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Functional Ecology (AG Schleuning)

Climate and land-use change reshuffle ecological communities with unknown consequences for ecosystem stability and resilience. To quantify these consequences, we use a combination of field studies, experiments, and simulation models. Using trait-based approaches, we seek to gain a mechanistic understanding of species interactions in ecological networks and, more generally, of how biodiversity contributes to ecosystem functions and services. The concepts we develop are applicable to many groups of organisms and systems, but most of our empirical work focusses on seed-dispersal interactions in tropical ecosystems. The results of our studies are also used to develop predictive models of how biodiversity may change – and recover – under future conditions.

Our research group is primarily hosted at the Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre in Frankfurt. Please see our Senckenberg website for more information about our team, recent publications and ongoing research projects.

Starting in 2026, we will be involved in teaching the MSc modules ‘Community Ecology and Multitrophic Interactions’ and ‘Ornithology’. If you are interested in doing a MSc thesis in Functional Ecology, please get in touch about current projects and possibilities.

Contact information: 

Prof. Dr. Matthias Schleuning
matthias.schleuning@senckenberg.de
phone +49 69 7542 1892

Dr. Jörg Albrecht
joerg.albrecht@senckenberg.de
phone +49 69 7542 1709

Administrative coordination:
Sylvia Werz
sylvia.werz@senckenberg.de
phone +49 69 7542 1821