (Project manager, academic)
01.01.18 → 31.12.22
Project: Research
SoilTemp Project
Haider, S. (Project staff), Lembrechts, J. J. (Project manager, academic) & Lenoir, J. (Project manager, academic)
01.01.18 → …
Project: Research
Working group “Consensus network of invasion hypotheses”
Haider, S. (Partner), Jeschke, J. M. (Project manager, academic), Enders, M. (Project manager, academic), Bernard-Verdier, M. (Project staff), Catford, J. A. (Project staff), Gómez-Aparicio, L. (Project staff), Heger, T. (Project staff), Meyerson, L. A. (Project staff), Novoa, A. (Project staff), Ricciardi, A. (Project staff), Vila, M. (Project staff), Essl, F. (Project staff), Hulme, P. E. (Project staff), van Kleunen, M. (Project staff), Lockwood, J. L. (Project staff), Pyšek, P. (Project staff), Strayer, D. L. (Project staff) & Yannelli, F. A. (Project staff)
01.01.18 → 31.12.18
Project: Research
Climate and Environmental Variability during the late Middle Pleistocene at the Paleolithic Sites of Schöningen, Northern Germany
Urban, B. (Project manager, academic)
01.04.17 → 01.07.22
Project: Research
Mycorrhizae in tree diversity effects on ecosystem functioning
Eisenhauer, N. (Project manager, academic), Ferlian, O. (Project manager, academic), Haider, S. (Partner), Bruelheide, H. (Project manager, academic) & Heklau, H. (Project manager, academic)
01.01.17 → …
Project: Research
Near-infrared spectra of leaves as predictors for forest ecosystem functions
Haider, S. (Project manager, academic), Proß, T. (Project manager, academic), Bruelheide, H. (Partner), Potvin, C. (Project manager, academic) & Auge, H. (Partner)
01.01.17 → …
Project: Research
The Mountain TransPlant Network
Haider, S. (Partner), Chisholm, C. (Project manager, academic), Walker, T. W. N. (Project manager, academic) & Alexander, J. M. (Project manager, academic)
01.01.17 → …
Project: Research
Using plant functional traits to reveal mechanisms behind species richness patterns along elevation gradients
Haider, S. (Project manager, academic), Ratier Backes, A. (Project manager, academic), Römermann, C. (Partner), Knight, T. M. (Partner), Keil, P. (Partner), Alexander, J. M. (Partner) & Arévalo, J. R. (Partner)
01.01.17 → 31.12.21
Project: Research
PoST: Processes of Sustainability Transformation (Promotionskolleg)
Barth, M. (Project manager, academic), Kater-Wettstädt, L. (Coordination), Fischer, D. (Partner), Halberstadt, J. (Partner), Schaltegger, S. (Partner), Leventon, J. (Partner), Heinrichs, H. (Partner), Lang, D. J. (Partner), Wiek, A. (Partner), Kümmerer, K. (Partner), von Wehrden, H. (Partner), Vilsmaier, U. (Partner), Rodriguez Aboytes, J. G. (Project staff), Pöggel, K. (Project staff), Hübel, C. (Project staff), Buhr, M. (Project staff), Beyers, F. (Project staff), Laudan, J. (Project staff), Albrecht, S. (Project staff), Weber, H. (Project staff), Rathgens, J. (Project staff), Keβler, L. (Project staff), Hilser, S. (Project staff) & Juarez Bourke, S. (Project staff)
08.12.16 → 31.12.21
Project: Research