Department of Conservation Biology

Working group - Conservation Oriented Population Ecology - COPE

The unprecedented expansion of human activities across the globe leads to an ever-increasing loss of natural habitats, their fragmentation and degradation. In addition, overexploitation of natural resources contributes to the destabilization of ecosystems and climate change is putting every ecosystem under stress. Together, these anthropogenic pressures threaten biodiversity in general and not every species can easily cope with them; only through great effort and by means of appropriate measures can the decline in biodiversity be halted. However, for the application of such measures, many factors influencing species survival under habitat loss, overexploitation and climate change need to be considered simultaneously. These include environmental factors, spatio-temporal stochasticity, and biological factors such as species mobility, evolutionary potential and population parameters. interact with these anthropogenic drives. Advancing the protection of species in changing landscapes therefore requires a better understanding of animal-landscape interactions taking place at the individual, population and community levels and how they scale up.
Population ecology
One of the WG's fields of work is the analysis of different land use strategies and their effects on the population dynamics of certain animal species.
Drawing: Bianca Bauch
The research group COPE focuses on the study of the effects of multiple anthropogenic drivers on biodiversity, at different temporal and spatial scales (local, landscape, regional) and through different levels of biological organization (species, populations, communities). Among the main drivers of transformed natural conditions we study invasive species, international species trade, climate change and habitat loss due to land use change. Our main goal is to understand the ecological processes behind observed patterns of species occurrence, abundance, distribution and composition, including species' status and trends, risk assessments and the consequences of over-exploitation of species - as well as the consequences of uncertainty. Key aspects in our studies include species' traits and environmental responses; animal movement and dispersal (connectivity), population dynamics, strategies to cope with these changes, but also physiology and phylogenetics. Contact with the relevant stakeholders is very important to us. We also advise authorities and companies directly.

We provide recommendations for nature conservation and international species protection (e.g. under which scenarios a sustainable use of natural resources could take place), and for implementation and optimization of biodiversity monitoring methods at local, national and global scales. Furthermore, we seek to understand local conservation conflicts that may arise due to changes in the occurrence of different species and to minimise them by means of suitable planning instruments.

An important part of the COPE research group comprises field-based data collection such as inventories, surveys and monitoring. For this purpose, we use a variety of sampling approaches, including Citizen Science, wildlife detection dogs, ID-tracking and eDNA.  Finally, we are concerned that field-based biodiversity data follow the FAIR principles, i.e., are Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable, and provide tools for FAIR data and metadata management.

Group members

Ongoing projects

Completed projects

Selected publications

 

Group members

Guest scientists

Alumni

Wildlife Detection Dogs

We also have four-legged employees in our WG. You can find more information about this here.

Biodiversity monitoring - participation welcome!

Our working group manages and participates in a number of different biodiversity monitoring programmes. You can also participate in some of them as a citizen. In most projects, you have to attend some kind of training course to be able to participate. However, some of them are open to everyone.

 

Current projects

 

The following projects are formally considered as completed. In some cases, however, research will be continued independently of financial support and administrative framework conditions. These can be activities for the publication of further results, field work to collect further data or activities for applying for new projects. Often, new interesting questions have crystallized in the completed projects or there are questions that could be raised in the framework, but not finally solved. These are good starting points for bachelor and master theses or perhaps a PhD project. Students as well as interested employees are welcome to contact the respective project managers and will be involved and supported wherever possible.

 

Index:

You could use our publication index for further requests.

2025 (13)

  • Bolte, L., Ertmer, J., Preißler, K., Klute, L., Schaffer, S., Barth, M.B., Steinfartz, S. (2025):
    Unaddressed hybridization between green (Bufotes viridis) and natterjack toads (Epidalea calamita) can lead to underestimation of genetic heterozygosity and inflated estimates of inbreeding
    Amphib. Reptil. 46 (1), 127 - 139 10.1163/15685381-bja10212
  • Bolte, L., Weiß, H., Henle, K. (2025):
    Übersäuerte Laichgewässer: Eine ökologische Falle für Amphibien in der Bergbaufolgelandschaft
    Natursch. Landschaftspl. 57 (03), 22 - 29 10.1399/NuL.108585
  • Colom, P., Tejeda, A., Bonelli, S., Fontaine, B., Kuussaari, M., Maes, D., Mestdagh, X., Munguira, M.L., Musche, M., Pettersson, L.B., Roy, D., Rüdisser, J., Šašić, M., Schmucki, R., Stefanescu, C., Titeux, N., Settele, J., van Swaay, C., Gordillo, J., Melero, Y. (2025):
    The interplay of climate change, urbanization, and species traits shapes European butterfly population trends
    bioRxiv 10.1101/2025.02.13.638066
  • Durka, W., Michalski, S.G., Höfner, J., Bucharova, A., Kolář, F., Müller, C.M., Oberprieler, C., Šemberová, K., Bauer, M., Bernt, M., Bleeker, W., Brändel, S., Bucher, S.F., Eibes, P.M., Ewald, M., Goldberg, R., Grant, K., Haider, S., Harpke, A., Haun, F., Kaufmann, R., Korell, L., Kunzmann, D., Lauterbach, D., Leib, S., Lenzewski, N., Loritz, H., Madaj, A.-M., Mainz, A.K., Meinecke, P., Mertens, H., Meyer, H.M., Musche, M., Ristow, M., Rosche, C., Roscher, C., Rutte, D., Schacherer, A., Schmidt, W., Schmoldt, J., Schneider, S., Schwarz, J.-H., Skowronek, S., Socher, S.A., Stanik, N., Twerski, A., Weiß, K., Weiß, M., Wille, A., Zehm, A., Zidorn, C., the RegioDiv Consortium, (2025):
    Assessment of genetic diversity among seed transfer zones for multiple grassland plant species across Germany
    Basic Appl. Ecol. 84 , 50 - 60 10.1016/j.baae.2024.11.004
  • Greenwell, M.P., Botham, M.S., Bruford, M.W., Day, J.C., Gibbs, M., Høye, T.T., Maes, D., Middlebrook, I., Musche, M., Pettersson, L.B., Roy, D.B., Settele, J., Stefanescu, C., Teder, T., Thomas, N.E., Watts, K., Oliver, T.H. (2025):
    Monitoring spatiotemporal patterns in the genetic diversity of a European butterfly species
    Insect. Conserv. Divers. 18 (1), 80 - 94 10.1111/icad.12786
  • Henle, K., Klenke, R., Barth, B., Grimm-Seyfarth, A., Bowler, D.E. (2025):
    Challenges and opportunities for assessing trends of amphibians with heterogeneous data – a call for better metadata reporting
    Nat. Conserv.-Bulgaria 58 , 31 - 60 10.3897/natureconservation.58.137848
  • Kühn, E. (2025):
    Buchvorstellung „Geheimnisvolle Schmetterlingswelt“
    Oedippus 42 , 62
  • Kühn, E., Musche, M., Harpke, A., Feldmann, R., Settele, J. (2025):
    Tagfalter-Monitoring Deutschland: Auswertung 2005–2023
    Oedippus 42 , 6 - 43
  • Kühn, E., Musche, M., Harpke, A., Feldmann, R., Settele, J. (2025):
    Editorial
    Oedippus 42 , 5
  • Lanuza, J.B., Knight, T.M., Montes-Perez, N., Glenny, W.R., Acuña, P., Albrecht, M., Artamendi, M., Badenhausser, I., Bennett, J.M., Biella, P., Bommarco, R., Cappellari, A., Castro, S., Clough, Y., Colom, P., Costa, J., Cyrille, N., de Manincor, N., Dominguez-Lapido, P., Dominik, C., Dupont, Y.L, Feldmann, R., Felten, E., Ferrero, V., Fiordaliso, W., Fisogni, A., FitzPatrick, Ú., Galloni, M., Gaspar, H., Gazzea, E., Goia, I., Gómez-Martínez, C., González-Estévez, M.A., González-Varo, J.P., Grass, I., Hadrava, J., Hautekèete, N., Hederström, V., Heleno, R., Hervias-Parejo, S., Heuschele, J.M., Hoiss, B., Holzschuh, A., Hopfenmüller, S., Iriondo, J.M., Jauker, B., Jauker, F., Jersáková, J., Kallnik, K., Karise, R., Kleijn, D., Klotz, S., Krausl, T., Kühn, E., Lara-Romero, C., Larkin, M., Laurent, E., Lázaro, A., Librán-Embid, F., Liu, Y., Lopes, S., López-Núñez, F., Loureiro, J., Magrach, A., Mänd, M., Marini, L., Beltran Mas, R., Massol, F., Maurer, C., Michez, D., Molina, F.P., Morente-López, J., Mullen, S., Nakas, G., Neuenkamp, L., Nowak, A., O'Connor, C.J., O'Rourke, A., Öckinger, E., Olesen, J.M., Opedal, Ø.H., Petanidou, T., Piquot, Y., Potts, S.G., Power, E.F., Proesmans, W., Rakosy, D., Reverté, S., Roberts, S.P.M., Rundlöf, M., Russo, L., Schatz, B., Scheper, J., Schweiger, O., Serra, P.E., Siopa, C., Smith, H.G., Stanley, D., Ştefan, V., Steffan-Dewenter, I., Stout, J.C., Sutter, L., Motivans Švara, E., Świerszcz, S., Thompson, A., Traveset, A., Trefflich, A., Tropek, R., Tscharntke, T., Vanbergen, A.J., Vilà, M., Vujić, A., White, C., Wickens, J.B., Wickens, V.B., Winsa, M., Zoller, L., Bartomeus, I. (2025):
    Correction to EuPPollNet: a European database of plant-pollinator networks
    Glob. Ecol. Biogeogr. 34 (3), e70014 10.1111/geb.70000
  • Lanuza, J.B., Knight, T.M., Montes-Perez, N., Glenny, W.R., Acuña, P., Albrecht, M., Artamendi, M., Badenhausser, I., Bennett, J.M., Biella, P., Bommarco, R., Cappellari, A., Castro, S., Clough, Y., Colom, P., Costa, J., Cyrille, N., de Manincor, N., Dominguez-Lapido, P., Dominik, C., Dupont, Y.L, Feldmann, R., Felten, E., Ferrero, V., Fiordaliso, W., Fisogni, A., FitzPatrick, Ú., Galloni, M., Gaspar, H., Gazzea, E., Goia, I., Gómez-Martínez, C., González-Estévez, M.A., González-Varo, J.P., Grass, I., Hadrava, J., Hautekèete, N., Hederström, V., Heleno, R., Hervias-Parejo, S., Heuschele, J.M., Hoiss, B., Holzschuh, A., Hopfenmüller, S., Iriondo, J.M., Jauker, B., Jauker, F., Jersáková, J., Kallnik, K., Karise, R., Kleijn, D., Klotz, S., Krausl, T., Kühn, E., Lara-Romero, C., Larkin, M., Laurent, E., Lázaro, A., Librán-Embid, F., Liu, Y., Lopes, S., López-Núñez, F., Loureiro, J., Magrach, A., Mänd, M., Marini, L., Beltran Mas, R., Massol, F., Maurer, C., Michez, D., Molina, F.P., Morente-López, J., Mullen, S., Nakas, G., Neuenkamp, L., Nowak, A., O'Connor, C.J., O'Rourke, A., Öckinger, E., Olesen, J.M., Opedal, Ø.H., Petanidou, T., Piquot, Y., Potts, S.G., Power, E.F., Proesmans, W., Rakosy, D., Reverté, S., Roberts, S.P.M., Rundlöf, M., Russo, L., Schatz, B., Scheper, J., Schweiger, O., Serra, P.E., Siopa, C., Smith, H.G., Stanley, D., Ştefan, V., Steffan-Dewenter, I., Stout, J.C., Sutter, L., Motivans Švara, E., Świerszcz, S., Thompson, A., Traveset, A., Trefflich, A., Tropek, R., Tscharntke, T., Vanbergen, A.J., Vilà, M., Vujić, A., White, C., Wickens, J.B., Wickens, V.B., Winsa, M., Zoller, L., Bartomeus, I. (2025):
    EuPPollNet: a European database of plant-pollinator networks
    Glob. Ecol. Biogeogr. 34 (2), e70000 10.1111/geb.70000
  • Lausch, A., Selsam, P., Heege, T., von Trentini, F., Almeroth, A., Borg, E., Klenke, R., Bumberger, J. (2025):
    Monitoring and modelling landscape structure, land use intensity and landscape change as drivers of water quality using remote sensing
    Sci. Total Environ. 960 , art. 178347 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.178347
  • Settele, J., Steiner, R., Reinhardt, R., Feldmann, R., Hermann, G., Musche, M., Kühn, E., Brehm, G. (2025):
    Schmetterlinge. Die Tagfalter und Widderchen Deutschlands
    Ulmer, Stuttgart, 288 S.
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2024 (27)

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2023 (16)

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2022 (25)

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2021 (21)

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2020 (23)

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2019 (18)

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2018 (20)

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2017 (23)

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2016 (11)

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2015 (15)

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