PD Dr. Günter Köhler

Born in 1950, I studied Biology from 1968-70 at the University of Jena, and Marine & Fishery Biology from 1970-72 at the University of Rostock. After attending a three-month “Humboldt” research expedition in the Central Atlantic, I finished my diploma thesis in Marine Ecology. From 1972-76 followed a PhD position in Applied Entomology at the University of Leipzig (Institute of Tropical and Subtropical Agriculture), including two years of field work in Cuba (INIFAT, Cuban Academy of Sciences). Starting in 1976, I spent half a century in the Ecology staff of the Jena University with a research group in the 1990th, and occupied with a broad range of lectures, excursions and practical courses in Systematic Zoology, Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology for Diploma, Bachelor (Biology) and Teacher students. In 2001 I habilitated in Ecology, later followed by deputy professorships in Terrestrial Ecology (2011-2012) and Population Ecology (2014-2016). Over five decades, my research interests focused on a wide range of Orthopteran ecophysiology, population and community ecology. More recently I also addressed to entomofaunistic surveys in Thuringia, including Arachnida, Archaeognatha, Blattoptera, Dermaptera, Coccina, Mecoptera and Myrmeleontidae, as well as several invasive insect taxa.

Focused on Orthopteran insects, two long-term research projects are still accompanied. Collaborating since 2003 with the biodiversity „Jena-Experiment“ (Scientific coordinator: Dr. Anne Ebeling, Jena) and since 2008 with the „Biodiversity Exploratories“ Schorfheide-Chorin, Hainich-Dün and Schwäbische Alb (speaker: Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Weisser, TU Munnich), the determination and ecofaunistic compilation of extensive material sampled with several quantitative methods is going on. Furthermore, in the biodiverse calcareous landscape around Jena, long-term changes in the Orthopteran fauna are studied.

Since 2012 I am editor of the longseller “Müller/Bährmann: Determination tables of invertebrate animals” (7^th edition 2015, 8^th ed. 2022, Springer Spektrum). More recently I collaborated on the “Distribution Atlas of Grasshoppers of Germany” (2025, Ulmer) and the “Atlas of Orthopteran Insects of Thuringia”, as well as on the comprehensive booklets referring to German Red and Species lists of Orthoptera (2024), Dermaptera (2026) and Blattoptera (in preparation, all Federal Department for Nature Conservation, Bonn).

See complete list of publications.