Our research focusses at the interface of Evolutionary Ecology, Genetics and Functional Biodiversity research. We aim to understand the fundamental ecological, behavioral, chemical and genetic/genomic processes that drive and limit adaptive evolution to maintain ecosystem functions and wildlife health. Details on current projects, target species, methods and technologies used to achieve our goals, as well as on our team can be found here:

Prof. Dr. Simone Sommer	Conservation Genomics and EcoHealth
Prof. Dr. Sebastian Seibold	Ecosystem Resilience
Senior Prof. Dr. Manfred Ayasse	Chemical Ecology
apl. Prof. Dr. Marco Tschapka	Tropical Ecology
Dr. Kirsten Jung (interim professorship)	Functional Biodiversity

Recently published research (2025/26)

Carranco AS, Romo D, de Lourdes Torres M, Wilhelm K, Gillingham MAF, Sommer S (2026) Egg microbiome of the yellow-spotted Amazon river turtle (Podocnemis unifilis) modulates fusariosis fungal infection and hatching success. Communications Biology

Geschke J, Sommer S, Schloter M (2026) What health are we talking about? Biodiversity as the missing link between One Health and Planetary Health. Ambio. 
https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-026-02487-8

Morales AE, Liang Y, Thomas WR, […], Melville DW, Meyer M, […], Sommer S, […], Hiller M, Teeling EC (2026) Reference genomes and fossils rewrite bat family level phylogeny and global biogeography. Nature. 
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-026-11007-3

 

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