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.

Main research areas

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. Published

    Carabids.org – a dynamic online database of ground beetle species traits (Coleoptera, Carabidae)

    Homburg, K., Homburg, N., Schäfer, F., Schuldt, A. & Aßmann, T., 05.2014, In: Insect Conservation and Diversity. 7, 3, p. 195-205 11 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  2. Published

    Wood-inhabiting beetles (Coleoptera) associated with oaks in a global biodiversity hotspot: A case study and checklist for Israel

    Buse, J., Assmann, T., Friedman, A. L. L., Rittner, O. & Pavlícek, T., 11.2013, In: Insect Conservation and Diversity. 6, 6, p. 687-703 17 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  3. Published

    Low genetic diversity of a high mountain burnet moth species in the Pyrenees

    Dieker, P., Drees, C., Schmitt, T. & Aßmann, T., 02.2013, In: Conservation Genetics. 14, 1, p. 231-236 6 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  4. Published

    A new method for collecting agile tiger beetles by live pitfall trapping

    Taboada Palomares, A., Pérez-Aguirre, C. & Aßmann, T., 10.2012, In: Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata. 145, 1, p. 82-87 6 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  5. Published

    Multiple Glacial Refugia of the Low-Dispersal Ground Beetle Carabus irregularis: Molecular Data Support Predictions of Species Distribution Models

    Homburg, K., Drees, C., Gossner, M. M., Rakosy, L., Vrezec, A. & Aßmann, T., 04.04.2013, In: PLoS ONE. 8, 4, 12 p., e61185.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  6. Published

    Allele elimination recalculated: nested subset analyses for molecular biogeographical data

    Habel, J. C., Ulrich, W. & Aßmann, T., 04.2013, In: Journal of Biogeography. 40, 4, p. 769-777 9 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  7. Published

    Scale-dependent diversity patterns affect spider assemblages of two contrasting forest ecosystems

    Schuldt, A., Aßmann, T. & Schaefer, M., 05.2013, In: Acta Oecologica. 49, p. 17-22 6 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  8. Published

    The ground beetle tribe Trechini in Israel and adjacent regions

    Aßmann, T., Buse, J., Chikatunov, V., Drees, C., Friedmann, A.-L.-L., Härdtle, W., Levanovy, T., Renan, I., Seyfferth, A. & Wrase, D. W., 08.2012, In: Spixiana - Zeitschrift für Zoologie. 35, 2, p. 193-208 16 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearch

  9. Published

    Ant community structure during forest succession in a subtropical forest in South-East China

    Staab, M., Schuldt, A., Aßmann, T., Bruelheide, H. & Klein, A.-M., 01.11.2014, In: Acta Oecologica. 61, p. 32-40 9 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  10. Published

Recently viewed

Activities

  1. Klassenführung im Unterricht analysieren und verändern. Zweitägige videobasierte Fortbildung für das Schulteams am St.-Anna-Gymnasium, München Teil 2
  2. Wissenstransfer interdisziplinär – Netzwerkarbeit in der inklusionsorientierten Lehrer_innenbildung. Betrachtungen am Beispiel des Projektes DoProfil
  3. Contrasting pragmatic choices in responding to thanks in Ireland, England and Canada (New Apporaches to Irish English (Corpus) Pragmatics - 2019, Dortmund)
  4. Vortrag: Eigene und fremde Unterrichtsvideos in der Lehrerfortbildung. Kognitive, motivationale und emotionale Prozesse beim Beobachten zweier Videotypen.
  5. Topic development and backchanneling in learner-native speaker voice-based telecollaboration (Third Bonn Applied English Linguistics Conference 2014 - BAELc3)
  6. Gutachter für das Forschungsprojekt 'Wissenschaftliche Begleitung der Gemeinschaftsschulen Baden-Württemberg': Teilprojekt 1: quantitative Unterrichtsbeobachtung
  7. Approaching learning technologies - the case of telecollaboration and learner corpora (GAL Research School for Methods in Empirical Pragmatics - MeEP 2016, Bonn)
  8. Promoting Pre-Service Teachers' Professional Vision of Classroom Management During Practical School Training: An Online- and Video-Based Self-Reflection and Feedback Intervention
  9. Promoting pre-service teachers‘ professional vision of classroom management during practical school training: An online- and video-based self-reflection and feedback intervention
  10. Forschendes Lernen – ein Beitrag zur Professionalisierung der Elementarpädagogik. Halbzeit im Projekt „Ausbildung gemeinsam weiterdenken – BAKIP, Universität und Praxis im Dialog
  11. How important are SDGs for teacher educators? – Engage educators in a global landscape: Mapping the terrain with a case study of a pilot professional development program from Ethiopia
  12. Under Which Conditions Does Public Participation Really Advance Sustainability Goals? Findings of a Meta-Analysis of Stakeholder Involvement in Environmental Decision-making (with O. Fritsch)
  13. Möglichkeiten und Grenzen zur Förderung der (nachhaltigkeitsorientierten) Handlungskompetenz in schulischen Lehr-Lernarrangements -Das Planspiel „Kombinierter Verkehr – Transport und Logistik der Zukunft?!“-

Publications

  1. Die Interaktion zwischen Interner Revision, Prüfungsausschuss und Abschlussprüfer als Qualitätsindikator der internationalen Corporate Governance?!
  2. ‘I Want to Persuade You!’–Investigating the effectiveness of explicit persuasion concerning attributes of the communicator and the marketing campaign
  3. Lesekompetenzen am Ender der vierten Jahrgangsstufe in einigen Ländern der Bundesrepublik Deutschland im nationalen und internationalen Vergleich
  4. The influence of teacher-trainings on in-service teachers’ expertise: a teacher-training-study on formative assessment in competency-oriented mathematics
  5. Heterogenität und Chancengleichheit am Ende der vierten Jahrgangsstufe in den Ländern der Bundesrepublik Deutschland und im internationalen Vergleich
  6. Die Präsentationsform von Aufgaben und die Mathematikleistung von Kindern als Untersuchungsgegenstand einer Studie zum räumlichen Vorstellungsvermögen
  7. Prediction of improvement in quality of life (QoL-AGHDA) in adults with growth hormone deficiency by normative reference limits: data of the German KIMS cohort
  8. An empirical investigation of experiences and the link between a servicedominant logic mindset, competitive advantage, and performance of nonprofit organizations
  9. Der Einfluss von Kultur und individuellen Charakteristika auf das Widerstandsverhalten von Mitarbeitern bei Internationalen Akquisitionen: Eine empirisch Studie
  10. Book Review: Building Theories of Organization: The Constitutive Role of Communication (Putnam Linda L. & Nicotera Anne M. (eds.), New York: Routledge, 2009. 222 pp. ISBN: 978-0-8058-4710-9)
  11. Wirksamkeit eines internet- und smartphone-basierten Dankbarkeitstrainings zur Förderung der gedanklichen Distanzierung von arbeitsbezogenen Problemen –Sekundäranalyse einer randomisiert - kontrollierten Studie
  12. Successful Application of Adaptive Emotion Regulation Skills Predicts the Subsequent Reduction of Depressive Symptom Severity but neither the Reduction of Anxiety nor the Reduction of General Distress during the Treatment of Major Depressive Disorder