Sting Bug (Antheminia varicornis)
Image: Holger SchielzethOur group covers three main lines of research, all united by the interest in understanding population-level biodiversity and its consequences for intra- und inter-species population dynamics. (i) trophic interactions and community dynamisc are the focus of Community Population Ecology line of research. (ii) Local adaptation, temporal population dynamics and behavioural ecology are the focus of Evolutionary Population Ecology line of resaerch. (iii) And the genomic architecture of genetic polymorphisms, speciation and hybridization are the focus of Molecular Population Ecology line of resarch. Furthermore, we are interested in (iv) ecological, evolutionary and startistical methods and therefore also cover the field that we call Population Ecology Methods.
Jena Experiment aerial photograph
Image: Jena-ExperimentContemporary scientific work is often very collaborative. We are therefore involved in several large collaborative research project. This includes the long-running Jena ExperimentExternal link that was established in 2002 and has been DFG-funded since then. More recently, we got engaged in a NC3 Collaborative Research CenterExternal link that is also funded by the DFG and studies the evolutionary ecology of individualized niches. Furthermore, we are participating in the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv)External link in Halle-Jena-Leipzig, the Michael Stifel Center Jena (MSCJ)External link for Data-Driven & Simulation Science and the Interantional Max Planck Research School (IMPRS)External link run by Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology in Jena. Additionally, we are involved in more grass-roots projects such as the Nutrient Network (NutNet)External link and the team for the Statistical Quantification of Individual Differences (SQuID). And finally, there are always ongoing individually funded projects that are also important.
Population Ecology Group 2016
Image: Holger SchielzethWe are a team of currently six postdoctal researchers, three PhD students, five technical assistants, and four gardeners. We will occasionally solicit applications for funded PhD student positions. Furthermore, if you are interested in joining the group with external funding or as part of your studies, you may contact us at popecol@uni-jena.de.
Fieldwork with students
Image: Günter KöhlerWe offer a variety of classes for the BSc level in Biology and the MSc level in Ecology, Evolution and Systematics. The topics range from introduction to faunistic field methods, evolutionary, community and conservation ecology, via population genetics to scientific writing and presentations. We also continously offer a selection of topics for Bachelor or Master projects. The list of ongoing and completed projects gives an impression about the range of topcis that we offer. Please to not hesitate to contact us if you are interested and movitated to work in the field of evolutiony, molecular or community ecology.
Mundinger, C., Schulz, N.K.E., Singh, P., Janz, S., Schurig, M., Seidemann, J., Kurtz, J., Müller, C., Schielzeth, H., von Kortzfleisch, V.T. & Richter, S.H. (2025). Three species, three labs, three experiments: testing the reproducibility of ecological studies on insect behaviour in a multi-laboratory setting. PLoS Biology 23: e3003019. doi: 10.1101/2025.01.16.633334External link
Halliday, F.W., Everingham, S.E., Bröcher, M., Ebeling, A., Kempel, A., Mundim, F.M., Strauss, A.T., Xirocostas, Z.A. & Kohli, M. (2025). Towards an integrative mechanistic framework for biodiversity-consumer relationships. Trends in Ecology & Evolution doi: 10.1016/j.tree.2025.03.005External link
Bröcher, M., Meyer, S.T., Leher, A.G. & Ebeling, A. (2025). Ecological traits for 1374 arthropod species collected in a German grassland. Ecology 106: e70077. doi: 10.1002/ecy.70077External link
Virtanen, R., Borer, E.T., Crawley, M., Ebeling, A., Harpole, W.S., Risch, A.C., Roscher, C., Schütz, M., Seabloom, E.W. & Eskelinen, A. (2025). Neglecting non-vascular plants leads to underestimation of grassland plant diversity loss under experimental nutrient addition. Journal of Ecology doi: 10.1111/1365-2745.70052External link
Varma, M., Winter, G., Ebeling, A., Lehmann, A., Cabon, L., Palacios-Gimenez, O.M., Pratap, N. & Schielzeth, H. (2025). Few genetic loci control the green-brown color polymorphism in the meadow grasshopper Pseudochorthippus parallelus. Journal of Evolutionary Biology doi: 10.1093/jeb/voaf036 doi: 10.1093/jeb/voaf036External link
Winter, G. & Schielzeth, H. (2025). Genetic and habitat complexity effects on unpredictability in escape behavior of a grasshopper species. Journal of Evolutionary Biology doi: 10.1093/jeb/voaf030External link
Nelson, R.A., Sullivan, L.L., Hersch-Green, E.I., Seabloom, E.W., Borer, E.T., Tognetti, P.M., Adler, P.B., Biederman, L., Bugalho, M.N., Caldeira, M.C., Cancela, J.P., Carvalheiro, L.G., Catford, J.A., Dickman, C.R., Dolezal, A.J., Donohue, I., Ebeling, A., Eisenhauer, N., Elgersma, K.J., Eskelinen, A., Estrada, C., Garbowski, M., Graff, P., Gruner, D.S., Hagenah, N., Haider, S., Harpole, W.S., Hautier, Y., Jentsch, A., Johanson, N., Koerner, S.E., Lannes, L.S., MacDougall, A.S., Martinson, H., Morgan, J.W., Olde Venterink, H., Orr, D., Osborne, B.B., Peri, P.L., Power, S.A., Raynaud, X., Risch, A.C., Shrestha, M., Smith, N.G., Stevens, C.J., Veen, G.F.C., Virtanen, R., Wardle, G.M., Wolf, A.A., Young, A.L. & Harrison, S.P. (2025). Forb diversity globally is harmed by nutrient enrichment but can be rescued by large mammalian herbivory. Communications Biology 8: 444. doi: 10.1038/s42003-025-07882-7External link
McCune, K.B., Williams, C., Dochtermann, N.A., Schielzeth, H. & Nakagawa, S. (2025). Repeatability and intra-class correlations from time-to-event data: towards a standardized approach. Animal Behaviour doi: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2025.123102External link
Bonato Asato, A.E., Guimarães‐Steinicke, C., Stein, G., Schreck, B., Kattenborn, T., Ebeling, A., Posch, S., Denzler, J., Büchner, T., Shadaydeh, M., Wirth, C., Eisenhauer, N. & Hines, J. (2025). Seasonal shifts in plant diversity effects on above‐ground–below‐ground phenological synchrony. Journal of Ecology doi: 10.1111/1365-2745.14470External link
Bonato Asato, A.E., Ebeling, A., Wirth, C., Eisenhauer, N. & Hines, J. (2025). Positive plant diversity effects on soil detritivore feeding activity and stability increase with ecosystem age. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 200: 109637. doi: 10.1016/j.soilbio.2024.109637External link
Morton, J.A., Arnillas, C.A., Biedermann, L., Borer, E.T., Brudvig, L.A., Buckley, Y.M., Cadotte, M.W., Davies, K., Donohue, I., Ebeling, A., Eisenhauer, N., Estrada, C., Haider, S., Hautier, Y., Jentsch, A., Martinson, H., McCulley, R.L., Raynaud, X., Roscher, C., Seabloom, E.W., Stevens, C.J., Vesela, K., Wallace, A., Leitch, I.J., Leitch, A.R. & Hersch-Green, E.I. (2024). Genome size influences plant growth and biodiversity responses to nutrient fertilization in diverse grassland communities. PLoS Biology 22: e3002927. doi: 10.1371/journal.pbio.3002927External link
Winter, G. & Schielzeth, H. (2024). Ontogeny of unpredictability in escape behaviour of a grasshopper species. Animal Behaviour doi: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2024.11.007External link
Cabral-de-Mello, D.C. & Palacios-Gimenez, O.M. (2024). Repetitive DNAs: The “invisible” regulators of insect adaptation and speciation. Current Opinion in Insect Science doi: 10.1016/j.cois.2024.101295External link
Jayaprasad, S., Peona, V., Ellerstrand, S.J., Rossini, R., Bunikis, I., Pettersson, O.V., Olsen, R.-A., Rubin, C.-J., Einarsdottir, E., Bonath, F., Bradford, T.M., Cooper, S.J.B., Hansson, B., Suh, A., Kawakami, T., Schielzeth, H. & Palacios-Gimenez, O.M. (2024). Orthopteran neo-sex chromosomes reveal dynamics of recombination suppression and evolution of supergenes. Molecular Ecology doi: 10.1111/mec.17567External link
Chen, Q.Q., Wang, S.P., Seabloom, E.W., Isbell, F., Borer, E.T., Bakker, J.D., Bharath, S., Roscher, C., Peri, P.L., Power, S.A., Donohue, I., Stevens, C., Ebeling, A., Nogueira, C., Caldeira, M.C., Macdougall, A.S., Moore, J.L., Bagchi, S., Jentsch, A., Tedder, M., Kirkman, K., Alberti, J. & Hautier, Y. (2024). Change in functional trait diversity mediates the effects of nutrient addition on grassland stability. Journal of Ecology 112: 2598-2612. doi: 10.1111/1365-2745.14404External link
Li, Y., Schuldt, A., Ebeling, A., Eisenhauer, N., Huang, Y., Albert, G., Albracht, C., Amyntas, A., Bonkowski, M., Bruelheide, H., Bröcher, M., Chesters, D., Chen, J., Chen, Y., Chen, J.T., Ciobanu, M., Deng, X., Fornoff, F., Gleixner, G., Guo, L., Guo, P.F., Heintz-Buschart, A., Klein, A.M., Lange, M., Li, S., Li, Q., Li, Y., Luo, A., Meyer, S.T., von Oheimb, G., Rutten, G., Scholten, T., Solbach, M.D., Staab, M., Wang, M.Q., Zhang, N., Zhu, C.D., Schmid, B., Ma, K. & Liu, X. (2024). Plant diversity enhances ecosystem multifunctionality via multitrophic diversity. Nature Ecology & Evolution doi: 10.1038/s41559-024-02517-2External link
Bröcher, M., Meyer, S.T., Eisenhauer, N. & Ebeling, A. (2024). The positive plant diversity-consumer relationship is independent of grassland age. Basic and Applied Ecology doi: 10.1016/j.baae.2024.02.006External link
Wildermuth, B., Hagge, J., Seifert, C.L., Tjaden, R. & Schuldt, A. (2024). Beneficial effects of native broadleaved forests on canopy beetle diversity are not reduced by admixture of non-native conifers. Journal of Applied Ecology doi: 10.1111/1365-2664.14623External link
Wildermuth, B., Penanhoat, A., Sennhenn-Reulen, H., Matevski, D., Drescher, J., Aubry-Kientz, M., Seidel, D. & Schuldt, A. (2024). Canopy structure influences arthropod communities within and beyond tree identity effects: Insights from combining LiDAR data, insecticidal fogging and machine learning regression modelling. Ecological Indicators 160: 111901. doi: 10.1016/j.ecolind.2024.111901External link
Dietrich, P., Ebeling, A., Meyer, S.T., Bonato Asato, A.E., Bröcher, M., Gleixner, G., Huang, Y., Roscher, C., Schmid, B., Vogel, A. & Eisenhauer, N. (2024). Plant diversity and community age stabilize ecosystem multifunctionality. Global Change Biology doi: 10.1111/gcb.17225External link
Medina-van Berkum, P., Schmöckel, E., Bischoff, A., Carrasco-Farias, N., Catford, J.A., Feldmann, R., Groten, K., Henry, H.A.L., Bucharova, A., Hänniger, S., Luong, J.C., Meis, J., Oetama, V.S.P., Pärtel, M., Power, S.A., Villellas, J., Welk, E., Wingler, A., Rothe, B., Gershenzon, J., Reichelt, M., Roscher, C. & Unsicker, S.B. (2024). Plant geographic distribution influences chemical defences in native and introduced Plantago lanceolata populations. Functional Ecology doi: 10.1111/1365-2435.14535External link
Güney, G., Cedden, D., Hänniger, S., Hegedus, D.D., Heckel, D.G. & Toprak, U. (2024). Peritrophins are involved in the defense against Bacillus thuringiensis and nucleopolyhedrovirus formulations in Spodoptera littoralis (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae). Insect Biochemistry and Molecular Biology 166: 104073. doi: 10.1016/j.ibmb.2024.104073External link
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