The Department of Ecology was established in 1993 and is part of the Institute of Environmental Sciences and Environmental Technology in Faculty 2 Environment and Natural Sciences at BTU.

Research in the Department focuses on the effects of anthropogenic (e.g. climate and land use change) and natural disturbances (e.g. wildfire) on biodiversity, biotic interactions and ecosystem processes in natural, forest and agricultural ecosystems. Major research areas include the provision of ecosystem services, predator-prey interactions, litter decomposition by soil fauna, and biodiversity conservation with a focus on terrestrial invertebrates.

Teaching at the Department focuses on Bachelor's, Master's and PhD courses in the international programme "Environmental and Resource Management" and the German-language programmes "Umweltingenieurwesen" and "Landnutzung und Wasserbewirtschaftung". Courses focus on basic knowledge in ecology and biology (ecology: ecosystems, biotic interactions & nature conservation; biology: soil biology, forensics & parasitology).

News

• Dr Chefor Fotang has won the BTU's prize for the best dissertation of 2024.
• Karen Revoredo Khalil has won the DAAD Prize at the BTU and is writing her bachelor's thesis with us.
• The fourth Namibia excursion took place successfully at the BTU.
• Klaus Birkhofer was appointed by Minister Mittelstädt as a member of the Nature Conservation Advisory Council of the State of Brandenburg.
• Colleagues from South Africa, Botswana and Zimbabwe met at the Ecology Research Group for a workshop.

Latest publications

• Agunbiade, M. B., Mawdo, J., Camara, F., Fotang, C., Tangwa, E., Oladosu, O. A., ... & Birkhofer, K. (2025). Mapping suitable habitat for Hooded Vultures Necrosyrtes monachus in one of the last West African strongholds for the species in The Gambia. Ostrich, 1-12
• Agunbiade, M. B., Oladosu, O. A., Birkhofer, K., & Ogada, D. (2024). Belief-based use of vultures in West Africa: a review. Vulture News, 87(1), 1-17.
• Agunbiade, M. B., Menares, E., Fotang, C., Jallow, M., Camara, F., Enoguanbhor, E. C., ... & Birkhofer, K. (2025). Amount of Organic Waste Affects the Composition and Interactions of Vertebrate Scavengers at Gambian Slaughterhouses. African Journal of Ecology, 63(4), e70045.
• Alfeus, M., Hering, R., Angombe, S., & Birkhofer, K. (2026). Encroaching shrub species alter arthropod community composition and trophic structure in southern African rangeland ecosystems. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment, 396, 110016.
• Alfeus, M., Irish, J., & Birkhofer, K. (2025). Recognition and completeness metrics from iNaturalist and GBIF can inform future citizen science and research projects: a case study on arthropods in Namibia. Biodiversity and Conservation, 34(2), 467-480.
• Arvidsson, F. & Birkhofer, K. (2025) The value of public databases for our knowledge of national spider biodiversity compared to a long-term scientific monitoring project. Insect Conservation and Diversity, 1–12.
• Bapfubusa Niyibizi, I. A., Addison, P., & Birkhofer, K. (2025). Effect of Pest Control Strategies on Arthropod Pests of Apple in Europe: A Meta‐Analysis. Journal of Applied Entomology, 149(6), 957-987.
• Bapfubusa Niyibizi, I. A., Schnerch, B., Djoudi, E. A., & Birkhofer, K. (2025). Aphid proliferation in orchard alleys and canopy predator aggregation in eastern German apple orchards. Agricultural and Forest Entomology, 27(4), 742-754.
• Birkhofer, K., Ekroos, J., Mader, V., Tschumi, M., Wu, A. P., & Smith, H. G. (2026). Taxonomy, habitat and conservation status explain the diet composition of insectivorous birds in Europe. Biological Conservation, 313, 111566.
• Bucher, R., ..., Djoudi, E.A., ..., Birkhofer, K., et al.Land-use impacts on crop yield: direct and indirect roles of arthropods and associated ecosystem services in European farmland.Landscape Ecology 40, 97 (2025).
• Bucher, R., & Masson, A. M. (2025). Black garden ants reduce aphid predation by native and invasive ladybirds. Ecological Entomology. 
• Cardoso, P., Pekár, S., Birkhofer, K., Chuang, A., Fukushima, C. S., Hebets, E. A., ... & Mammola, S. (2025). Ecosystem services provided by spiders. Biological Reviews.
• Kocsis, T., de Groot, A., van Beersum, F., Boer, J., Dimmers, W., Laros, I., Lammertsma, D., Polling, M., Schnerch, B., Villing, N., WallisDeVries, M. F., & Fijen, T. (2025). Mixed plant and arthropod biodiversity responses to solar park establishment on former agricultural lands. Journal of Applied Ecology, 00, 1–14.
• Feng, L., Arvidsson, F., & Birkhofer, K. (2024). Terrestrial generalist predators have larger isotopic niches but rely less on aquatic prey at a natural compared to a post-mining lakeshore. Food Webs, 41, e00368.
• Kinga, H., Damptey, F.G., Harms, D., Jocqué, R., Henrard, A., Birkhofer, K. (2025) Active restoration of post-mining forest benefits the activity density, but not the diversity of spider communities across the seasons in Ghana. African Invertebrates 66(1): 1-18. 
• Melcher, A. C., Krehenwinkel, H., Harms, D., & Birkhofer, K. (2025). Estimating Required Sample Sizes for Gut Content Metabarcoding Studies of Dietary Diversity in Spiders. Journal of Applied Entomology 149, 1034-1039.
• Menares-Barraza, E., Markova-Nenova, N., Sturm, A., Wätzold, F., & Birkhofer, K. (2025) Cost-Effective Conservation of Multiple Goals in Grasslands: Synergies and Trade-Offs. SSRN 5206712.
• Saito, R., Yamanobe, H., Yabuki, K., Suzuki, T., Saito, T., Hakozaki, S., Wanner, M. ... & Sogame, Y. (2025). Salinity tolerance in resting cysts of colpodid ciliates: Comparative transcriptomics analysis and chemical analysis of cyst walls to investigate their tolerance capability. Current Research in Microbial Sciences, 8, 100371. 
• Schnerch, B., Bucher, R., Hossain, M., Niyibizi, I. A. B., & Birkhofer, K. (2025). Growth stage, management and habitat influence the taxonomic and functional composition of arthropod communities in apple orchards. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment, 394, 109901.
• Wanner, M., Siemensma, F., Sogame, Y., Shimano, S., Shimizu, M. (2025). Soil Testate Amoebae from some Heritage Sites of Japan, with a description of a new Centropyxis species (Amoebzoa, Excentrostoma). Journal of Prostistology, Vol. 55, 2025, e007
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