by linking innovative individual research projects that overcome the apparent gap between movement ecology and biodiversity research, employing a joint conceptual framework
empirical, experimental and modelling approaches based in one common study area (AgroScapeLab-Quillow, north-eastern Brandenburg, Germany).
of land-use on resource availability, landscape structures and disturbance regimes to movement processes of organisms of different taxa.
by pursuing bottom-up and top-down approaches to reveal possible consequences of movement changes on biodiversity.
Intra-specific trait variation in movement behaviour as mechanisms for species coexistence
Supervisor team: Volker Grimm, Jana Eccard, Christian Voigt, Florian Jeltsch
A growing body of research reveals individuals exhibiting a continuous behavior. For example, foraging strategies at different levels of predation risk vary between individuals. Such behavioral patterns fit the term „personality“. Personalities affect evolutionary fitness. Bold individuals may be lucky and yield the most valuable forage or they may become prey. Risk-avoiding individuals may seldom become prey but, potentially, they may not be able to nourish all their offspring. Given varying environmental conditions and populations, both personalities may be valuable or disadvantageous regarding fitness and may drive population dynamics. Hence, in the context of communities, ITV may proof as a stabilizing mechanism for species coexistence as populations can adapt to changing external conditions more rapidly than populations of uniform organisms.
Pathogen evolution in changing landscapes
Supervisor team: Stephanie Kramer-Schadt, Niels Blaum, Volker Grimm
The project focuses on the interactions between movement decisions, disease dynamics and dynamic landscapes. It aims to shed light on host-pathogen coexistence patterns under the effect of (1) dynamic resource landscapes, (2) the role of dispersal in the evolution of pathogenic virulence as well as the feedbacks of disease evolution on the evolution of movement strategies, and (3) the role of life-history trade-offs between movement strategies and infectivity as equalizing mechanism allowing for coexistence of host and pathogen types.
Mobile link functions in unpredictable agricultural landscapes
Supervisor team: Niels Blaum, Jana Eccard, Stephanie Kramer-Schadt
Agricultural landscapes underlie the annual rhythm of anthropogenic use while they also provide habitats for diverse organisms of all domains of life. Mobile links connect different kinds of habitat patches,thereby affecting biodiversity. This project analyses, how specific animal-landscape-conditions affect the amount and frequency of mobile links critical for biodiversity. I will GPS-collar European brown hares (Lepus europaeus), a typical species found in agricultural landscapes that provides genetic (seed dispersal) and process links (foraging on potentially rare plant species). Remote sensing and network based tools will be applied for mobile link analysis.
Indirect, tri-trophic effects of fear on biodiversity
Supervisor team: Niels Blaum, Jana Eccard, Christian Voigt, Florian Jeltsch
In predator-prey systems many indirect effects of predation have evolved and prey individuals may reduce predation risk by avoiding movement at dangerous times or in dangerous habitats. This in turn creates specific exploitation patterns in prey assemblies, which may affect the local as well as landscape-wide biodiversity of prey. In this project we investigate a tri-trophic interaction of a predator potentially preying on a consumer, a consumer’s resulting movement processes while foraging, and the biodiversity of plant seeds, that are the consumer’s prey. The consumer in this constellation functions both as prey for the predator and as a predator (by foraging) on its own prey, the plant seeds. In a series of experiments we will manipulate the consumer’s landscape of fear (LoF), consisting of levels and spatial distribution of perceived predation risk. We will monitor LoF effects on two cascading variables, the movement processes of the consumer, and the alpha- and beta-diversity of the plant seed community. The project will shed light on movement mediated biodiversity patterns across multiple trophic levels, with consumers as movement process links and as equalizing and stabilizing agents.
Equalizing and stabilizing machanisms in regulating the co-existence of aerial-hawking bat species in agricultural landscape
Supervisor team: Christian Voigt, Jana Eccard, Niels Blaum
Animals adjust their foraging movements according to the presence or absence of conspecific or heterospecific competitors, yet it is poorly understood what the criteria are for animals to seek, tolerate or avoid potential food competitors. Using high resolution spatial tracking of bats in combination with meta-barcoding of fecal samples to determine their diet, we aim at understanding the principles that rule the three dimensional movements of bats in an agricultural landscape, with the ultimate goal to understand which factors influence the coexistence of species and how and to what extent top consumers such as bats affect local insect abundances/assemblages.
Obstacles to plant gene-flow across an agricultural landscape: habitat filtering and recruitment limitation vs. dispersal limitation
Supervisor team: Ralph Tiedemann, Florian Jeltsch, Matthias Rillig, Jasmin Joshi
In this project the role of kettle-holes potentially maintaining metapopulations by providing important natural stepping-stone habitats within an intensively farmed matrix will be assessed to identify mechanisms affecting gene flow. The model system AgroScapeLab-Quillow will therefore be used to determine potential migration barriers such as landscape elements hindering gene flow within four plant metapopulations. I will perform population-genetic analyses using next generation sequencing methods (SNPs) to infer gene-flow and connectivity. Movement data of water fowl and adhered dispersal units as well as seed traps will provide further information on long-distance seed dispersal. Additionally, seed transplant experiments and concomitant habitat analyses (ephemeral vs. permanent kettle-holes) will give insight into community-level effects revealing, inter alia, establishment bottlenecks and facilitation.
Diversity in zooplankton adaptation and dispersal as stabilizing mechanism for coexistence in multitrophic metacommunities
Supervisor team: Ralph Tiedemann, Florian Jeltsch, Guntram Weithoff, Niels Blaum
In combination with the common garden experiments of project P08, we will look for spatio-temporally locally adapted strains/clones of zooplankton across ponds (including sediments) in the agricultural landscape of the Uckermark (AgroScapeLab-Quillow). From these clones, we aim at identifying genes responsible for local adaptation. We will utilize already available transcriptomic resources to identify single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and gene expression patterns in candidate genes for adaptation to environmental perturbations. Furthermore, the project trying to clarify the possible role of different water bird species as mobile links for long distance dispersal of zooplankton species.
Zooplankton dispersal and colonization in a meta-community pond system
Supervisor team: Guntram Weithoff, Ralph Tiedemann, Jana Eccard
In combination with common garden experiment with Project P07, the role of sediment on the colonization of mesocosms will be investigated. Therefore, a number of mesocosms with and without sediment will be set-up and filled with pond water and, then, sampled for several weeks to determine the community dynamics. Results from this experiment will reveal the relative importance of the egg bank in dry sediments to the community dynamics. Sediments from different sites will be collected and used to mimic wind dispersal by adding sediments from different ponds to one selected model pond sediment. The subsequent analysis of the community dynamics will reveal the role of wind dispersal compared to the local founder egg bank. The role of mobile links in dispersal will also be investigated.
Movement ecology and filamentous fungi
Supervisor team: Matthias Rillig, Marina Müller, Florian Jeltsch
We aim to design experiments for applying the BioMove concepts (i.e. link between the movement ecology framework and species coexistence theory) to the research and life history of filamentous fungi. In nature, filamentous fungi live in the environment which is highly complex and heterogeneous both on the macro-scale of the mycelium and micro-scale of the individual hyphae. Yet, a large part of our knowledge about them still depends on cultivation studies on media which are homogenous and do not have structural differences across scales. Further, the view of filamentous fungi as typical sessile organisms has been already challenged. Through the informed and directed hyphal extension and mycelium growth, accompanied by the dynamic redistribution of the cytoplasmic content across the mycelial network and the ability to retract parts of the mycelium, fungi interact with the environment in ways analogous to motile unitary organisms. This PhD research project takes place in the AG Rillig (Freie Universität, Berlin) in the context of the BioMove Research Training Group at The University of Potsdam. This interdisciplinary collaboration brings together the research in filamentous fungi, soil ecology, movement ecology and species coexistence theory. Therefore – on the one hand – the doctoral project allows to address the aforementioned challenges and opportunities in filamentous fungi biology. On the other hand, research on filamentous fungi embedded in the BioMove framework will help to further develop the movement ecology framework and its links with the theory of species coexistence.
Trade-offs between dispersal ability and niche competition of co-occurring microorganisms in the phyllosphere of host plants
Supervisor team: Marina Müller, Matthias Rillig, Volker Grimm, Jasmin Joshi
The aim of this project will focus on the distribution of phytopathogenic fungi in space and time with the focus on wind dispersal and how this is influenced by the interactions between bacteria and fungi in the phyllosphere of wheat plants in the habitat of origin and immigration. Importance is given to the testing of general ecological theories such as modern coexistence theory and the effect of different spatially spreading barriers in landscape.
From individual home-range formation to community dynamics: A novel, allometric modelling approach to explore biodiversity loss caused by landscape changes
Supervisor team: Florian Jeltsch, Volker Grimm, Stephanie Kramer-Schadt
This project will develop and apply a novel approach to dynamically model vertebrate community changes in heterogeneous dynamic landscapes. Based on an allometric approach home range dynamics of a large number of competing individuals are simulated under different scenarios of habitat loss, fragmentation changes, and resource dynamics. The new model will allow exploring the role of (i) individual movement and space use during foraging, and (ii) juvenile dispersal for biodiversity dynamics under changing environmental conditions.
How do fine-scale movement processes of animals affect the population- and community-level
Aim: Developing new mathematical-statistical methods for ecologists
Animal movement can affect biodiversity along many routes. Fine-scale movement behaviour allows spatio-temporal segregation of competitors and may thus facilitate coexistence. Dispersing individuals connect populations and maintain genetic diversity. Differences in mobility can give species an edge over otherwise superior competitors. Futhermore, moving animals provide important sevices within ecosystems as 'mobile links', transporting nutrients and genetic material (e.g. seeds, pollen) and providing important processes (e.g. disturbance via grazing). These mechanisms are threatenend by environmental changes, such as human-induced changes in landscape structure and habitat, climate change or the introduction of invasive species. My objective is to develop a theoretical concept that will allow us to study the various links between movement processes and biodiversity within one framework and to identify links that are particularly vulnerable to environmental changes or have a high potential for buffering against negative impacts.
Using agent-based movement modeling to improve the connectivity of jaguar populations (Panthera onca) in Middle America
Supervisor team: Stephanie Kramer-Schadt, Volker Grimm
The main purpose of my research is the development of a spatially explicit agent-based movement and population viability model to understand jaguar functional connectivity in the complex heterogeneous landscape of Middle America. This model will focus on answering two main questions: how do pathways for jaguar connectivity emerge from the interaction between the species’ movement behaviour, demography and the landscape structure in this region? And, what management and restoration strategies maximize populations’ connectivity and long term viability? My model will be parameterized and tested with existing data and validated independently using genetic information. Elements of participatory modeling will be implemented during the research process, in which interim versions of the models will be discussed with jaguar experts and stakeholders from the study region, to ensure that the model output can be directly used to support management and planning for jaguar conservation. The final model will provide strategic feedback to the current conservation actions performed within the Jaguar Corridor Initiative in Middle America, improving the ecological realism and functionality of jaguar corridors, as well as the prioritization for protection and restoration of the critical linkages within the corridor that will most likely secure both jaguar movement and population viability.
Arthropods as mobile linker for fungal spore dispersal - linking species behaviour and movement patterns with disease spread mechanisms
Supervisor team: Marina Müller, Matthias Rillig, Klaus Birkhofer, Michael Glemnitz
For my project I will work with ground beetle species, which differ in their preferred habitat, morphology and diet. Based on that, I investigate their potential as a vector for FHB causing fungal spores and therefore as a mobile link between semi-natural habitats and agricultural fields. The PhD project builds upon extensive previous work on carabid species occurrence and habitat use as well as on fungal disease occurrence and spatial spread, which until now have been analyzed separately from each other. The key objectives of the PhD Project are to (i) identify and quantify carabid movement pattern between agricultural fields and neighboring semi -natural habitats (Kettle- holes) by trapping (ii) analyzing fungal species community associated with the carabids due to ecto- or endozoochory (Spores attached to body parts and spores that survived the digestive system of the beetle) (iii) and identifying relevant fungal and beetle traits, especially morphology, which promote an insect- mediated dispersal
Impacts of wildlife-based land use options on feedbacks between movement ecology of major endemic large herbivores, biomass production, landscape diversity and related ecosystem services
Supervisor team: Niels Blaum, Stephanie Kramer-Schadt
We are investigating the impacts of wildlife-based land use options on feedbacks between movement ecology of major endemic large herbivores, biomass production, landscape diversity and related ecosystem services. Our main objective is to provide baseline data and explore the impact of wildlife-based land-use management on vegetation properties, structural diversity, biodiversity and productivity including the link between wildlife-vegetation feedbacks and human wildlife conflicts. We will track different large herbivore species such as Springbok, Kudu and Oryx antilopes. In a first step this tracking data will be used to construct movement networks. In a second step accelerometer data will be used to analyze the specific behavior of the animals and by adding this information to the movement networks we will be able to construct behavioral networks. This allows us to identify which animals do what, when, where and why. Based on the networks we then will compare the biodiversity between hotspots of animal activity and comparable but undisturbed sites in order to quantify the influence of herbivores on the biodiversity and ecosystem services. Biodiversity will be quantified with so called rapid biodiversity assessments with which the diversity of arthropods, small mammals and plants will be captured efficiently.
Spatial and temporal variation and their effects on the stability of large food webs
Supervisor team: Christian Guill, Ursula Gaedke
The project is part of the research unit “Networks on Networks”, examining the interplay of structure and dynamics in spatial ecological networks. The focus of my work is to understand how and what impact a spatial and temporal variable landscape has on the stability of a meta food web. Spatial variability refers here to a variable connectance between habitat patches ranging from very isolated to entirely connected. Temporal variability refers to seasonal occurring links and habitat patches which are temporally present and absence in the landscape. The implementation is done through a dynamic and spatially explicit food web model which integrates complex food web dynamics at the local scale and species-specific dispersal dynamics at the landscape scale. This allows us to study the interplay of local and spatial processes in meta-communities.
Sustainable management of Namibian semi-arid savannas with wildlife – Simulating wildlife dynamics and management under global change
Supervisor team: Florian Jeltsch, Niels Blaum, Volker Grimm
The major goal of my PhD project is to develop a modelling framework that aims at impacts on ecosystems in semi-arid Namibian savannas through wildlife-based management strategies. The spatially explicit agent-based model will follow an animal functional type approach in which savanna-typical ungulates (e.g. springbok, eland antelope, greater kudu, South African oryx, red hartebeest, Burchell’s zebra, blue wildebeest) are classified according to multiple species-specific traits. These traits cover behavioural properties such as spatio-temporal patterns of foraging, movement and drought response as well as other aspects such as body size, water dependence and metabolism. Processes in the model scale up from individual behaviour to population dynamics and will be linked to an ecohydrological vegetation model developed within another work package of the ORYCS² project. The model will be used to evaluate different scenarios of land use, herd management and climate in regard to sustainability of ecosystem services as well as economic feasibility. Data provided by other ORYCS² work packages and the Namibian Ministry of Environment and Tourism will be used to parameterize and validate the model.
Global Change Biology | Bird Migration | Wildlife Infectious Disease Dynamics
Supervisor team: ---
My current research is structured across three main topics: (1) Understanding the effects of climate change and habitat destruction on long-distance migratory birds. Analysing tracking data of migratory shorebirds for changes in migration phenology, stopover sites and breeding success, I am to better understand the drivers and the consequences of these changes. (2) Migratory animals as potential superspreaders of zoonotic diseases, particularly the host-pathogen interaction and how the physiological effects of an infection may change the temporal and spatial spread of the pathogen by its host (e.g. avian influenza virus) (3) Using remote sensing images to quantify seasonality and changes therein in order to understand how they affect biological systems, such as the migration and host-pathogen interactions.
Behavioural adjustment to anthropogenic environments
Supervisor team: ---
My current project is aimed at identifying the key functional traits of individuals that successfully cope with the challenges created by urban environments. Using small mammals as model species, I test for between-individual differences in risk-taking and exploration, behavioural and cognitive flexibility, space use and spatial skills along a gradient from rural to urban environmental conditions with varying degrees of anthropogenic influences. This work is part of the Collaborative Project “Bridging in Biodiversity Science” (BIBS).
Identification of bat attractors on wind turbines for the development of avoidance strategies: GPS-based spatial studies of the collision-endangered common noctule
Supervisor team: ---
We use miniaturized GPS trackers, each with a microphone and an acceleration sensor, to investigate behaviour of common noctule bats, a species with a relatively high mortality risk by wind turbines (WEA). Using a spatial modelling approach we aim to derive specific habitat and WEA parameter which can be relevant for an attraction or deterrence of common noctule bats at WEA. We expect the results to be a specific starting point for combining a bat friendly and economic operation of WEA and, thus, to be a contribution to the smart energy transition. Involving the different stakeholders from the beginning onwards allows us to identify detailed questions of interest and it can be an advantage in applying our results in the field of wind energy and environmental sensor systems.
Hunting grounds of bats in intensively used agricultural systems
Supervisor team: ---
This work builds on the latest telemetry system ATLAS, which is deployed in the BioMove study area and allows automatic and simultaneous recording of the spatial position of up to a hundred flying animals that are equipped with extremely light-weight radio transmitters. I will equip a colony of Common noctule bats that are known to hunt over agricultural fields in the area with radio transmitters to record their space use during foraging trips. The recordings will allow me to see how the noctule bats react towards different agricultural measurements such as harvesting. Simultaneously, my colleagues and I will quantify insect abundance and diversity at foraging grounds, thereby shedding light on how prey availability influences the space use of foraging insectivores in human landscapes.
The Role of Transition Zones for Maintaining Functional Diversity in Agricultural Landscapes
Supervisor team: ---
Especially in agricultural landscapes, the expansion and intensification of agriculture leads to the loss of biodiversity. Transition zones such as flowering strips or hedges are frequently mentioned as suitable mitigation measures which promote diversity in agricultural landscapes. In my current project, I develop a spatially explicit modelling approach to analyse the role of transition zones for functional diversity in a typical agricultural landscape. The model simulates population dynamics of interacting functional types of typical pollinating insects in an agricultural area in Northeast Germany (AgroScapeLabs). I am interested in the influence of the structural characteristics of transition zones within the regional landscape context (i.e. amount, area and location) for maintaining and promoting functional biodiversity.
Moving through the shadows: the role of behavioral variation in bat migration
Supervisor team: ---
Hitherto, research on partial migration has almost exclusively focused on birds, yet novel tools have recently become available to study partial migration in the only other extant group of vertebrates with self-powered flight: bats. New and improved techniques, such as non-invasive isotopic geo- location, now allow for estimating the breeding origins of a large number of European bats, by using a stable isotope approach in combination with spatial movement data collected over decades of bat banding research. Using this novel technique of isotopic geo-location in combination with bat personality assays, I will test whether migratory female noctule bats (Nyctalus noctula) have more exploratory personality types than non-migrants.
Consistent individual differences in movement-related behaviour as equalizing and stabilizing mechanisms for species coexistence
Supervisor team: Melanie Dammhahn, Florian Jeltsch, Christian Voigt, Jana Eccard
The project aims at investigating the inter-individual differences in movement-related behaviours of two small mammals, how they influence the spatial behaviour of individuals and the resulting impact on individual and ecological fitness. Therefore in a first step the natural variation in behavioural types in both coexisting species will be quantified using already established personality tests, as well as their spatial distribution within and space use of a heterogeneous habitat assessed using capture-mark-recapture and automatic radio-tracking. Furthermore fitness proxies will be measured. In a second step, an experimental approach will be taken in which the variation in behavioural types will be manipulated to assess its influence on the coexistence of the study species.
Combined effects of land-use and individual movement decisions shape disease dynamics through mobile mammal links
Supervisor team: Stephanie Kramer-Schadt, Niels Blaum, Volker Grimm
My PhD project deals with the interplay of movement decisions, landscape heterogeneity and disease dynamics. The project aims to understand how spatio-temporal host-pathogen coexistence patterns (e.g. rabies in foxes, classical swine fever in wild boars) are affected by combined effects of (1) spatial and temporal land-use change, and (2) host individual’s movement decisions and life-history traits. By combining existing spatially explicit epidemiological approaches with more accurate habitat-dependent movement models we hope to gain new insights on landscape effects on movement patterns and disease persistence. We will assess whether stabilizing mechanisms play a role in host-pathogen systems when both pathogen (upon its arrival) and host (after being suppressed to low numbers by a pathogen) are at low densities.
Land use related transient matrix determine functioning and importance of mobile links for biodiversity in dynamic anthropogenic landscapes
Supervisor team: Niels Blaum, Jana Eccard, Stephanie Kramer-Schadt
Using advanced telemetry and statistics for the European hare as model species, we aim at shedding light on the following research questions: What are the impacts of transient matrix areas, i.e. temporary structures that facilitate/prevent movements between habitat patches, on connectivity and potential links affecting biodiversity patterns? What are the effects of sudden changes in resources and landscape structure (e.g. harvesting or ploughing) on movement behaviour and movement paths of individual mobile linkers? How do land use induced changes in movements on a small scale affect biodiversity patterns at larger scales?
Animal movement patterns across habitats: connecting biodiversity
Supervisor team: Jana Eccard, Volker Grimm, Christian Voigt
The project’s aim is to investigate the requirements of permanent landscape structures to function as animal-defined corridors. Therefore, there will be two basic approaches. First, corridors at road sites and hedge rows in an agricultural landscape will be tested for suitability as an animal-defined corridor and in the second experimental approach; different corridors will be designed in large grassland enclosures to test how small mammals behave in a fragmented environment.
Equalizing and stabilizing mechanisms in regulating the co-existence of aerial-hawking bat species in agricultural landscapes
Supervisor team: Christian Voigt, Jana Eccard, Niels Blaum
We will repeatedly equip common noctule bats with miniaturized GPS loggers and microphones for short periods throughout the whole activity season. The records will show how the movement decisions and space use of individual bats depends on season (non-migratory vs. migratory), sex, and age of the bats. Furthermore, the combination of GPS positions and on-board ultrasound recordings will enable us to link the movement of bats to encounter rates of con- and heterospecifics. Furthermore, we will simulate different competitive environments by broadcasting bat calls in different habitats in different seasons to investigate whether interactions of bats are context depended. Variability in these interactions might help stabilizing the diversity of bat communities, for example when competitors influence movement decisions leading to temporal or seasonal resource partitioning.
Influence of agricultural land-use change on gene flow between habitat islands
Supervisor team: Jasmin Joshi, Ralph Tiedemann, Matthias Rillig
The project tackles the following key questions: (1) Does land-use change, e.g. the increased cultivation of energy crops, increase landscape resistance to plant gene flow and therefore alters the functioning of mobile links for biodiversity emergence and maintenance? (2) Can observations of contemporary gene flow be related to population genetic patterns? (3) Does contemporary gene flow act as an equalizing or stabilizing mechanism influencing local plant species richness? (4) Are patterns of plant gene flow and genetic diversity correlated with variability in plant-species diversity at habitat islands such as permanent and ephemeral kettle holes within the agricultural matrix?
Dispersal diversity is a stabilizing mechanism for coexistence in multitrophic metacommunities (tandem PhD project)
Supervisor team: Ralph Tiedemann, Guntram Weithoff, Jana Eccard, Marina Müller
The project uses the unique system of kettle holes (infield ponds) of the study region as a model system to assess the significance of dispersal processes for the structure of natural communities. It focuses on landscape-scale patterns and consists of the following steps: (1) Characterising local environmental factors and zooplankton communities in selected ponds across the landscape and analysing spatial signals likely representing dispersal processes. (2) Comparing the current and historical genetic diversity and species composition at landscape-scale from sediment samples and inferring the contribution of dispersal to local populations. (3) Setting up clonal populations originating from resting eggs to examine morphological and physiological trait compositions through space and time.
Interactions of pollinators and nectar-occupying yeast communities
Supervisor team: Matthias Rillig, Florian Jeltsch, Jasmin Joshi
Nearly all nectar-containing flowers are colonized by yeasts soon after flower maturation. This colonization is linked to pollinator visitation. The yeasts have been argued to affect nutritional quality of nectar, might produce volatiles or fermentation by-products that can attract or repulse pollinators and slightly increase flower temperature of winter blooming plants, which was argued to also affect pollinator behaviour. The main questions of the project are (1) How do differences in between-flower versus within-flower community dynamics interlink to affect yeast species coexistence? (2) Can trade-offs between yeast adaptations towards dispersal vectors and local competitiveness stabilize yeast metacommunities?
Interactions within communities of microorganisms may affect dispersal of phytopathogenic fungi in the phyllosphere of host plants
Supervisor team: Marina Müller, Matthias Rillig, Volker Grimm
How do phytopathogenic fungi distribute themselves in a cultivated field? How is the distribution related to the microbial community composition? How do the interspecific relationships among different microorganisms influence their dispersal? Are differences in the bacterial community acting as stabilizing or equalizing mechanisms for the coexistence of different phytopathogenic fungi? These are the key points analysed in this project, which takes, as a study system, the microbial communities living on the wheat ears and their in-field distribution patterns.
Understanding predator-prey interactions: The role of fear in structuring prey communities.
Supervisor team: Florian Jeltsch, Volker Grimm, Stephanie Kramer-Schadt
In my PhD-project I aim to understand the consequences of non-consumptive predator effects on mammalian prey communities. Therefore, I use a computer model that scales up from individual home range formation based on food availability and perceived predation risk to community structure and composition. In a first step I identify key mechanisms shaping prey community patterns under fear. Additionally, I explore the effect of fear for animal communities facing environmental changes such as fragmentation and habitat loss. The mechanistic basis of the model allows to link mechanisms and processes at the individual level with patterns occurring on the community level.
Ecosystem services in an agricultural landscape
Supervisor team: Jasmin Joshi, Christoph Scherber
My analyses focus on crop production, nutrient supply and pest control along transects from natural landscape elements (in-field ponds and hedgerows) into winter wheat fields in the Quillow catchment (Brandenburg). I established phytometer plots of a winter wheat variety at all transect points to compare for crop and vegetation traits, soil physical, chemical and biological traits as well as potential crop pests and their biological controllers. I am working on agricultural weeds, soil mesofauna (Collembola, Acari), earthworms, ground-dwelling arthropods (beetles and spiders) and leaf and seed pathogens of winter wheat. The diversity and distribution of those communities will be evaluated in the context of measured rates, i.e. decomposition rates, predation rates of seeds, herbivory rates among others to gain more insights on the importance of landscape heterogeneity for the presented ecosystem services.
Understanding and predicting global change impacts on migratory birds
Supervisor team: Florian Jeltsch, Stephanie Kramer-Schadt, Marina Müller
The project aims to improve our mechanistic understanding of the impacts of global change on migratory birds as one prerequisite to comprehend ongoing global biodiversity loss. It focuses on the following key questions: (1) How do short- and long-term changes in food supply as expected under global change affect the population dynamics and behavioural patterns of migratory birds? (2) What carry-over effects do altered fine-scale temporal patterns in resource supply induce in migratory birds? To tackle these questions, I implement and utilize a generic open-source computer model for investigating the behaviour and population dynamics of animals in cyclic environments. The model considers ecological and evolutionary time-scales, biological constraints and individual trade-offs, which ultimately shape response dynamics at the population level.
Movement ecology of red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) in dynamic agricultural landscapes
Supervisor team: Heribert Hofer, Sylvia Ortmann, Stephanie Kramer-Schadt
The main aim of this project is to examine movement behaviour of mesopredators (e.g. foraging, daily activity, dispersal) as a key process of biodiversity dynamics in anthropogenic landscapes. Therefore, ecological processes, the land use dynamics and the landscape structure will be investigated with regard to their influence on movement patterns of mesopredators, especially the red fox (Vulpes vulpes), on a spatial and temporal scale. Accordingly, the key questions are: (1) How do the structural diversity and dynamics of agricultural landscapes influence the space use and the movement behaviour of red foxes? (2) Are there hot spots of connectivity or temporally exclusive areas of habitat selection? (3) How is the spatio-temporal utilization of the landscape of predator and potential prey, e.g. the European brown hare (Lepus europaeus; see dissertation of Wiebke Ullmann) structured? How does the landscape structure and resource availability of an anthropogenic landscape influence the distribution and genetic structure of the red fox population?
Understanding drivers of system stability at different levels of organization: From traits, via populations to communities
Supervisor team: tba
My research has three main foci: (1) Understanding stability. How can we measure stability and to what extent can we unify the measures of stability across studies? Further, what are the mechanisms rendering a system stable? (2) Population and community dynamics under disturbance and stress, especially considering the spatial aspect (i.e. meta-populations and meta-communities). (3) Mechanisms allowing populations and communities to cope with the effects of environmental factors (understanding trait changes via phenotypic plasticity and microevolution).
University of Potsdam
University of Potsdam
Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (IZW)
Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF)
Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (IZW)
Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (IZW)
University of Potsdam
Ghent University, Belgium
IRSA Italy
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel
Eastern Switzerland University of Applied Sciences
Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF)
Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (IZW)
University of Potsdam
Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI)
University of Salzburg
University of Potsdam
Freie Universität Berlin
Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (IZW)
Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (IZW)
Cohort I: 2015 - 2018
Dr. Pierluigi Colangeli
Dr. Sebastian Hausmann
Dr. Gabriele Kowalski
Magdalena Litwin
Dr. Sissi Donna Lozada Gobilard
Dr. Manuel Röleke
Dr. Annika Schirmer
Dr. Gabriele Schiro
Dr. Lisa Teckentrup
Dr. Cédric Scherer (2015-2019 PhD candidate, 2019 StartUp PostDoc)
Dr. Wiebke Ullmann (2015-2019 PhD candidate, 2019 StartUp PostDoc)
Dr. Ulrike Schlägel (PostDoc)
Dr. Antje Herde (2015-2018, Coordinator)
Dr. Madlen Ziege (2018-2019, Coordinator)
Dr. Merlin Schäfer (2019-2021 Coordinator)
Former Associated Members
Guillaume Chero (2018-2020)
Dr. Viktoriia Radchuk (2015-2018)
Dr. Jette Reeg (2020)
Dr. Merlin Schäfer (2015-2019 PhD candidate)
Dr. Carolin Scholz (2015-2021)
Dr. Lysanne Snijders (2019)
Kürschner, T, Scherer, C, Radchuk, V, Blaum, N, Kramer‐Schadt, S. (2021). Movement can mediate temporal mismatches between resource availability and biological events in host–pathogen interactions.
Ecology and Evolution ece3.7478.
DOI: 10.1002/ece3.7478
Hoffmann A, Lischeid G,
Koch M, Lentzsch P, Sommerfeld
T, Müller MEH (2021). Co-Cultivation of
Fusarium, Alternaria, and Pseudomonas
on Wheat-Ears Affects Microbial
Growth and Mycotoxin Production.
Microorganisms 9:
443.
DOI: 10.3390//microorganisms 9020443
Lozada-Gobilard S, Schwarzer C, Rodner
D, Tiedemann R,
Joshi J (2021). Genetic Diversity and Connectivity in
Plant Species
Differing in Clonality and Dispersal Mechanisms in
Wetland Island
Habitats.
Journal of Heredity 059:1-14.
DOI: 10.1093/jhered/esaa059
Milles A, Dammhahn M, Grimm V
(2020).
Intraspecific trait
variation in personality‐related movement behavior
promotes
coexistence.
Oikos 129: 1441–1454.
DOI: 10.1111/oik.07431
Scherer C, Radchuk V, Franz
Mathias, Thulke
Hans-Hermann,
Lange M, Grimm V, Kramer-Schadt S (2020). Moving
infections:
individual
movement decisions drive disease persistence in
spatially structured landscapes. Oikos 129: 651–667.
DOI: 10.1111/oik.07002
2020
Schirmer A, Hoffmann J, Eccard JA,
Dammhahn M (2020).
My niche: individual spatial niche specialization
affects within- and
between-species interactions. Proceedings of the
Royal Society B 287: 20192211.
DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2019.2211
Ullmann W, Fischer C, Kramer-Schadt S,
Glemnitz M,
Blaum N
(2020). How do agricultural practices affect the
movement behaviour of
European brown hares (Lepus europaeus)?
Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environments 292:
106819.
DOI: 10.1016/j.agee.2020.106819
2019
Bielcik M, Aguilar-Trigueros CA,
Lakovic M,
Jeltsch F,
Rillig MC. (2019). The role of active movement in
fungal ecology
and
community assembly. Movement Ecology 7:
36.
DOI: 10.1186/s40462-019-0180-6
Jeltsch F, Grimm V, Reeg J, Schlaegel
UE (2019).
Give chance
a chance: from coexistence to coviability in
biodiversity theory.
Ecosphere 10(5): e02700.
DOI:10.1002/ecs2.2700.
Hoffmann J, Schirmer A, Eccard JA
(2019) Light
pollution
affects space use and interaction of two small
mammal species
irrespective
of personality. BMC Ecology 19:26.
DOI: 10.1186/s12898-019-0241-0.
Kowalski GJ, Grimm V, Herde A,
Guenther A, Eccard
JA (2019).
Does Animal Personality Affect Movement in Habitat
Corridors?
Experiments
with Common Voles (Microtus arvalis) Using
Different Corridor Widths. Animals 9 (6):
291.
DOI: 10.3390/ani9060291.
Lozada-Gobilard S, Stang S,
Pirhofer-Walzl K.
Kalettka T,
Heinken T, Schröder B, Eccard J, Joshi J (2019).
Environmental
filtering
and patch dynamics predict plant-community
trait distribution and biodiversity: Kettle holes
as models of
meta-community systems. Ecology and
Evolution
9:1898–1910.
DOI: 10.1002/ece3.4883
Radchuk V, De Laender F, Sarmento Cabral J,
Boulangeat I, Crawford
M, Bohn F,
De Raedt J, Scherer C, Svenning
J-C, Thonicke K,
Schurr F,
Grimm V, Kramer-Schadt S (2019). The
dimensionality of stability depends on disturbance
type.
Ecological
Letters 22. 674-684
DOI: 10.1111/ele.13226
Scherer C, Radchuk V, Staubach C,
Mueller S, Blaum
N,
Thulke H-H, Kramer-Schadt S (2019). Seasonal host
life-history
processes fuel disease dynamics at different
spatial scales.
Journal of Animal Ecology (First
published: 22 July
2019).
DOI: 10.1111/1365-2656.13070.
Schirmer A, Herde A, Eccard JA,
Dammhahn M (2019).
Individuals in space: personality- dependent space
use, movement
and
microhabitat use facilitate individual spatial
niche
specialization. Oecologia.
DOI: 10.1007/s00442-019-04365-5
Schiro G, Müller T, Verch G,
Sommerfeld T, Mauch
T,
Koch M, Grimm V, Müller MEH (2019). The
distribution of
mycotoxins in
a heterogeneous wheat field in relation to
microclimate, fungal and bacterial abundance.
Journal of
Applied
Microbiology 126: 177-190.
DOI: 10.1111/jam.14104
Schiro G, Colangeli P, Müller MEH
(2019). A
Metabarcoding analysis of the mycobiome of wheat
ears across a
topographically heterogeneous field. Frontiers
in
Microbiology
10: 2095.
DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2019.02095.
Schlägel UE, Grimm V, Blaum N,
Colangeli
P, Dammhahn M, Eccard J, Hausmann S,
Herde A, Hofer
H,
Joshi J, Kramer-Schadt S, Litwin M,
Lozada-Gobilard
S, Müller M. Müller T, Nathan R,
Petermann J,
Pirhofer-Walzl K, Radchuk V, Rillig M,
Röleke M,
Schäfer M, Scherer
C,
Schiro
G, Scholz C,
Teckentrup
L, Tiedemann R,Ullmann
W, Voigt C,
Weithoff G,
Jeltsch
F (2019). Movement-mediated community assembly and
coexistence.
EcoEvoRxiv Preprints.
Preprint DOI 10.32942/osf.io/d8a4m.
Schlägel UE, Signer J, Herde A,
Eden S, Jeltsch F,
Eccard JA, Dammhahn M (2019). Estimating
interactions between
individuals from concurrent animal movements.
Methods in
Ecology and Evolution
10:1234-1245.
DOI 10.1111/2041-210X.13235.
Voigt CC, Bumrungsric S,
Roeleke
M (2019).
Rapid descent flight by a molossid bat
(Chaerephon
plicatus)
returning to its cave. Mammalian
Biology 95:15-17.
DOI: 10.1016/j.mambio.2019.01.001
Colangeli P (2019). From pond metacommunities to life in a droplet causes and consequences of movement in zooplankton. Ph.D. Thesis, University of Potsdam.
Kowalski GJ (2019). Animal movement patterns across habitats: connecting biodiversity. Ph.D. thesis, University of Potsdam.
Lozada Gobilard SD (2019). From genes to communities: Assessing plant diversity and connectivity in kettle holes as metaecosystems in agricultural landscapes. Ph.D. thesis, University of Potsdam.
Roeleke M (2019). Foraging strategies of an aerial-hawking insectivore, the Common noctule bat Nyctalus noctula. Ph.D. Thesis. Freie Universität Berlin (submitted in Feb. 2019).
Scherer C (2019). Infection on the move: Individual host movement drives disease persistence in spatially structured landscapes PhD thesis. University of Potsdam. Submitted in March 2019.
Schirmer A (2019). Consistent individual differences in movement-related behaviour as equalizing and/or stabilizing mechanisms for species coexistence. Ph. D. Thesis, University of Potsdam. Submitted in March 2019.
Schiro G (2019). Spatial distribution of phyllosphere fungi in heterogeneous wheat fields: An analysis of abiotic and biotic driving factors. PhD thesis. University of Potsdam. Submitted in March.
Teckentrup L (2019). Understanding predator-prey interactions: The role of fear in structuring prey communities. Ph.D. Thesis, University of Potsdam. Submitted in January 2019.
Ullmann W (2019). Understanding animal movement behavior in dynamic agricultural landscapes. Ph.D. Thesis, University of Potsdam.
2018
Colangeli P, Schlägel
UE,
Obertegger U,
Petermann JS, Tiedemann R, Weithoff G (2018).
Negative
phototactic response
to UVR in three cosmopolitan rotifers: a
video analysis approach. Hydrobiologia.
DOI:10.1007/s10750-018-3801-y
Crawford M, Jeltsch F, May F, Grimm V,
Schlägel
UE (2018).
Intraspecific trait variation increases species
diversity in a
trait‐based
grassland model.
Oikos.
DOI:10.1111/oik.05567
Grimm V, Railsback SF, Vincenot CE, Berger U,
Gallagher C,
DeAngelis DL,
Edmonds B, Ge J, Giske J, Groeneveld J, Johnston
ASA,
Milles A, Nabe-Nielsen J, PoIhill
JG, Radchuk V,
Rohwäder MS, Stillman RA, Thiele
JC, Ayllón C
(online
first). The ODD protocol for describing
agent-based and other
simulation
models: a second update to
improve clarity, replication, and structural
realism. Journal
of
Artificial Sociecities and Social
Simulation.
DOI:
10.18564/jasss.4259
Mayer M, Ullmann W, Sunde P,
Fischer C, Blaum N
(2018).
Habitat selection by the European hare in arable
landscapes: The
importance
of small-scale habitat structure for
conservation. Ecology and Evolution
8(23):11619-11633.
DOI: 10.1002/ece3.4613
Noonan MJ, Tucker MA, ..., Blaum N, Jeltsch F,
Ullmann
W,
...,et al. (2018). A comprehensive analysis of
autocorrelation
and bias in
home range estimation.
Ecological Monographs.
DOI: 10.1002/ecm.1344
Obertegger U, Cieplinski A, Raatz M,
Colangeli P
(2018).
Switching between swimming states in rotifers–case
study
Keratella
cochlearis. Marine and Freshwater
Behaviour and Physiology.
DOI:10.1080/10236244.2018.1503541
Roeleke M, Blohm T, Hoffmeister U,
Marggraf L,
Schlägel UE, Teige T, Voigt CC
(online first).
Landscape
structure influences the use of social information
in an
insectivorous bat. OIKOS.
DOI: 10.1111/oik.07158
Roeleke M, Bumrungsri, S, Voigt CC
(2018). Bats
probe the
aerosphere during landscape- guided altitudinal
flights.
Mammal
Review 48(1):7–11.
DOI:10.1111/mam.12109
Roeleke M, Johannsen L, Voigt CC
(2018). How Bats
Escape the
Competitive Exclusion Principle—Seasonal Shift
From Intraspecific
to
Interspecific Competition Drives Space Use in a
Bat Ensemble. Frontiers in Ecology and
Evolution 6, 101.
DOI:10.3389/fevo.2018.00101
Roeleke M, Teige T, Hoffmeister U,
Klingler F,
Voigt CC
(2018). Aerial-hawking bats adjust their use of
space to the
lunar cycle.
Movement Ecology 6(1):11.
DOI:10.1186/s40462- 018-0131-7
Schiro G, Verch G, Grimm V, Müller
MEH (2018).
Alternaria and Fusarium Fungi: Differences in
Distribution and
Spore
Deposition in a Topographically Heterogeneous
Wheat Field.
Journal of Fungi. 4: 63.
DOI: 10.3390/jof4020063
Sciaini M, Fritsch M, Scherer C,
Simpkins CE
(2018).
NLMR and landscapetools: An integrated environment
for simulating
and
modifying neutral landscape models in R.
Methods in Ecology and Evolution
9(11):2240-2248.
DOI: 10.1111/2041-210X.13076
Teckentrup L, Grimm V,
Kramer-Schadt S, Jeltsch F
(2018).
Community consequences of foraging under fear.
Ecological
Modelling 383:80–90.
DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2018.05.015
Tucker M, ... , Blaum N, ...Jeltsch F,
...Ullmann
W, ..., et
al. (2018). Moving in the Anthropocene: Global
reductions in
terrestrial
mammalian movements. Science
359:466-469.
DOI: 10.1126/science.aam9712
Ullmann W, Fischer C,
Pirhofer-Walzl K,
Kramer-Schadt S,
Blaum N (2018). Spatiotemporal variability in
resources affects
herbivore
home range formation in structurally contrasting
and unpredictable agricultural landscapes.
Landscape
Ecology
33(9):1505-1517.
DOI: 10.1007/s10980-018-0676-2
Voigt CC, Currie SE, Fritze M, Roeleke
M, Lindecke
O (2018).
Conservation Strategies for Bats Flying at High
Altitudes.
BioScience, 68(6):427–435.
DOI:10.1093/biosci/biy040
Hausmann SL (2018). Interactions of pollinators and nectar-occupying yeast communities. Ph.D. thesis, Freie Universität Berlin.
2017
Hausmann SL, Tietjen B, Rillig MC
(2017). Solving
the puzzle
of yeast survival in ephemeral nectar systems:
exponential growth
is not
enough. FEMS Microbiol Ecol
93:1–24.
DOI: 10.1093/femsec/fix150
Schlägel UE, Merrill EH, Lewis MA
(2017).
Territory
surveillance and prey management: Wolves keep
track of space and
time.
Ecology and Evolution.
DOI:10.1002/ece3.3176
Teckentrup L, Kramer-Schadt S, Jeltsch F (in press): The risk of ignoring fear: Underestimating the effects of habitat loss and fragmentation on biodiversity. Landscape Ecology.
Associated publications
Raatz L, Bacchi N, Pirhofer Wlazl
K, Glemnitz M,
Müller M, Joshi
J,
Scherber C (2019). How much do we really lose? –
Yield losses in
the proximity
of
natural landscape elements in
agricultural landscapes. Ecology and
Evolution
9:7838-7848.
DOI: 10.1002/ece3.5370
Schaefer M, Menz S, Jeltsch F,
Zurell D (2018):
sOAR: a tool for
modelling optimal animal life‐history strategies
in cyclic
environments.
Ecography 41(3):551-557.
DOI: 10.1111/ecog.03328
Zurell D, Wehrden H, Rotics S, Kaatz M, Gross H,
Schlag L,
Schaefer
M,
Sapir N, Turjeman S, Wikelski M, Nathan R, Jeltsch
F (2018). Home
range size and
resource use of breeding
and non-breeding white storks along a land use
gradient.
Frontiers in
Ecology and
Evolution 6:79.
DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2018.00079
Schäfer M (2019) Understanding and
predicting
global change
impacts on
migratory birds. Ph.D. thesis, University
Potsdam.
DOI: 10.25932/publishup-43925
Colangeli P, Schlägel
UE,
Obertegger
U,Petermann JS, Tiedemann R, Weithoff G (2018).
Negative
phototactic response to
UVR
in
three cosmopolitan rotifers: a video analysis
approach.
Hydrobiologia.
DOI:10.1007/s10750-018-3801-y
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