Professorship for Ecology, especially Animal Ecology

Organisational unit: Professoship

Organisation profile

The Animal Ecology group is led by Prof. Dr. Thorsten Aßmann and is affiliated with the Institute of Ecology, Faculty of Sustainability at Leuphana University Lüneburg.

Research focuses on the influence of invertebrates on ecosystem functions (species as ecosystem engineers, herbivory, predation), large-scale distribution patterns of species and species groups (biodiversity) and their characteristics, in the Palaearctic and worldwide (macroecology), Molecular ecology (population genetics, phylogeography, conservation genetics and landscape genetics), conservation biology (conservation genetics, consequences of habitat fragmentation, restoration ecology) Biospeleology (biogeography, adaptive mechanisms), taxonomy and systematics of insects (especially ground beetles).

We teach the basics of ecology and other fields of biology. Lectures and seminars are supplemented by identification exercises and field trips.

Topics

The working group Animal Ecology focuses on

  • the role of invertebrates in ecosystem functioning
    (including habitat engineering, herbivory, predation)
  • large-scale distribution patterns of biodiversity and species traits in the Palaearctic and worldwide
    (macroecology)
  • molecular ecology (population genetics, phylogeography, conservation genetics and landscape genetics)
  • conservation biology (conservation genetics, fragmentation biology, restoration ecology)
  • biospeleology (biogeography, adaptation)
  • taxonomy and systematics of insects (especially carabids beetles)
    (classical and modern approaches: morphology, morphometry, DNA technics)

Projects are performed mainly in Germany, the Middle East (especially Israel), Spain, and China.

  1. 2020
  2. GAC Mitgliederversammlung

    Thorsten Aßmann (Oral presentation), Estève Boutaud (Oral presentation), Ingmar Harry (Speaker), Claudia Drees (Speaker), Jörn Buse (Speaker), Rikjan Vermeulen (Speaker), Matthias Kaiser (Speaker) & Ulrich Irmler (Speaker)

    14.02.202016.02.2020

    Activity: Talk or presentationConference PresentationsResearch

  3. 2011
  4. 12th European Heathland Workshop - 2011

    Thorsten Aßmann (Speaker)

    11.06.201118.06.2011

    Activity: Participating in or organising an academic or articstic eventConferencesResearch

  5. Colloquium of the National Institute of Biology and Department of Biology at University of Ljubljana 2011

    Thorsten Aßmann (Speaker)

    30.05.2011

    Activity: Participating in or organising an academic or articstic eventConferencesResearch

  6. Sino-German Summer School on Design and data analysis of biodiversity-ecosystem functioning experiments 2011

    Thorsten Aßmann (Speaker)

    07.05.201111.05.2011

    Activity: Participating in or organising an academic or articstic eventConferencesResearch

  7. Wrapping up the Results of the 1st stage of the Biodiversity Ecosystem Functioning Experiment - BEF-China 2011

    Thorsten Aßmann (Speaker)

    02.05.201106.05.2011

    Activity: Participating in or organising an academic or articstic eventConferencesResearch

  8. 8. Assembly of the Biodiversity Exploratories

    Thorsten Aßmann (Speaker)

    14.02.201118.02.2011

    Activity: Participating in or organising an academic or articstic eventConferencesResearch

  9. 2010
  10. 20th International Conference on Subterranean Biology - 2010

    Thorsten Aßmann (Speaker)

    29.08.201003.09.2010

    Activity: Participating in or organising an academic or articstic eventConferencesResearch

  11. 2009
  12. Biodiversity hotspots - evolution and conservation 2009

    Thorsten Aßmann (Organiser)

    26.03.200928.03.2009

    Activity: Participating in or organising an academic or articstic eventConferencesResearch