Elite programme of the Baden-Württemberg Foundation
As one of three scientists at the University of Freiburg, Michael Staab was accepted into the Baden-Württemberg Foundation’s elite programme for postdocs.
Protecting bumblebees, wasps and other insects – but how?
For the uniCross article “Protecting bumblebees, wasps and other insects – but how?” from 30 October 2019, Vivien von Königslöw gave an interview about her research on hedges in apple orchards.
On Monday, 21 October 2019, at 7:00 p.m., Alexandra-Maria Klein will give a talk on the topic “Insect decline – bees and other insects” at the Museumsgesellschaft Freiburg.
Honour
Diversity as a life principle
On Sunday, 20 October 2019, a festive academy day will take place at 10:30 a.m. in the Haus der Kirche of the Evangelische Akademie in Bad Herrenalb. As part of this event, the Bad Herrenalb Academy Prize will be awarded to Alexandra-Maria Klein.
At the 49th annual meeting of the Ecological Society (GfÖ) on 12 September 2019, Felix Fornoff and Alexandra-Maria Klein (Chair of Nature Conservation and Landscape Ecology) as well as Tobias Kellner and Eva M. Schüler (UWC Freiburg) received a sponsorship award for their joint project School insect house.
The Chair of Nature Conservation and Landscape Ecology was represented at the 49th annual conference of the Society for Ecology (GfÖ) with a total of eight presentations and two posters.
Goals of the “Save the bees” petition are difficult to achieve
Alexandra-Maria Klein was interviewed on 26 July 2019 for SWR2 Am Morgen about the citizens’ initiative “Save the bees!,” on the occasion of the organizers’ planned submission of the application for the species protection petition in Baden-Württemberg.
Outreach
Contributions to the Agrikulturfestival 2019
Visitors to the 2019 Freiburg Agriculture Festival can look forward to an interesting programme, to which staff from the Chair of Nature Conservation and Landscape Ecology will also contribute. On Sunday, 21 July 2019, at 12:00 noon, the event “Crawling animals” will take place. In an interview, Alexandra-Maria Klein will talk about the causes of insect decline and possible countermeasures. On Saturday, 20 July 2019, at 11:00 a.m., Nicolas Schoof will give an insight into the keeping and importance of goats under the motto “Animals you can touch”.
On 6 June 2019, an interview with Alexandra-Maria Klein was broadcast on Deutschlandfunk radio. The topic of the interview was “Masterplan Stadtnatur”, a program of measures by the German government. Prof. Dr. Klein explained the importance of urban natural spaces and ways to promote biodiversity in cities.
On 5 May 2019, the newspaper Der Sonntag published an article entitled “Diversity brings diversity”. It reports that nature conservation experts consider the extinction of species in the region to be dramatic despite existing countermeasures. The article also contains assessments and expert information from Albert Reif.
Alexandra-Maria Klein appears in the documentary “World without insects”. The documentary was broadcast on Sunday 5 May 2019 in the ZDF series planet e. The video is available in the media library until 01 May 2020.
Honour
“Ulrich Preis” – Award for forest ecosystem research
Michael Staab received the “Ulrich Prize” (Göttingen Prize for Forest Ecosystem Research) at the graduation ceremony of the Faculty of Forest Sciences and Forest Ecology at the Georg-August University of Göttingen on 3 May 2019.
Insect decline – explained using the example of wild bees
On 19 March 2019, Felix Fornoff gave a talk entitled “Insect decline – explained using the example of wild bees”. The event took place at the Dorfgasthof Bolando in Bollschweil. The lecture was part of a series of events organised by ZUKUNFT HEXENTAL e.V. – Forum for Quality of Life and Village Development.
Endangered diversity – Why bees and other insects are dying
From 23 March 2019, Alexandra-Maria Klein is featured in the Deutschlandfunk Nova podcast “Hörsaal”. In the episode entitled “Threatened diversity – Why bees and other insects are dying”, she explains the causes of insect decline in an understandable way and shows what measures can help to prevent it.
On 7 March 2019 from 18:30 to 20:00, Alexandra-Maria Klein will give a lecture followed by a discussion on “Insect decline and agroforestry as a solution” as part of the University of Bern’s Sustainability Week.
Interview
“We have taken away nature’s naturalness”
On 27 February 2019, Alexandra-Maria Klein provided important insights in an interview with the BMBF on the research initiative “Conserving biodiversity”. She demanded: “We need to bring more diversity back into the landscape.”
On 31 January 2019, Hannah Miriam Sharaf successfully defended her doctoral thesis at the University of Freiburg. Her dissertation is entitled: “Vegetationsuntersuchungen in einem Agroforstsystem mit Wertholzproduktion: Analyse naturschutzfachlicher Potenziale verschiedener Einsaaten und Behandlungsmethoden sowie der Wechselwirkung zwischen Wertholz, Krautvegetation und landwirtschaftlich genutzten Flächen”.
Policy advice
Committee membership
Alexandra-Maria Klein was appointed to several committees for the 2018-2023 term of office. She is now a member of the State Advisory Board for Nature Conservation and Environmental Protection, the Foundation Board of the Nature Conservation Fund Foundation at the Ministry for the Environment, Climate Protection and the Energy Sector and the Expert Committee for Nature Conservation Issues.
2018
Outreach
School insect house
On 11 December 2018, uniCross, the cross-media student editorial team at the University of Freiburg, published an audio report on our “School insect house” project.
On 9 November 2018, Nora Drescher and Christine Venjakob successfully defended their doctoral theses. Nora Drescher’s research topic was “Plant resin – an underestimated resource for bees”, Christine Venjakob’s topic was “Spatio-temporal plant-pollinator interactions and floral nectar quality in a plant diversity experiment”.
The programmes “Odysso” on SWR on 11 October 2018 and “Wenn die Insekten sterben” in the series “[W] wie Wissen” (ARD) on 6 October 2018 report on our pollination experiment at Lake Constance and the effects of insect decline on integrated apple cultivation.
The 34th German Nature Conservation Day 2018 will take place in Kiel. On Thursday, 27 September, the topic of “Insect decline and evidence-based nature conservation” will be discussed in an open forum. Alexandra-Maria Klein will give a talk on the topic of “Insect decline: What do we know and what don’t we know?”.
Talk
Causes and effects of insect decline
The Württemberg Library Society invites you to a talk by Alexandra-Maria Klein. The talk entitled “Causes and Effects of Insect Decline” will take place on 4 September 2018 at 6 p.m. in the lecture hall of the Old Palace at the Württemberg State Museum.
Talk
The diversity of wild bees
As part of a series of events organised by the Tusculum Association in Mapprach on the topic of “Bees – once idolised, now threatened”, Alexandra-Maria Klein will give a lecture entitled “The Diversity of Wild Bees”. The event will take place on 2 September 2018 at 2:30 p.m.
On Saturday, 28 July 2018, at 8 p.m., the ARD/ZDF series KIKA: “Earth to Future” will broadcast a programme on the topic of “A Future for Insects”. Alexandra-Maria Klein and Felix Fornoff contributed to the programme as experts on the subject.
On 8 June 2018, María García-Martín successfully defended her doctoral thesis at the University of Freiburg. The dissertation is entitled “Connecting with the landscape for sustainability. Characteristics, challenges and opportunities of integrated landscape management across Europe”.
Doctoral thesis
Successful defense
On 7 June 2018, Catalina Gutiérrez-Chacón successfully defended her doctoral thesis at the University of Fribourg. The dissertation is entitled “Influence of landscape context on bees and their impact on passion fruit pollination in Colombia”.
Interview
Freiburger news
On 6 June 2018, an article entitled “Accepting weeds too” appeared in the Freiburger Wochenbericht. Alexandra-Maria Klein gave an interview for this article.
Interview
Insect decline
On 30 May 2018, RIFF Reporter published an article entitled “Insect decline – leading experts speak up” in the “Flugbegleiter” series, which featured a contribution from Alexandra-Maria Klein.
Outreach
TV report: ZDF Mittagsmagazin
On 18 May 2018, Alexandra-Maria Klein appeared as a guest on the ZDF Mittagsmagazin programme, where she discussed the topic of “Insects in the agricultural landscape”.
On 3 May 2018, Alexandra-Maria Klein gave a talk on “Insect decline: definition, effects, causes and role of biodiversity” as part of the Freiburg Environmental Talks organised by the City of Freiburg and the Faculty of Environment and Natural Resources at the University of Freiburg.
Interview
WDR1
“EU bans bee toxins – what now? – Interview with Alexandra-Maria Klein on WDR 1 on 27 April 2018.
Interview
Insecticides
Interview in the Süddeutsche Zeitung with Alexandra-Maria Klein on 27 April 2018 on the topic of “Every insecticide could prove harmful to bees”.
Interview
MDR Wissen
In an interview with MDR Wissen on 18 April 2018, Alexandra-Maria Klein spoke on the topic of “Drones instead of bees, or perhaps even ants?”.
On 07 March 2018, Victoria Miczajka successfully defended her doctoral thesis on the topic of “Integrating scientific literacy as part of a citizen science approach on natural research on seed predation along an urban-rural gradient”.
Interview
“EU wants to ban neonicotinoids”
On 1 March 2018, Alexandra-Maria Klein gave an interview on heute journal (ZDF) on the topic of “EU wants to ban neonicotinoids”.
Alexandra-Maria Klein gave an interview for an article published in Greenpeace Magazine on 28 February 2018 on the topic of “Bees in danger: Will neonicotinoids be banned from the fields?”
Interview
“Bees in danger”
Alexandra-Maria Klein gave an interview for an article published in the Sächsische Zeitung on 28 February 2018 on the topic of “Bees in danger”.
As part of an event organised by the SPD parliamentary group, Alexandra-Maria Klein will give a talk followed by a discussion on the topic of “Insect decline: Will it be over soon?”.
Outreach
Lecture on the topic of “insect decline”
As part of an event organised by the SPD parliamentary group, Alexandra-Maria Klein will give a talk followed by a discussion on the topic of “Insektensterben: Hat es sich bald ausgesummt?”. The event will take place on 12 March 2018 at 19:00.
Outreach
Talk at the Evangelical Academy Baden
On 2 March 2018, Alexandra-Maria Klein gave a talk at the Evangelische Akademie Baden in Bad Herrenalb on the topic “Make sure the bees keep buzzing. Biodiversity – lessons learnt for policy and practice”.
Doctoral thesis
Successful defense
On 31 January 2018, Manuel Oelke successfully defended his doctoral thesis on „Gemeinschaftliche Landnutzung als Chance für den Naturschutz? Das Beispiel der Waldgemeinschaften“.
Doctoral thesis
Successful defense
On 30 January 2018, Patrick Pauli successfully defended his doctoral thesis on the topic of “Erhaltung historischer Parkwälder durch eine umsichtige Nutzung der zentralen Akteure aus Gartendenkmalpflege, Naturschutz und Forstwirtschaft am Beispiel stark in Sukzession geratener Englischer Landschaftsgärten in Baden-Württemberg und Thüringen.”
In addition to her activities in the DFG Senate Commissions on Agroecosystem Research and on Fundamental Issues of Biological Diversity, Alexandra-Maria Klein was appointed as a member of the Permanent DFG Senate Commission on Genetic Research in December 2017.
DFG Senate Commission on Fundamental Issues of Biological Diversity
In autumn 2017, Alexandra-Maria Klein was appointed as a member of the DFG Senate Commission on Fundamental Issues of Biological Diversity in addition to her activities in the DFG Senate Commission on Agroecosystem Research.
Doctoral thesis
Successful defense
On 17 November 2017, Felix Fornoff successfully defended his doctoral thesis on the topic of “Multitrophic interaction and functional diversity in diversity experiments”.
On 12 October 2017, Michael Staab was a guest on the Goldschmidt Show on baden.fm. In an interview, he spoke about the giant house spider.
Interview
ZDF Knowledge series: “Noah’s Ark”
On the night of 7 to 8 October 2017, ZDF broadcast the programme “Noah’s Ark” as part of its Knowledge series. From 0:20 to 1:20 a.m., the well-known presenters Harald Lesch and Dirk Steffens discussed the pressing issues surrounding global species conservation with various experts. Alexandra-Maria Klein was one of the invited experts.
Interview
ZDF-documentary planet e.
On 17 September 2017, Alexandra-Maria Klein appeared as an expert in the ZDF environmental documentary series planet e. In the episode, which was dedicated to the dramatic decline of insects, she explained the causes, consequences and possible countermeasures to this significant ecological problem.
Interview
How does an insect hotel work?
On 12 September 2017, Alexandra-Maria Klein gave an interview in which she explained the importance of insect hotels and how they work.
Konferenz
Interdisciplinary scientific conference of the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN)
From 21 to 25 August 2017, the interdisciplinary scientific conference of the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN) on biodiversity research within the framework of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) took place on the island of Vilm. As part of this conference, Anne-Christine Mupepele gave a presentation entitled “The evidence base of biodiversity and ecosystem services in European agroforestry systems”.
The Chair of Nature Conservation and Landscape Ecology at the University of Freiburg was also represented at the Freiburg Science Market 2017. The team informed interested visitors about the endangerment, protection and promotion of wild bees.
Outreach
“Five euros for an apple?”
On 6 July 2017, Alexandra-Maria Klein was a guest on WDR 1’s consumer programme entitled “Five euros for an apple? Consequences of insect decline”, she shed light on the economic consequences of the decline in insects for agriculture and consumers.
Doktoral thesis
Successful defense
On 19 June 2017, Yang Zhang successfully defended her doctoral thesis on the topic of “Linking the public with landscape preservation: public perception towards a traditional urban landscape. A case from Suzhou, China”.
Doctoral thesis
Successful defense
On 31 May 2017, Jan-Hendrik Dudenhöffer successfully defended his doctoral thesis on the topic of “Above Ground Plant – Insect Interaction Webs and Associated Processes Along a Plant Diversity Gradient”.
Doctoral thesis
Successful defense
On 31 May 2017, Anne-Christine Mupepele successfully defended her doctoral thesis on “Evaluating the evidence of ecosystem-services science”.
Doctoral thesis
Successful defense
Maria Jeaneth Delgado Aguilar successfully defended her doctoral thesis on “Integration of remote sensing techniques and information on ecosystem services to measure tropical forest degradation – A case study from the tropical rain forest of Ecuador” on 29 May 2017.
Felix Fornoff was honoured with the Society for Ecology’s (GfÖ) Photo Award for his photo of a male furrow bee (Halictus sp.) on a flower of the common chicory (Cichorium intybus).
Conference
Annual meeting GfÖ 2016
Felix Fornoff and Jochen Fründ took part in the annual meeting of the Society for Ecology (GfÖ) from 5 to 9 September 2016 in Marburg. Felix Fornoff gave a talk entitled “Effects of tree species richness and canopy closure on trap-nesting insect community networks in a subtropical controlled tree diversity experiment” and Jochen Fründ on the topic “Temporal dynamics of host-parasitoid foodwebs in relation to spruce budworm outbreaks”.
In the media
The potential of hydropower
On 29 June 2016, students from the University of Freiburg visited the LEADER group in Westallgäu as part of the “Sustainable development of rural areas” module. The Westallgäu newspaper reported on the excursion on 1 July.
Three of our team members took part in this year’s European Conference of Tropical Ecology (GTÖ). Michael Staab gave a talk on the topic “Ants at plant wounds – the relevance and structure of an underestimated food web” and Felix Fornoff on “Tri-trophic interaction networks in an experimental tree diversity gradient in subtropical China”. Catalina Gutierrez-Chacon presented a poster on the topic of “Bee diversity responses to landscape composition in the Andes of Colombia”.
2015
Interview
Closing knowledge gaps about the pollination of crops
An interview with Alexandra-Maria Klein entitled “A colourful fruit basket – closing gaps in our knowledge of crop pollination” appeared in the 01/2016 issue of Beenow – Das Magazin für Bienengesundheit.
Why protecting wild bees is important for crop pollination
On 9 December 2015, Alexandra-Maria Klein gave a lecture as part of the joint lecture series of the Baden State Association for Natural History and Nature Conservation (BLNN), the Museum Natur und Mensch and the University of Freiburg. From 20:00 c.t. to 21:30 she spoke about the importance of protecting wild bees for the pollination of crops.
Interview
Deutschlandradio Kultur
On 27 October 2015, Alexandra-Maria Klein was interviewed on Deutschlandradio Kultur with the title “Wenn das Summen verstummt”.
Interview
Frankfurter Neue Presse
On 25 July 2015, the Frankfurter Neue Presse published an article entitled “Where there is still wilderness”, which includes an interview with Alexandra-Maria Klein.
Doctoral thesis
Successful defense
On 29 June 2015, Jessica Schäckermann successfully defended her doctoral thesis on the topic of “Vertebrates and insects as pest and bio-control agents in agricultural landscapes of the Judean Foothills in Israel”.
On 14 April 2015, Alexandra-Maria Klein discussed the topic “What to do about bee decline?” as part of the SWR2 Forum. The programme shed light on the causes of the global decline in bee populations and possible solutions.
On 12 December 2014, Janna Groeneveld defended her doctoral thesis on the topic of “Biodiversity and ecosystem functions in annual oil seed production” in Lüneburg.
On 20 June 2014, Michael Staab successfully defended his doctoral thesis on “Effect of tree diversity on plant-insect interactions in a Chinese subtropical forest” in Lüneburg.
On 15 May 2014, Iris Motzke successfuly defended her doctoral thesis on the topic of “Local management and landscape context effects on bee pollination, ant seed predation, and yield in Indonesian homegardens” in Göttingen.
Doctoral thesis
Successful defense
On 25 April 2014, Anika Hudewenz successfully defended her doctoral thesis on the topic of “Konkurrenz und Ressourcennutzung der Europäischen Honigbiene und Wildbienen im Bezug zur Lüneburger Heide” in Lüneburg.
Conference
Symposium on sustainability in science
Victoria Miczajka presented her poster titled “Seed Dispersal and Seed Predation along an Urban–Rural Gradient: A Transdisciplinary Environmental and Educational Project” at the 2nd Symposium “Sustainability in Science” on 8 May 2014 in Berlin.
On 23 October 2013, Alexandra-Maria Klein appeared on the science programme Faszination Wissen on EinsPlus with a contribution on the topic of “Rhinoceros or sea sponge – what does a species cost?”. In the program, the ecological and economic value of biodiversity was discussed.
