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.

  1. Published

    α- and β-diversity in moth communities in salt marshes is driven by grazing management

    Rickert, C., Fichtner, A., van Klink, R. & Bakker, J. P., 02.2012, In: Biological Conservation. 146, 1, p. 24-31 8 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  2. Published

    High Trophic Similarity in the Sympatric North European Trawling Bat Species Myotis daubentonii and Myotis dasycneme

    Krüger, F., Harms, I., Fichtner, A., Wolz, I. & Sommer, R. S., 12.2012, In: Acta Chiropterologica. 14, 2, p. 347-356 10 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  3. Published

    Characterizing and evaluating successional pathways of fen degradation and restoration

    Schrautzer, J., Sival, F., Breuer, M., Runhaar, H. & Fichtner, A., 02.2013, In: Ecological Indicators. 25, p. 108-120 13 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  4. Published

    Signalarten - ein praxisnaher Beitrag zur Erfassung der Naturnähe und Biodiversität in Wäldern

    Fichtner, A. & Lüderitz, M., 09.2013, In: Natur und Landschaft. 88, 9/10, p. 392-399 8 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  5. Published

    Facilitative-competitive interactions in an Old-Growth Forest: The Importance of Large-Diameter Trees as Benefactors and Stimulators for Forest Community Assembly

    Fichtner, A., Forrester, D. I., Härdtle, W., Sturm, K. & Oheimb, G., 24.03.2015, In: PLoS ONE. 10, 3, 18 p., e0120335.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  6. Published

    Does forest continuity enhance the resilience of trees to environmental change?

    Oheimb, G., Härdtle, W., Eckstein, D., Engelke, H.-H., Hehnke, T., Wagner, B. & Fichtner, A., 10.12.2014, In: PLoS ONE. 9, 12, 18 p., 0113507.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  7. Published

    Pflege von Heidelandschaften

    Härdtle, W. & Oheimb, G., 10.09.2014, Re-Naturierung: Gesellschaft im Einklang mit der Natur. 1 ed. Stuttgart: S. Hirzel Verlag, p. 56-61 6 p. (Jahrbuch Ökologie; vol. 2015).

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/worksContributions to collected editions/anthologiesResearchpeer-review

  8. Published

    Schutz von Buchenwäldern in einem System von Naturwäldern

    Hehnke, T., von Oheimb, G., Härdtle, W., Kaiser, T. & Scherfose, V., 2014, Bonn: Bundesamt für Naturschutz, p. 1-127, 127 p. (BfN-Skripten; no. 380).

    Research output: Working paperProject reportsResearch

  9. Published

    Landscape context influences chytrid fungus distribution in an endangered European amphibian

    Scheele, B. C., Driscoll, D. A., Fischer, J., Fletcher, A. W., Hanspach, J., Vörös, J. & Hartel, T., 01.10.2015, In: Animal Conservation. 18, 5, p. 480-488 9 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  10. Published

    Clustering Hydrological Homogeneous Regions and Neural Network Based Index Flood Estimation for Ungauged Catchments: an Example of the Chindwin River in Myanmar

    Latt, Z. Z., Wittenberg, H. & Urban, B., 01.02.2015, In: Water Resources Management. 29, 3, p. 913-928 16 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

Recently viewed

Activities

  1. Meeting Halfway. John C. Lilly‘s Cybernetic Dolphin Experiments (Annual Meeting of the History of Science Society 2013)
  2. Zwischen elektronischer Musik und populärer Avantgarde. Das Studienkonzept des Lüneburger Schwerpunktbereichs ((audio))
  3. Personal care products as source for micropollutants in Greywater-Identification, quantification and on-site treatment
  4. How to get things done with words in Irish English and English English: Pragmatics and dialectology at the cross-road
  5. „Theorie und Praxis: Globales Lernen und Bildung für eine nachhaltige Entwicklung – Positionen, Potentiale, Perspektiven“
  6. Integrating Systems Thinking Approaches in Chemical Education for Sustainable Development - Exploring the Status Quo
  7. Advantages and challenges of in silico tools and their contribution to sustainable chemistry with the focus on (Q)SAR
  8. Sustainability and internal supply chain management – A conceptual approach to intra-organisational knowledge transfer
  9. Degradation of the emerging contaminant Atenolol by K2FeVIO4: assessment of biodegradability and degradation products
  10. Pessimism and Optimism of the Future: the Future of the World(s) in the Strategies of Feminism and Digital Technologies
  11. People incorrectly correcting other people“: (Re-)Correcting comments as a means of stancetaking in digital communication
  12. Exploring priority effects in a central European grassland field experiment in order to inform restoration (Symposium)
  13. Kreativ und frei?: Welche Rahmenbedingungen brauchen Kreativwirtschaft und Wissensgesellschaft in einer digitalen Welt?
  14. Das Leuphana-College: ein in Europaeinzigartiges Hochschulmodell: Innovative hochschuldidaktische Veranstaltungsformate
  15. Deciphering Sustainable Consumption: Understanding, Motives and Heuristic Cues in the Context of Personal Care Product.
  16. Degradation of the emerging contaminant Atenolol by K2FeVIO4: assessment of biodegradability and degradation products

Publications

  1. Geißel, Brigitte: Kritische Bürger - Gefahr oder Ressource für die Demokratie? Frankfurt/New York: Campus Verlag 2011
  2. Can Geodesign Be Used to Facilitate Boundary Management for Planning and Implementation of Nature-based Solutions?
  3. Matching between oral inward–outward movements of object names and oral movements associated with denoted objects
  4. 25 Jahre Conservation Reserve Program der USA: Erfahrungen und Perspektiven für die europäische Agrarumweltpolitik
  5. Case study meta-analysis in the social sciences. Insights on data quality and reliability from a large-N case survey
  6. Hydration and dehydration of salt hydrates and hydroxides for thermal energy storage – kinetics and energy release
  7. Establishment success in a forest biodiversity and ecosystem functioning experiment in subtropical China (BEF-China)
  8. Gerhard O. Forde: The Captivation of the Will. Luther vs. Erasmus on Freedom and Bondage, Grand Rapids / Cambridge 2005
  9. Menschliche Würde in der Lebensphase natürlicher Abhängigkeit - Jugendpsychiatrische und sozialpädaogische Aspekte
  10. Using heuristic worked examples to promote solving of reality‑based tasks in mathematics in lower secondary school
  11. The Shareholder Value Effect of System Overloads: An Analysis of Investor Responses to the 2003 Blackout in the US
  12. How do workers gain voice on digital work platforms? Hotspots and blind spots in research on platform worker voice
  13. Do we need livestock grazing to promote Polylepis australis tree recruitment in the Central Argentinean Mountains?
  14. Planungs- und Genehmigungsfragen bei der Finanzierung von Anlagen zur Erzeugung von Strom aus Erneuerbaren Energien
  15. Model-based estimation of pesticides and transformation products and their export pathways in a headwater catchment
  16. Reciprocal relations between emotional exhaustion and episode-specific emotional labour: An experience-sampling study
  17. Utilizing international networks for accelerating research and learning in transformational sustainability science
  18. Mathematical Modeling for Robot 3D Laser Scanning in Complete Darkness Environments to Advance Pipeline Inspection
  19. Einfluss elterlicher Mathematikkompetenz und familialer Prozesse auf den Kompetenzerwerb von Kindern in Mathematik
  20. Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA)-main concerns and regulatory developments in Europe from an environmental point of view
  21. Tree and mycorrhizal fungal diversity drive intraspecific and intraindividual trait variation in temperate forests
  22. Effects of anthropogenic disturbances on soil microbial communities in oak forests persist for more than 100 years
  23. Den eigenen Blick schärfen für das Potenzial und die Qualität von Aufgaben – Ergebnisse aus der aktuellen Forschung
  24. Social and ethical aspects in sustainability performance measurement and assessment. A systematic literature review
  25. What is intergovernmental about the EU’s ‘(new) intergovernmentalist’ turn? Evidence from the Eurozone and asylum crises
  26. Schulentwicklungsbegleitung auf Augenhöhe – die Besonderheiten des Beratungsansatzes der regionalen SchuMaS-Zentren
  27. Tobias Cheung: Organismen - Agenten zwischen Innen- und Außenwelt 1780-1860, (Science Studies) Bielefeld: transcript 2014
  28. Methane yield of biomass from extensive grassland is affected by compositional changes induced by order of arrival
  29. Kraft ist nicht gleich Kraft. Und wie können die Kraftfähigkeiten spielerisch in der Grundschule vermittelt werden?“