GCE alumni - PhD awarded by the German Ecological society
2014-10-28
The Award is considered to be one of the most prestigious for young ecologists in German speaking countries: Dr. Manuel Steinbauer, Global Change Ecology (M.Sc.) Alumnus from the University of Bayreuth was honoured by the Ecological Society of Germany, Austria and Switzerland (GFÖ) for his outstanding dissertation. Dr. Steinbauer is researcher at the department of Biogeography within the Bayreuth Center of Ecology and Environmental Research. His PhD supervisor was Prof. Carl Beierkuhnlein.
Professor Volkmar Wolters, president of the Ecological Society, highlighted in his laudation not only the scientific quality but particularly the large repertoire of applied methodologies. The dissertation involved own field-work, experimental studies as well as important theoretical and methodological contributions. Professor Wolters indicated that the decision by the jury for Dr. Steinbauer was clear without ambiguity despite a number of excellent alternative candidates.
Dr. Steinbauer is motivated by the wish to understand the causes and consequences of biogeographic patterns on different spatial and temporal scales. This includes the origin and maintenance of species diversity, community assembly and complex interactions between and within species and their abiotic und anthropogenic environment. One focus of his work are isolated systems like high elevation mountain ecosystems or islands. Dr. Steinbauer was able to quantify a consistent change in ecological isolation with elevation and the associated implications for speciation and endemic species.
The cumulative dissertation summarises several publications that include studies relevant for nature conservation (from high-elevation ecosystems and Franconian castle walls) as well as contributions to current developments in island biogeography theory. The published dissertation with the title The Effect of Spatial and Environmental Drivers on Patterns in Species Richness and Composition is published at the document- and publication server of the University of Bayreuth.