Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Terrestrial Ecology Research Group - TUM @terrecolgroup.bsky.social · Sep 6

More group activity surfaced! Brandon Mak with an ode to pigeons; Laura Windorfer connecting ecology and architecture, and former group member Victoria Culshaw presenting her work on modeling ecosystem processes with plant and animal functional groups.

More may follow - documentation incomplete.

Brandon Mak entertaining the audience. Photo by Viky Culshaw

Laura Windorfer ready to start her talk. Photo by Viky Culshaw.

Viky Culshaw introducing her work from her time in our group as part of the Ecolopes project. Photo by Sebastian Meyer.

Terrestrial Ecology Research Group - TUM @terrecolgroup.bsky.social · Sep 5

Robin Heinen @robinheinennl.bsky.social · Sep 5

Exhausted and inspired at the same time from four days at the #GfÖ2025. Lots of nice talks, great conversations and (perhaps too much) new information. I'm still buzzing. Nice to get some nice chats after my ALAN talk. Also great to see Eli shine with her poster on her chemodiversity work.

An audience (including me, in a moment of focus) enjoying a keynote session. Picture by Fabio Sweet, who sneakily took this one.

Eli (Elikplim) Setordjie stands proudly next to her poster at the poster session, depicting what will hopefully form a second chapter in her PhD in the near future.

Three men displaying enthusiasm for a selfie. Rafael Achury, Wolfgang Weisser and Robin Heinen. (The goal was to enthuse the rest of the lab for a group picture, which happened not long after)

The Orchestra of Change and Jan Haft deliver a very unique live performance of nature film and string quartet music. Very enjoyable experience.

3

Terrestrial Ecology Research Group - TUM @terrecolgroup.bsky.social · Sep 5

More of our team. Meret Pundsack, Robert Künast, and Wolfgang Weisser.

Meret Pundsack in action at her presentation. Photo by Sebastian Meyer.

Robert Künast delivering his presentation. Photo by Zoe Hentschel.

Wolfgang Weisser presenting. Photograph by Sebastian Meyer.

1 1

Terrestrial Ecology Research Group - TUM @terrecolgroup.bsky.social · Sep 5

A few of our members in action: Fabio Sweet, Lisa Merkens, Zoe Hentschel and Elikplim Setordjie presenting their works.

Fabio Sweet delivering a presentation. Picture by Xia Yao

Lisa Merkens delivering her talk. Photo by Meret Pundsack.

Zoe Hentschel delivering her talk. Photo by Elikplim Setordjie.

Elikplim Setordjie presenting her poster. Photo by Robin Heinen.

1 2

Terrestrial Ecology Research Group - TUM @terrecolgroup.bsky.social · Sep 5

Our Chair returned from an engaging week of ecology, discussion, and fun at #GfÖ2025. We were well-represented this year, with many PhD, postdoc and senior colleagues presenting their work on urban ecology, artificial light, grasslands, forests, biodiversity, chemodiversity, modeling, and lots more.

We unfortunately failed to get a complete group picture. Pictured are most of our attending group members, with a few members sadly missing due to other commitments.

1 1 9

Terrestrial Ecology Research Group - TUM @terrecolgroup.bsky.social · Jul 31

New Paper alert:
Meret Pundsack and Lisa Merkens co-led this new review paper that also presents a pipeline to use and combine EU Copernicus datasets to make data-driven ecological spatial modelling more accessible, useful in urban planning and ecology.

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

A Copernicus pipeline to create a highly resolved land cover map for modelling urban biodiversity in European cities

Ecological models can provide planners with important information to integrate the needs of animals and plants into urban planning processes, thereby …

www.sciencedirect.com

Reposted by Terrestrial Ecology Research Group - TUM

Jörg-Peter Schnitzler @jpschnitzlerlab.bsky.social · Jul 12

#PlantScience
Are you interested in plant chemodiversity & its ecological implications? A great SI in @plantbiology.bsky.social organized by Caroline Müller @chemodiversity.bsky.social
We are happy to contribute with @sunsicker.bsky.social @robinheinennl.bsky.social @terrecolgroup.bsky.social

Special Issue: Ecology and evolution of plant chemodiversity: Plant Biology: Vol 27, No 5

Click on the title to browse this issue

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

4 5

Reposted by Terrestrial Ecology Research Group - TUM

Jörg-Peter Schnitzler @jpschnitzlerlab.bsky.social · Jul 15

link.springer.com/article/10.1...

I'm happy to contribute to this nice piece of work by Annika Neuhaus from @terrecolgroup.bsky.social and @robinheinennl.bsky.social

Aphid Colony Size in Tansy is Affected by Plant Chemical Composition but not by Belowground Herbivory - Journal of Chemical Ecology

Plants are hosts for above- and belowground insect communities that can influence each other via above-belowground plant-physiological dynamics. To mediate interactions, plants produce secondary metab...

link.springer.com

2 3

Reposted by Terrestrial Ecology Research Group - TUM

Robin Heinen @robinheinennl.bsky.social · Jul 7

Day one of part 3/3 in the @chemodiversity.bsky.social common chemodiversity experiment. This time, we work on the Populus model system. Smooth process, early finish today @jpschnitzlerlab.bsky.social @ybseymen.bsky.social @mhanusch.bsky.social @sunsicker.bsky.social @terrecolgroup.bsky.social

1 4 7

Terrestrial Ecology Research Group - TUM @terrecolgroup.bsky.social · Jul 3

Implementation of this design on the building would not have been possible without Fabio Sweet and Kathrin Dörfler, who made sure that everything came together successfully.

TZ also wrote a piece on it; which can be found here:
www.tz.de/muenchen/sta...
@theweirdfox.bsky.social

Hier sollen Tiere einziehen: Erste Nistfassade Deutschlands aus dem 3D-Drucker

In Neuperlach wurde nun die erste Nistfassade aus einem 3D-Drucker eingeweiht – am Feuerwerk-Jugendzentrum Südpolstation.

www.tz.de

1 2

Terrestrial Ecology Research Group - TUM @terrecolgroup.bsky.social · Jul 3

Recently, we made important progress in one of our collaborative projects in which urban design meets ecology. We installed Germany's first 3D-printed and ecologically inspired biodiversity facade, designed by Iuliia Larikova.

A video report can be found here:
www.muenchen.tv/mediathek/vi...

Deutschlandweit erste Nistfassade aus 3D-Druck

Deutschlandweit erste Nistfassade aus 3D-Druck | In einer Welt, in der die Artenvielfalt in städtischen Gebieten immer mehr abnimmt, suchen Wissenschaftler und Architekten nach innovativen Lösungen, u...

www.muenchen.tv

1 1 2

Terrestrial Ecology Research Group - TUM @terrecolgroup.bsky.social · Jun 23

New Paper: Fabio Sweet dove into relationships between demographic composition and people's attitudes towards animals in cities, and finds that people's demographic niche is an important predictor of their opinions on nature and where it should be.

doi.org/10.1016/j.ba...
@theweirdfox.bsky.social

Redirecting

doi.org

1 2

Terrestrial Ecology Research Group - TUM @terrecolgroup.bsky.social · Jun 17

This morning, Lisa Merkens presented a nice study on how to use AI to identify areas suitable for nature conservation, based on the preferences of a very specific model species, the common blackbird. Given the shortage of funds in conservation, this may be a possibility to efficiently use resources?

Terrestrial Ecology Research Group - TUM @terrecolgroup.bsky.social · Jun 12

Robin Heinen @robinheinennl.bsky.social · Jun 12

Greenhouse experimental setup part 1. If all works out as planned, Elikplim Setordjie will use these two parallel chemodiversity feedback studies as part of her PhD. Lots of soil mixing and sieving going on. A huge shout-out also to our awesome technician Tanja!

Terrestrial Ecology Research Group - TUM @terrecolgroup.bsky.social · Jun 12

We often talk urban ecology in our group. But Laura's work stands out (+!). She uses various models to understand how different aspects of building envelopes determine how plant communities may develop on buildings, combining modeling, theoretical ecology and natural history. Great discussion too!

1 2

Terrestrial Ecology Research Group - TUM @terrecolgroup.bsky.social · Jun 3

Julia presented the results of her MSc thesis this morning. She investigated the role of city structure and human use on bird behavior and connectivity in the urban environment. Lots of interesting findings and inspiration for future study! Nice work, Julia!

Terrestrial Ecology Research Group - TUM @terrecolgroup.bsky.social · Jun 3

Congratulations to Annika on publishing her third PhD chapter on the ever wonderful Tansy model system and its specialized aphids and the role of terpenoids in regulating their colony growth.

With @jpschnitzlerlab.bsky.social and @robinheinennl.bsky.social

Robin Heinen @robinheinennl.bsky.social · Jun 3

Happy to share that Annika Neuhaus just published her final PhD chapter in Journal of Chemical Ecology. Here, she investigated whether intraspecific differences in terpenoids mediate above-belowground interactions. Aboveground? Yes. Below? Not so much!
link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Aphid Colony Size in Tansy is Affected by Plant Chemical Composition but not by Belowground Herbivory - Journal of Chemical Ecology

Plants are hosts for above- and belowground insect communities that can influence each other via above-belowground plant-physiological dynamics. To mediate interactions, plants produce secondary metab...

link.springer.com

1

Reposted by Terrestrial Ecology Research Group - TUM

Robin Heinen @robinheinennl.bsky.social · May 22

I realized while watching this presentation that we often overlook seemingly very obvious things. We always seem to focus on the urban green, but apparently the fifty shades of grey in urban environments also matter for biodiversity. I had never given it much thought. Makes sense though, doesn't it?

Terrestrial Ecology Research Group - TUM @terrecolgroup.bsky.social · May 22

We often wonder about the impact of urban green on biodiversity in our group. This week, we heard from Antonia about the impacts of the built environment! She showed in her MSc thesis that buildings, and their distinct associations with humans, also drive bird diversity. Nice work Antonia!

1 3

Terrestrial Ecology Research Group - TUM @terrecolgroup.bsky.social · May 22

We often wonder about the impact of urban green on biodiversity in our group. This week, we heard from Antonia about the impacts of the built environment! She showed in her MSc thesis that buildings, and their distinct associations with humans, also drive bird diversity. Nice work Antonia!

3

Reposted by Terrestrial Ecology Research Group - TUM

The Jena Experiment @jena-experiment.bsky.social · May 15

What a great week for Max, he also defended his PhD with great success - congratulations!

Stay tuned for more of his research on plant-consumer interactions 🌱🪲

With proud supervisors @ebelingae.bsky.social, Sebastian Meyer @terrecolgroup.bsky.social & Holger Schielzeth

2 7

Terrestrial Ecology Research Group - TUM @terrecolgroup.bsky.social · May 6

Addendum; Ana Maria of course had hypotheses and take-homes, but I forgot to add them to the previous post!

3

Terrestrial Ecology Research Group - TUM @terrecolgroup.bsky.social · May 6

Ana Maria Bastidas, who's doing her PhD with us, supervised by former colleague Christian Hof @globalchangeeco.bsky.social presented her work on functional traits in relation to island characteristics in island birds. Part of her work can be found here: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....

Species Traits and Island Biogeography: Wing Metrics Linked to Avian Dispersal Ability Predict Species Occurrence on Remote Islands Worldwide

Aim We assessed the influence of island isolation on the composition of insular bird assemblages with a particular focus on species traits associated with dispersal. To do so, we tested whether ecom...

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

1 2 6

Terrestrial Ecology Research Group - TUM @terrecolgroup.bsky.social · Apr 28

Urban green matters! Comparing different metrics, @afairbairn.bsky.social show that NDVI better predicts bird diversity than vegetation volume. NDVI is not easily applicable in planning - highlighting the need for models including more interpretable metrics.

Paper: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

NDVI and vegetation volume as predictors of urban bird diversity - Scientific Reports

Scientific Reports - NDVI and vegetation volume as predictors of urban bird diversity

www.nature.com

2 5

Terrestrial Ecology Research Group - TUM @terrecolgroup.bsky.social · Apr 3

Elikplim presented her work on chemodiversity effects on ant patrolling and aphid visits on Tansy. Eli showed that chemodiversity per se may not matter, but presence of specific chemotypes does attract more ants. Ant activity tied strongly to nests and aphid resources! @robinheinennl.bsky.social

1 4

Reposted by Terrestrial Ecology Research Group - TUM

EnriCo - Uni Goettingen @enricounigoe.bsky.social · Mar 24

Plenty of EnriCo research on forest biodiversity can be found in this review by our colleagues from Munich @terrecolgroup.bsky.social 🌲🌳🪲

Forest Ecosystems @forestecosyst.bsky.social · Mar 24

A species of conifer (called Douglas-fir) shows little evidence of harming native biodiversity in European forests, but its impact varies with forest type and management, requiring further research.
#biodiversity #forest
@forestecosyst.bsky.social
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

3 5