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

    Historisch alte Waldstandorte: Bedeutung und Wert von Lebensraumkontinuität für Tiere

    Aßmann, T., Buse, J., Dieker, P., Drees, C., Eggers, B., Harry, I., Homburg, K., Krause, R.-H., Matern, A., Schuldt, A. & Taboada Palomares, A., 2013, Natura 2000 im Wald: Lebensraumtypen, Erhaltungszustand, Management ; Referate und Ergebnisse der gleichnamigen Fachtagung des Bundesamtes für Naturschutz. Lehrke, S. (ed.). Deutscher Landwirtschaftsverlag GmbH, p. 65-82 (Naturschutz und Biologische Vielfalt; no. 131).

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/worksArticle in conference proceedingsResearch

  2. Published

    Numerical responses of saproxylic beetles to rapid increases in dead wood availability following geometrid moth outbreaks in sub-arctic mountain birch forest

    Vindstad, O. P. L., Schultze, S., Jepsen, J. U., Biuw, M., Kapari, L., Sverdrup-Thygeson, A. & Ims, R. A., 09.06.2014, In: PLoS ONE. 9, 6, 13 p., e99624.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  3. Published

    Woody plant phylogenetic diversity mediates bottom-up control of arthropod biomass in species-rich forests

    Schuldt, A., Baruffol, M., Bruelheide, H., Chen, S., Chi, X., Wall, M. & Aßmann, T., 09.2014, In: Oecologia. 176, 1, p. 171-182 12 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  4. Published

    Tree diversity promotes predator but not omnivore ants in a subtropical Chinese forest

    Staab, M., Schuldt, A., Aßmann, T. & Klein, A.-M., 10.2014, In: Ecological Entomology. 39, 5, p. 637-647 11 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  5. Published
  6. Published

    Non-native tree species (Pseudotsuga menziesii) strongly decreases predator biomass and abundance in mixed-species plantations of a tree diversity experiment

    Schuldt, A. & Scherer-Lorenzen, M., 01.09.2014, In: Forest Ecology and Management. 327, 1, p. 10-17 8 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  7. Published

    Ökosystem und Biodiversität

    Aßmann, T., Drees, C., Härdtle, W., Klein, A.-M., Schuldt, A. & Oheimb, G., 2014, Nachhaltigkeitswissenschaften. Heinrichs, H. & Michelsen, G. (eds.). Heidelberg: Springer Spektrum, p. 147-174 28 p.

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

  8. Published

    Local neighborhood competition following an extraordinary snow break event: Implications for tree-individual growth

    Lang, A. C., Härdtle, W., Bruelheide, H. & Oheimb, G., 2014, In: iForest - Biogeosciences and Forestry. 7, 1, p. 19-24 6 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  9. Published

    The ground beetle supertribe zuphiitae in the southern levant: (Coleoptera, carabidae)

    Austin, K., Buse, J., Chikatunov, V., Drees, C., Felix, R. F. F. L., Friedman, A. L. L., Khoury, F., Renan, I., Schmidt, C., Wrase, D. W., Aßmann, T., Marcus, T. & Boutaud, E., 01.12.2015, In: Spixiana. 38, 2, p. 237-262 26 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  10. Published

    Response of saproxylic beetles to small-scale habitat connectivity depends on trophic levels

    Buse, J., Entling, M. H., Ranius, T. & Assmann, T., 01.06.2016, In: Landscape Ecology. 31, 5, p. 939-949 11 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

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