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.
DANCE: DArwin's Naturalization Conundrum rEvisited (DANCE) – Darwin meets omics
Haider, S. (Project manager, academic), Galmán, A. (Partner), Neumann, S. (Partner), van Dam, N. M. (Partner), Uthe, H. (Partner), Winter, M. (Partner) & Daehler, C. (Project manager, academic)
01.01.20 → 31.12.23
Project: Research
KLAM: DAS: Klimaanpassung managen! Weiterbildung für Bildungsakteure, Naturschutzexpert_Innen, Umwelt-, Nachhaltigkeits- und Klimaschutzbeauftragte in Kommunen sowie Multiplikator_innen zu regionalen Klimaanpassungsmanager_Innen
Urban, B. (Project manager, academic), Fischer, K. (Project staff) & Katz, C. (Coordination)
01.06.16 → 31.03.19
Project: Transfer (professional training)
DFG Research Unit 5281: Multi-Trophic Interactions in a Forest Biodiversity Experiment in China - Subproject 6: Trophic interactions and ecological functions of ants under changing tree diversity
Staab, M. (Project manager, academic)
01.04.25 → 31.10.26
Project: Research
TreeDì: DFG Reserach Training Group 2324: TreeDì – Tree Diversity Interactions: The role of tree-tree interactions in local neighbourhoods in Chinese subtropical forests; P1: Spatial above- and belowground complementarity
von Oheimb, G. (Project manager, academic), Fichtner, A. (Project manager, academic), Liu, X. (Project manager, academic), Ma, K. (Project manager, academic) & Bu, W. (Project manager, academic)
01.12.22 → 31.05.27
Project: Research
TreeDì: DFG Reserach Training Group 2324: TreeDì – Tree Diversity Interactions: The role of tree-tree interactions in local neighbourhoods in Chinese subtropical forests; P2: Complementarity through trait variation
Haider, S. (Project manager, academic), Harpole, W. S. (Project manager, academic), Ma, Z. (Project manager, academic) & Yang, B. (Project manager, academic)
01.12.22 → 31.05.27
Project: Research
DFG Reserach Unit 5375: Enhancing the structural diversity between patches for improving multidiversity and multifunctionality in production forests - Sub Project 8: Understorey plant assemblages and primary production
Fichtner, A. (Project manager, academic)
01.06.23 → 30.05.26
Project: Research
DFG Reserach Unit 5501: A social-ecological systems approach to inform ecosystem restoration in rural Africa - Subproject 3: Designing and implementing restoration governance for entvironmental justice
Loos, J. (Project manager, academic)
01.05.23 → 30.04.27
Project: Research
Die Nutzung ökologischer Potenziale von Buchenwäldern für eine multifunktionale Bewirtschaftung
Fichtner, A. (Project staff), Dolnik, C. (Project staff), Ellenberg, H. (Project staff), Fähser, L. (Project staff), Hampicke, U. (Project staff), Heeschen, G. (Project staff), Irmler, U. (Project staff), Lüderitz, M. (Project staff), Lütt, S. (Project staff), Rasran, L. (Project staff), Schäfer, A. (Project staff), Schrautzer, J. (Project staff), Sturm, K. (Project staff), Vahder, S. (Project manager, academic), Vogt, K. (Project staff) & Wagner, J. (Project manager, academic)
01.04.07 → 31.12.08
Project: Research
DigiTaL - Teilprojekt 04: Methoden-Wiki
von Wehrden, H. (Project manager, academic), Chauhan, N. (Project manager, academic) & Rau, A.-L. (Project manager, academic)
01.08.21 → 31.12.25
Project: Teaching
Dilationswachstum
Härdtle, W. (Project manager, academic)
15.06.08 → 28.08.09
Project: Transfer (R&D project)
Ecological entomology, plant-insect interactions, herbivore-predator interactions, multitrophic complexity, decomposition, biodiversity research
Aßmann, T. (Project manager, academic) & Schuldt, A. (Project staff)
01.02.11 → 24.09.14
Project: Research
Ecological function of semi-open corridors
Aßmann, T. (Project manager, academic), Härdtle, W. (Partner) & Nolte, D. (Project staff)
01.07.12 → 31.07.16
Project: Research
Ecological valuation of crop pollination in traditional indonesian homegardens
Klein, A.-M. (Project manager, academic)
01.05.11 → 09.09.13
Project: Research
Ecosystem services of temperate rainforests in the western US
von Wehrden, H. (Project manager, academic) & Brandt, P. (Project staff)
01.08.12 → 31.07.13
Project: Research
Effects of climate and land use on the functional composition of plant communities and their ecosystem services
Haider, S. (Project manager, academic) & Kühn, I. (Project manager, academic)
01.01.14 → 31.12.16
Project: Research
Effects of woody species diversity and composition on individual plant growth and demography
Härdtle, W. (Project manager, academic) & Fichtner, A. (Project manager, academic)
19.02.14 → 12.04.19
Project: Research
Ermittlung der "Critical Loads" von Stickstoffdepositionen in Calluna-dominierten Küstenheiden
Härdtle, W. (Project manager, academic) & Bähring, A. (Project manager, academic)
01.11.12 → 01.11.15
Project: Research
Experiment zur Ermittlung des Wirkungsschwellenwerts für den Stickstoffeintrag (empirischer Critical Load) in einem eutrophierungsgefährdeten Ökosystem
Härdtle, W. (Project manager, academic)
18.11.11 → 10.03.14
Project: Transfer (R&D project)
Exploring the interlinkages between specialty coffee farms’ biodiversity and farmers practices in Bolivia
Benavides Frias, C. (Coordination)
01.01.20 → …
Project: Research