Institute of Landscape Ecology

Welcome to the Institute of Landscape Ecology (ILÖK) at the University of Münster!
We at ILÖK are environmental scientists working on relationships within and between atmosphere, biosphere, pedosphere, and hydrosphere. Interactions between the ecosystem compartments of a landscape and the sustainable development of landscapes in the wake of changes in land use and global processes are within the focus of our work. We use experimental scientific methods, often in interdisciplinary approaches. more about ILÖK ...

News

SER Symposium April 2013, University Münster

[26.03.2013] Under the heading “New developments in restoration research and applied ecology”, international young researcher concerned with various field of restoration ecological research and other subjects  of applied ecology will meet at the Institute of Landscape Ecology in April 2013 to discuss new topics, recent developments and cooperation perspectives. All students are cordially invited to all talks of the symposium.
For any questions on attendance please contact Valentin Klaus.
Preliminary program

Vacancy: Position in carbon and nutrient dynamics in South Patagonian bogs

[18.03.2013] At the Institute of Landscape Ecology the Working Groups Ecosystem Research and Hydrology are seeking for a project scientist to investigate carbon and nutrient dynamics in South Patagonian bog ecosystems. Further information can be found in the job advertisement

More butterflies in the forest - Cutting back trees in the traditional way has a positive effect on bio-diversity / Getting wood for energy sustainably

[28.02.2013] Woodland butterflies are among the most endangered butterflies in Europe. Their habitat is sparse forests of the kind that were once plentiful in Central Europe. Landscape ecologists from Münster University have now for the first time studied how a traditional form of woodland usage, whereby selected trees are heavily cut back over decades, affects communities of various species of woodland butterflies. The conclusion they have come to is that if this method were more widespread there would be significantly more butterflies in the forests of Europe. The results are being published in the March issue of the journal "Biological Conservation" more...

Regulation of carbon sequestration and methane release in peat soils

[08.01.2013] The German Science Foundation supports a research project of the Hydrology Group (Christian Blodau) for a duration of three years. Within the project, which covers both hydrological and biogeochemical aspects, it will be tested to what extent gas and water transport control the mineralisation of organic substance and the release of methane from peat soils.  The relation will be causally and mechanistically analyzed using both stable isotope and thermodynamic approaches. It is planned to use the acquired knowledge to further develop simulation models of coupled water and carbon cycling in peatlands.

Science at the end of the world

[20.12.2012] The German Research Foundation will fund a 3-year joint on south hemispheric peat bog ecosystems in Tierra del Fuego. The partners are the Working Groups Ecosystem Research (Till Kleinebecker) and Hydrology (Christian Blodau) of the Institute of Landscape Ecology and the Research Group Regional Hydrology (Lars Kutzbach) of Hamburg University. In the interdisciplinary project we will focus on carbon, water and nutrient dynamics of vascular plant- vs. Sphagnum-dominated bogs. In order to do this, we will utilize a broad range of approaches and methods which include gas flux measurements, peat core dating and measurements of the photosynthetic activity as well as field and laboratory experiments.