About Us
How is biological diversity generated, and which drivers shape the patterns of biodiversity in time and space? The Biodiversity in the Anthropocene group addresses these questions with a focus on terrestrial vertebrates, in particular mammals and birds. We investigate how biological diversity in species, higher groups, and their traits is distributed across the world today, how biodiversity has originated and changed through geological history, and how patterns of biodiversity can be predicted into the future. Our research aims for biological knowledge that is essential for life in the Anthropocene, i.e. the age of humans, which is characterised by increasing influence of human societies on the Earth system. For example, we study how past climate change has influenced the evolution and ecology of mammal and bird species, and what conclusions can be drawn for mitigating the effects of ongoing climate change and biodiversity loss today.
Our research utilizes integrative scientific approaches from macroecology, macroevolution, and paleobiology, which allows us to study spatial and temporal patterns across species that are alive or extinct, and to draw conclusions on the closely interacting ecological and evolutionary processes that underlie such biodiversity patterns. The goal of our research is to understand and model the distribution and dynamics of biological diversity in space and time, and their interactions with a changing Earth system and human societies. We aim to comprehend how changing biodiversity interacts with other components of the complex Earth system, e.g. with tectonic processes and topography, with atmospheric processes and climate, or with anthropogenic processes and human societies. A comprehensive and process-based understanding of biodiversity and its evolution enables and improves the development of models and projections for the future, which are urgently needed to inform society and policy in the face of global biodiversity loss and ongoing climate change.
Research Themes
We are a diverse group of bio- and geoscientists and utilize interdisciplinary approaches to identify potential environmental drivers of biodiversity dynamics, such as climate change, mountain building, and increasing human impacts in the Anthropocene. Our goal is to learn from the past by studying the evolutionary history that underlies present-day diversity patterns in relation to their abiotic, biotic, and anthropogenic drivers, in order to improve projections of future biodiversity that inform society and policy.
To understand the variation of diversity in species, higher taxa, and their traits across time and space, we apply a range of methods and tools and mostly focus on mammals and birds. We compile and synthesize large databases of the fossil record as well as on living taxa: data are gathered from preserved specimens in museum collections, public data resources, and literature mining, and we collate and utilize data encompassing species’ traits, geographic and stratigraphic occurrences, and phylogenetic relationships among organisms. Our research integrates methods across various disciplines, such as statistical and modelling tools commonly applied in paleontology and biology as well as macroecology and macroevolution.
Below, we briefly introduce the three main themes of our research and externally funded projects (third-party funding).
Contact and Team
All Team MembersHead of Research Group
Prof Dr Susanne Fritz
Phone: +49 341 9733165
Email: susanne.fritz@idiv.de
Administrative Assistant
N.N.
Postal address
German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig
Puschstrasse 4
04103 Leipzig
Germany
Affiliation
Friedrich Schiller University Jena