Our doctoral student, Massimo Martini, received the Merian Award (3rd place for the best poster) at the European Conference of Tropical Ecology 2026. The award-winning poster was titled “Cavity-nesting Hymenoptera prefer standing over laying deadwood for nest construction in forests”.
On 20 February 2026, at 7:30 p.m., Alexandra-Maria Klein gave a lecture entitled “A world without insects? – The change in biodiversity using the example of (wild) bees” at NABU in Bad Vilbel. The lecture focused on the dramatic decline in insect biomass, its consequences for biodiversity, agriculture, and food security, as well as possible ways out of the crisis.
On 28 November 2025, five employees from the Chair of Nature Conservation and Landscape Ecology took part in the BiodivNetz BW network meeting to present our EU projects RestPoll and AGRI4POL and to exchange ideas with farmers on the topic of ‘Pollinator protection and promotion in the agricultural landscape’.
Musella Foundation Award for Biodiversity and Species Conservation
On 22 October 2025, our doctoral student, Alicia Kling, received the Musella Foundation’s Biodiversity and Species Conservation Award. She was honored for her master’s thesis on the topic “Do bee species differ in their sensitivity to pesticides? – Sensitivity of the polylectic Osmia bicornis and the oligolectic Osmia brevicornis towards pesticides.”
On 27 June 2025, four team members took part in the “Summer school day on biodiversity” as part of the RestPoll project. They presented the project and demonstrated monitoring methods at the Oberwasserburghof in Emmingen-Liptingen. Participants in the event also had the opportunity to look at pollinators under a microscope.
Doctoral thesis
Successful defense
On 5 June 2025, Katharina Berg (née Wittmann) successfully defended her doctoral thesis entitled “Sex determination and biomass allocation in response to habitat quality.”
Outreach
Word Bee Day
On World Bee Day on 20 May 2025, we set up two information stands to raise awareness about the protection of wild bees. Visitors were able to learn about insect houses and measures for protecting wild bees. The wild bee memory game was particularly popular. Another highlight was the opportunity to observe bees up close under a microscope.
Biodiversity through agriculture – competition ‘Farms for Biological Diversity’ and other projects on flower diversity in the agricultural landscape
On 21 March 2025, Nick Rosenberger and Felix Fornoff took part in the event “Biodiversity through agriculture – competition ‘Farms for Biological Diversity’ and other projects on flower diversity in the agricultural landscape”, organised by the Freiburg Regional Council. There, they presented preliminary research results from the RestPoll project as well as plans for the remaining project period.
In June 2024, our former PhD student, Tristan Eckerter, was awarded the Sattelmühle research award for his dissertation on “Conservation options for wild bees and wasps in managed temperate forests”. His PhD was supervised by Alexandra-Maria Klein and Veronika Braunisch.
Lecture
Bayreuth biology lectures
Alexandra-Maria Klein will give a lecture on 26 June 2024 as part of the Bayreuth biology lectures on the topic of “Habitats for bees and their pollination services in the cultural landscape”.
09.05.2024, 12:00: Freiburger Golfclub e.V., Krüttweg 1, D-79199 Kirchzarten, guided by Anna Klopstock and Alexandra-Maria Klein
16.05.2024, 14:00: Herdergebäude. Main entrance of the Faculty of Environment and Natural Resources, Tennenbacher Straße 4, 79106 Freiburg, guided by Winfried Meier and Alexandra-Maria Klein
At the eurobee beekeeping meeting from 10 to 12 November 2023 in Friedrichshafen, Dimitry Wintermantel gave a presentation entitled “Effects of pesticides and food supply on bee health (PoshBee)”.
Outreach
Senckenberg Museum Frankfurt
On 27 October 2023, Alexandra-Maria Klein and Julia Krohmer gave a lecture on the topic “On #Krautschau against plant blindness: urban diversity to kneel down” as part of the Aha? research workshop of the Senckenberg Museum in Frankfurt.
Alexandra-Maria Klein gave a talk on 29 September 2023 entitled “Promoting urban biodiversity: Blossoming habitats, insect houses and going on a herb watch” as part of the citizens’ discussion organised by the Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald regional association of the “GRÜNEN” in Staufen.
Bavarian Academy for Nature Conservation and Landscape Management
On 26 September 2023, Finn Rehling gave a talk on the topic “Effects of wind power on common bird species in commercial forests” as part of an event on the topic of “Climate, landscape, energy” at the Bavarian Academy for Nature Conservation and Landscape Management.
Conference
GfÖ 2023 in Leipzig
Three members of the Chair of Nature Conservation and Landscape Ecology attended the annual meeting of the Ecological Society (GfÖ) in Leipzig from 12 to 16 September 2023.
Lectures: “Agroecology: towards a transformation of farming and food systems in Europe” – Viviana Alarcón
“Providing flowering resources to mitigate pesticide effects on plant-pollinator interactions” – Alexandra-Maria Klein
“Forest structure and heterogeneity increase diversity and alter composition of host-parasitoid networks” – Nolan Rappa
International Conference on Pollinator Biology, Health and Policy
At the International Conference on Pollinator Biology, Health and Policy an der Pennsylvania State University (USA) Alexandra-Maria Klein gave a keynote lecture on the topic “Providing flowering resources to mitigate pesticide effects on plant-pollinator interactions”.
On 22 May 2023, Nolan James Rappa defended his doctoral thesis on the subject of “Influences of retention forestry structural elements on insect communities and ecosystem functions” in Freiburg.
On 16 November 2022, Julia Osterman gave a lecture on “Flowering habitats for wild bees – an important cornerstone for the conservation of biodiversity” as part of the seminar “Meadow diversity and insect conservation” at the State Institute for Agriculture and Horticulture (LLG) Quedlinburg.
Doctoral thesis
Successful defense
On 14 November 2022, Tristan Eckerter defended his doctoral thesis on “Conservation options for wild bees and wasps in managed temperate forests”.
13. Conference of the Academy for Vegetation Planning and Landscaping (avela)
At the 13th avela symposium on 2 June 2022, Alexandra-Maria Klein gave a lecture on “Flowering habitats through insect pollinators – promoting interactions”.
On 19. Mai 2022, Anja Mareike Greinwald successfully defended her doctoral thesis on “Wild collections of medical plants as an ecosystem service supporting the conservation of high nature value Grasslands”.
Doctoral thesis
Successful defense
Vivien von Königslöw successfully defended her doctoral thesis on “Wild pollinator enhancement in IP-apple orchards” on 18 May 2022.
Interview
Podcast “Scientists for Future”
For episode #23 of the Scientists for Future podcast, Alexandra-Maria Klein gave an interview on the topic of “Biodiversity and sustainable farming”.
Benoît Sittler and Eckart Schulz gave a presentation on “Effects of an extreme snowfall event on a high Arctic community in northeast Greenland” at the Extreme Weather Congress from 22 to 24 September 2021 in Hamburg.
Our team contributed to the 50th annual meeting of the Society for Ecology (GfÖ) with several presentations and a poster.
Talks: Tristan Eckerter et al.: The effect of forest management on cavity nesting bees, wasps and their natural enemies in the Black Forest
Dimitry Wintermantel et al.: “Negative effects of the fungicide Amistar on bumblebees are resource-dependent”
Anne-Christine Mupepele et al.: “Ground-nesting bee survival after soil disturbance”
Funding
Margarete von Wrangell-Habilitation programme for women
From September 2021, Anne-Christine Mupepele will receive a five-year habilitation and junior research group leader position funded by the Margarete von Wrangell Habilitation Programme for Women of the State of Baden-Württemberg. As part of this funding, she will conduct research on the topic of “Ground-nesting wild bee survival in disturbed soils: towards a more evidence-based conservation”.
On 07 June 2021, Eric Adjei Lawer successfully defended his doctoral thesis on “Effects of logging and mining on community structure of small mammals in an African forest”.
Interview
Deutschlandfunk – environment and consumers
On 21 May 2021, Alexandra-Maria Klein gave an interview on “UN Biodiversity Day: Research on biodiversity” for Deutschlandfunk radio.
Interview
SWR – Life & Society
On 21 May 2021, Alexandra-Maria Klein gave an interview on the topic of “Insect Conservation law further postponed: Farmers must be the conservationists of tomorrow”.
On 25 January 2021, Maria Georgi defended her doctoral thesis on the topic of “Game meadow vegetation and different effects of management times on insects”.
As part of the “Froschgesang und Seifenklang” series, the RiffReporters invite you to a digital event to mark World Environment Day on 5 June 2020 at 18:00. The topic of the evening is: “How do we protect the diversity of nature?”
The ZDF documentary planet e. “Die Insektenretter” was released on 1 March 2020. The episode contains an interview with Alexandra-Maria Klein on the PoshBee project (Pan-European assessment, monitoring and mitigation of stressors on the health of bees).
Can the bees still be saved? Hard-working helpers for natural diversity
On 09 February 2020 at 14:00, Alexandra-Maria Klein will give a lecture on the topic “Can the bees still be saved? – Hard-working helpers for natural diversity”. The event will take place in the Konzerthaus Freiburg, in the conference rooms on the 2nd floor, Konrad-Adenauer-Platz 1, 79098 Freiburg im Breisgau.
Doctoral thesis
Successful defense
On 27 January 2020, Anna Katharina Knuff successfully defended her doctoral thesis on “Insect communities along a structural complexity gradient in temperate multiple-use forests”.
