Biodiversity, Ecology & Evolution

Clean water, fertile soils and stable climate all depend on biodiversity. Most of this biodiversity is manifested in

microorganisms like bacteria, protists, fungi, lichens, algae and bryophytes.

Identifying rules that shape modern microbial biodiversity patterns are

cornerstones to obtain deeper insights into these little known functional roles of

microbes.Interactions between organisms and their

biotic (living) and abiotic (non-living) environment create ecosystems and are responsible for their function at all scales. We

just started to understand how complex the interrelations between organisms and ecosystems

at different scales are.

Ecologicalsignificance

ofbiodiversity

inter-actions

and

a: Prorocentrum (Dinoflagellate); b: Lyngbya (Cyanobacterium); c: Chytrid (fugus); d: Ceratium (Dinoflagellate); e: Diatom; f:Dictyocha (Silicoflagellate); g: Pleuronema (Ciliat); h: Chaetoceros (Diatom); i: Collosphera (Radioloaria). From: InternationalCensus of Marine Microbes (http://icomm.mbl.edu/) und David Patterson (http://microscope.mbl.edu/).

j: Exormotheca holstii (Liverwort); k: Peziza (Ascomycete); l: Peltula radicata (Lichen); m: Genista sagittalis (Fabaceae); n: Tropical rain forest, Surinam; o: Atlantic rain forest fragment and sugar cane field, Brasil (© A. Gambarini); p: leaf cutting ants (© S. Meyer).

Department of Biology

Biodiversity, Ecology & Evolution

Ecology and eco-physiologyVegetation and community ecology, plant-animal interactions

Habitat fragmentation

Adaptation of extremophilesSystematics and biodiversity (classical and molecular) of plants, protists,

fungi and bacteria Bioinformatics and phylogenetic

theory

Symbiont-host coevolution

Biotechnology and chemical diversity of fungi

© Alexandra Stock

Researchtopics

Contacts: Plant Ecology and Systematics (Prof. Büdel), Ecology (Prof. Stoeck), Experimental Ecology (Jun.-Prof. Lakatos), Microbiology (Prof. Hakenbeck), Biotechnology (N.N.), Molecular phylogenetics (Jun.-Prof. Kauff), Cellular Physiology (Jun.-Prof. Haferkamp)

Department of Biology

Biodiversity, Ecology & Evolution

Freshwater habitats

Together, the research groups involved in this

specialized master program offer a very unique constel-

lation among German uni-versities:

We focus on joint research on lower organisms like bacteria

(human pathogenic streptococci, cyanobacteria , and intracellular

parasites), microbial eukaryotes (algae, protists), fungi, and lichens.

Furthermore, our dedications to life in extreme habitats like polar environ-

ments, hot deserts, savannas, rain forests, as well as hydrothermal vents

and anoxic marine environments unite our research groups into a unique center

of expertise.

Whatmakes

usunique

Contacts: Plant Ecology and Systematics (Prof. Büdel), Ecology (Prof. Stoeck), Experimental Ecology (Jun.-Prof. Lakatos),Microbiology (Prof. Hakenbeck), Biotechnology (N.N.), Molecular phylogenetics (Jun.-Prof. Kauff), Cellular Physiology (Jun.-Prof. Haferkamp)

European temperate regions

Marine environments

Tropical rainforests

Hot deserts

Polar cold deserts

Department of Biology

Biodiversity, Ecology & Evolution

What we

offer

Contacts: Plant Ecology and Systematics (Prof. Büdel), Ecology (Prof. Stoeck), Experimental Ecology (Jun.-Prof. Lakatos),Microbiology (Prof. Hakenbeck), Biotechnology (N.N.), Molecular phylogenetics (Jun.-Prof. Kauff), Cellular Physiology (Jun.-Prof. Haferkamp)

Comparison of pathogenic and related commensalic Streptococcus spp.The two outer rings show the genes of an organism. The coloured inner rings show genomes of related bacteria. White regions refer to genes thatdo not occur in those genomes.

Lectures and seminars in small groupsCourses (research projects, field training)

Lab courses (molecular phylogenetics, genomics, ecophysiology)

Individual training

Unique research/teaching facilitiesLow temperature-field-emission-scanning-

electron microscope with energy dispersive X-ray analysis

35 m research tower in the biosphere reservation, Sophisticated gas exchange and chlorophyll fluores-

cence equipment

Multi-CPU compute cluster

Microarray technology and bioinformatic analyses ofbacterial genomes

Access to field sites in tropical habitats, marine habitats.......

Department of Biology