Georg-August-Universität Göttingen - Themen für BSc und MSc Arbeiten

Topics for Bachelor and Master Theses

Biodiversität und Pflanze-Insekt-Interaktionen in Agrarlandschaften

aktuelle Stellenangebote für Diplom-/ Masterarbeiten

Zur Zeit liegen keine aktuellen Stellenangebote vor.

General research foci

Biodiversity patterns and associated ecosystem functioning at different spatial and temporal scales (local vs. landscape effects; inter-annual changes; GIS and geostatistics); habitat fragmentation; beta diversity; spatial ecology

Biodiversity and associated ecosystem services (including pollination and biological control) of differently managed agroecosystems and distinctions to natural habitat; succession in plant and animal communities

Biodiversity-ecosystem functioning relationships (herbivory, predation, parasitism, pollination)

Tropical ecology; comparison of tropical and temperate communities and associated multitrophic interactions

Pollination in wild and crop plants (including seed set and yield); plant population dynamics

Quantified food webs; multitrophic interactions (direct and indirect effects; below- and aboveground interactions; interactions between plants, herbivores, pathogens, predators, parasitoids, pollinators and between invertebrates and vertebrates)

Ecosystem services; multidisciplinary studies linking socioeconomic with ecological approaches

further informations:

Specific research topics

(1)Succession and management of sown flower strips.
The population development of sown and wild plants (including arable weed) will be analysed and evaluated to find management strategies (e.g. for different soil types).
MSc data analysis (supervisors: Dr. Carsten Thies)

(2) Ecosystem services in dependence on distance to natural habitat or in relation to habitat fragmentation (see Aquilar et al. 2006, Ricketts et al. 2008).
Meta-analysis: diversity and amount of natural enemies, predation pressure on pests, parasitism on pests, seed predation.
MSc Review/Meta-analysis (supervisors: Dr. Péter Batáry, Dr. Carsten Dormann)

(3) Habitat value of landscape elements for plant and butterfly diversity.
BSc Review (supervisor Dr. Péter Batáry)

(4) Bird nest predation, seed predation and insect predation in calcareous grassland fragments.
A series of small vs. large grasslands along a landscape complexity gradient will be used to disentangle the effects of landscape complexity and fragment size (see Gonzalez-Gomez et al. 2006, Howe et al. 2009, Breitbach et al. 2010).
MSc field study (supervisor Dr. Péter Batáry)

(5) Spillover of insects from wheat fields to hedges or grassy field margins, emphasizing changes during the season (Sampling and/or experiments at 0, 3, 10, 30 m distance, April to September; pan trap, pitfall trap, suction sample, seed predation, insectivory (dead crickets), aphid strips, etc.).
MSc field study (supervisor: Dr. Péter Batáry)

(6) The role of extinction debt in fragmented habitats.
(see Kuussaari et al. 2009; Krauss et al. 2010 Ecology Letters)
MSc review/Meta-analysis (supervisor: Dr. Péter Batáry)

(7) Functional importance of landscape elements (GIS parameters) in predicting biodiversity and biological control in wheat fields.
Biodiversity pattern and biocontrol potential will be related to landscape metrics (using actual project data and GIS data; see Purtauf et al. 2005)
MSc data-analysis (supervisors: Dr. Péter Batáry, Dr. Carsten Thies)

(8) Ecological significance of field size, comparing landscapes with one big or several small wheat fields
(for example, east-west German pairs; arable weeds, carabid beetles, biocontrol; see Gaba et al. 2010).
MSc field study (supervisors: Dr. Yann Clough, Dr. Christoph Scherber, Dr. Péter Batáry)

(9) Biodiversity value of arable crop systems comparing (a) agroecosystems of monocots (cereals, maize) with those of dicots (beets, legumes, rape) and (b) agroecosystem between years (the role of crop type in the preceding year for biodiversity in the following year).
The biodiversity of arable fields cultivated with different plant species will be quantified using suction samples/sweep netting of selected invertebrate taxa and/or, mapping of wild plant/arable weeds).
MSc field study (supervisors: Dr. Yann Clough, Dr. Carsten Thies)

(10) Network modules and species traits for pollinators and flowers
(using European pollinator networks: e.g. Memmott 1999 Ecol Lett etc.; modules in a network can be identified with a given algorithm, following Olesen et al. 2007 PNAS; for example, proboscis and flower spur length should be similar; in this study, traits for a number of species need to be drawn from the literature and related to the network modules).
BSc or MSc review/data analysis (supervisors: Dr. Carsten Dormann, Jochen Fründ)

(11) Responses of cereal aphids versus aphid parasitoids to climate change (enhanced temperature).
For successful biological control, synchronisation of the life cycles of parasitoids and their hosts is crucial. In this study, the effect of enhanced temperature on aphids and their parasitoids (hatching time, no. of offspring etc.) will be determined by a literature survey and the consequences on biological control of aphids will be assessed.
BSc review (supervisor: Dr. Ines Vollhardt)

(12) Seasonal development of cereal aphid populations at a shoot scale
The fate of single aphid colonies in different environments will be surveyed (summer work: June/July; using with video cameras)
BSc field study (supervisors: Dr. Carsten Thies, Dr. Ines Vollhardt)

(13) Coexistence of wild bees, differing in body size (dispersal ability), in agricultural landscapes of different complexity
(focus on modelling scenarios of potential overlap in resource use (causing competition) and exploitation of mass-flowering vs. sparsely flowering plants).
MSc review (supervisors: Dr. Catrin Westphal, Jochen Fründ, Prof. Kerstin Wiegand)

(14) The role of pollination for changes in fruit ingredients (aroma, vitamines, etc.)
(including the question of maternal vs. paternal determination; e.g. strawberries, coffee, etc.).
BSc review (supervisors: Björn Klatt, Dr. Catrin Westphal, PD Dr. Carsten Dormann)

(15) Bee diversity in different habitats of agricultural landscapes.
BSc review (supervisor: Dr. Catrin Westphal)

(16) Pollination requirements of biofuel seed crops in a political context.
BSc review (supervisor: Dr. Catrin Westphal)

(17) Pollinator diversity and abundance in urban habitats.
Similarly: Pollinator diversity along rural-urban gradients.
MSc field study (supervisor: Dr. Catrin Westphal)

(18) Impact of nutrient and light availability on herbivory in herbs, shrubs and trees.
BSc review (supervisor: Dr. Yann Clough)

(19) Dispersal distances of generalist ground-dwelling predators.
BSc review (supervisor: Dr. Yann Clough)

(20) Role of landscape composition and configuration for biodiversity in human-dominated tropical landscapes.
BSc review (supervisor: Dr. Yann Clough)

(21) Conservation and biological control management: pollen and nectar resources in agricultural landscapes for herbivores, parasitoids, bumblebees, and solitary bees.
BSc/MSc review (or field work) (supervisors: Dr. Catrin Westphal, Dr. Ines Vollhardt)

(22) Biodiversity versus cacao and coffee yield in tropical agroforestry.
BSc review (supervisor: Dr. Yann Clough)

(23) Landscape pattern analyses: composition and configuration at different spatial scales. A series of landscape metrics and indices will be analysed and evaluated using GIS.
MSc/BSc study (supervisors: Dr. Carsten Thies, Dr. Christoph Scherber, Dr. Yann Clough, Dr. Catrin Westphal)

(24) Land sparing and wildlife-friendly land-use strategies.
Ecological and economical trade-offs and constraints will be analysed using different land-use scenarios on the scale of agricultural landscapes.
MSc/BSc study (supervisors: Dr. Carsten Thies; Dr. Christoph Scherber; Dr. Yann Clough)

further informations: