I use meta-analyses and evidence syntheses to examine the relationships between organisms and their environment. My past research was revolving around Behavioural Ecology and niche individual specialization. My current research focuses on exploring the impact of landscape heterogeneity on species' resource use and how this ultimately affects biodiversity patterns. In addition, I am interested in unveiling how landscape dynamics affect the effectiveness of conservation measures. My goal is to help bridging the conservation gap and produce useful research.


I am a strong advocate of open science practices and an active member of the Society for Open Reliable Transparent Ecology and Evolutionary biology-SORTEE (member of the conference committee since 2021). I believe that knowledge should be free and accessible to everyone. Since science and ecology are inherently political, we should coordinate our efforts to protect the environment from corporate depredation and administrational lethargy. My research is committed to promoting inclusion, accessibility and interdisciplinarity, while renouncing helicopter research and scientific misconduct.

• “Hutchinson’s ecological niche for individuals”, talk on the 11th Jan. 2022 in N. Dingemanse’s Lab (University of Munich).

• “NC³ - Individualized niches; theory and practices”, talk on the 05th of April 2022 in the Symposium InChangE, NC3 and JICE (Bielefeld University).

• Multiple talks in the regular Seminar of the Animal Behaviour group in the University of Bielefeld.

Blog posts

 Takola, E. (2024) Debunking myths around open data. Available at: https://www.sortee.org/blog/2024/04/12/2024_open_data_myths/

 Links to data and code are provided, wherever applicable.


Gould, E., Fraser, H.S., Parker, T.H., Nakagawa, S., Griffith, S.C., Vesk, P.A., Fidler, F.,..., Takola, E.,... & Emily M. Tompkins. Same data, different analysts: variation in effect sizes due to analytical decisions in ecology and evolutionary biology. (in-principle acceptance by BMC Biology). https://doi.org/10.32942/X2GG62

[Data & code available here.]

Takola, E., Bonfanti, J., Seppelt, R. & Beckmann, M. (2023). An open-access global database of meta-analyses investigating yield and biodiversity responses to different management practices. Data in Brief, p. 109696. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dib.2023.109696

[Data and code available here.]

Takola, E. & Schielzeth, H. (2022). Hutchinson’s ecological niche for individuals. Biology & Philosophy, 37, 25. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10539-022-09849-y



Trappes, R., Nematipour, B., Kaiser, M. I., Krohs, U., van Benthem, K. J., Ernst, U. R., Gadau, J., Korsten, P., Kurtz, J., Schielzeth, H., Schmoll, T. & Takola, E. (2022). How Individualized Niches Arise: Defining Mechanisms of Niche Construction, Niche Choice and Niche Conformance. BioScience, 2022, biac023, https://doi.org/10.1093/biosci/biac023



Takola, E., Krause, E., Müller, C. & Schielzeth, H. (2021). Novelty at second glance: a critical appraisal of the novel object paradigm based on meta-analysis. Animal Behaviour, 180, 123-142. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2021.07.018

[Data and code available here.]

Moran, N., Caspers, B., Chakarov, N., Ernst, U., Fricke, C., Kurtz, J., Lilie, N., Ka Lo, L., Müller, C., R, R., Takola, E., Trimmer, P., van Benthem, K., Winternitz, J. & Wittmann, M. (2021). Shifts between cooperation and antagonism driven by individual variation: a systematic synthesis review. Oikos. https://doi.org/10.1111/oik.08201

I am co-organizing the Open CLE Forum, which is one of the regular get-togethers of the CLE Department.
It is open not only to Department members, but also external guests.
The Open CLE Forun comprises of conventional presentations (progress reports or discussion of future plans/brainstorming sessions), round-table discussions, games and many more types of activities. It also includes snacks!

The goal is to sit together, discuss science and ultimately increase the scientific exchange within UFZ. 

Open CLE Forum Programme (UFZ intranet).

If you have a project idea and want to work with us, please do not hesitate to contact me ( elina.takola@ufz.de ).

There are also some ongoing projects, in which we always need extra workforce:

•  How does the (surrounding) landscape heterogeneity affect the yield of croplands?

        ⇒ Data-intensive project; includes lots of data wrangling and harmonization.

•  Can we implement network meta-analysis to uncover the effects of nutrient addition in the production of croplands and grasslands?

        ⇒ Statistically demanding project that explores uncharted territories. Currently there is an offer for a Master thesis on this project (application deadline: 20th December 2023).

•  Which agricultural management practices increase yield and biodiversity?

        ⇒ Mini literature review. Good topic for a thesis. 

•  How does landscape heterogeneity affect population persistence?

        ⇒ Data-intensive and statistics-heavy project. Requires experience with R or some other programming language. Currently there is an offer for a Master thesis on this project (application deadline: 15th March 2024).

•  How does the change of land-use affect dispersal patterns of animals?