Scientific career

Since 06/2026

Postdoctoral Researcher, German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Experimental Interaction Ecology. Invertebrate ecology in different ecosystems across real-world and experimental contexts, including leading the project “Spatio-temporal insurance effects of heterogeneous forests” in the DFG research unit 5375 (“BETA-FOR”), hosted by Prof. Nico Eisenhauer.

01/2026 – 05/2026

Postdoctoral Researcher, University of Jena, Institute of Biodiversity, Ecology and Evolution. Arthropod ecology in experimental and real-world grasslands, hosted by Dr. habil. Anne Ebeling

01/2024 – 12/2025

Postdoctoral Researcher, University of Jena, Institute of Biodiversity, Ecology and Evolution, funded by German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig (Flexpool). Lead of the project: “Relating community assembly to ecosystem functioning (CAFE) across trophic levels in space and time“, hosted by Dr. habil. Anne Ebeling.

01/2021 – 04/2024

Dr. rer. nat., University of Göttingen, Forest Nature Conservation, DFG research training group 2300 (“EnriCo”). Thesis title: “Forest biodiversity in times of global environmental change: Effects of tree species identity and admixture on diversity and trophic niches of arthropods, under special consideration of the canopy and its architecture“, examination board: Prof. Andreas Schuldt (PI), Prof. Stefan Scheu, Prof. Martin Husemann, Prof. Martin Gossner.

10/2017 – 07/2020

Master of Science Biology, University of Hamburg, Institute of Plant Sciences and Microbiology. Thesis title: “Spatial patterns, life history and biological interactions of termite colonies (Macrotermes sp.) in the thorn bush savanna of Central Namibia“, supervision: Prof. Norbert Jürgens.

10/2014 – 09/2017

Bachelor of Science Biology, University of Cologne, Institute of Zoology. Thesis title: “Community Composition and Dynamics of Eukaryotic Microbes Associated to Sargassum and other Macrophytes in the Atlantic“, supervision: Prof. Hartmut Arndt.

Research Interests

My main focus lies on different facets of arthropod ecology, from trophic interactions to biodiversity research, covering community ecology and biodiversity–ecosystem functioning (BEF) questions across spatio-temporal scales and multiple ecosystems. After previous work on termites in a subtropical thornbush savanna and arthropod communities in managed temperate forests as well as managed and experimental grasslands, I now focus on invertebrate-centred BEF trends and their stability across space and time in forests and grasslands around the globe, in both experimental and real-world settings.

Publications

13. Klenke, J., Von Groß, V., Fuchs, J. M., Topanotti, L. R., Wildermuth, B., Rivera Pérez, C. A., Lu, J.-Z., Likulunga, L. E., Knoke, T., & Paul, C. (2026).      Balancing biodiversity and economics: Using robust Pareto-optimisation to quantify ecological–economic trade-offs in German mixed beech forests. Ambio. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-026-02441-8

12. Piccini, S., Wildermuth, B., Matevski, D., Kriegel, P., Penanhoat, A., Seidel, D., Hagge, J., Gossner, M. M., & Schuldt, A. (2026). Same forest, different story: Beetle community responses to non‐native tree species depend on the vertical stratum. Journal of Applied Ecology, 63(7), e70472. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2664.70472

11. Mrak, K., Hahn, P., Wildermuth, B., & Lamersdorf, N. (2026). Mineral nitrogen form preference, partitioning and root morphological traits of Douglas fir and European beech under intra—And interspecific competition in-situ. European Journal of Forest Research, 145(2), 38. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10342-025-01853-7

10. Wildermuth, B., Bröcher, M., Ladouceur, E., Meyer, S. T., Schielzeth, H., Staab, M., Achury, R., Blüthgen, N., Hertzog, L., Hines, J., Roscher, C., Schweiger, O., Weisser, W. W., & Ebeling, A. (2026). Arthropod species loss underpins biomass declines. Nature Ecology & Evolution, 10(1), 83–94. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-025-02909-y

9. Topanotti, L. R., Fuchs, J. M., Albert, M., Schick, J., Penanhoat, A., Lu, J.-Z., Pérez, C. A. R., Foltran, E. C., Appleby, S., Wildermuth, B., Stuckenberg, T., Likulunga, L. E., Glatthorn, J., Schuldt, A., Polle, A., Balkenhol, N., Scheu, S., Ammer, C., Paul, C., & Guerrero-Ramírez, N. (2024). Enhancing economic multifunctionality without compromising multidiversity and ecosystem multifunctionality via forest enrichment. Science Advances, 10(43), eadp6566. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adp6566

8. Wildermuth, B.*, Penanhoat, A.*, Sennhenn-Reulen, H., Matevski, D., Drescher, J., Aubry-Kientz, M., Seidel, D., & Schuldt, A. (2024). Canopy structure influences arthropod communities within and beyond tree identity effects: Insights from combining LiDAR data, insecticidal fogging and machine learning regression modelling. Ecological Indicators, 160, 111901. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2024.111901

* shared first authorship

7. Wildermuth, B., Hagge, J., Seifert, C. L., Tjaden, R., & Schuldt, A. (2024). Beneficial effects of native broadleaved forests on canopy beetle diversity are not reduced by admixture of non‐native conifers. Journal of Applied Ecology, 1365-2664.14623. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2664.14623

6. Wildermuth, B., Seifert, C. L., Husemann, M., & Schuldt, A. (2023). Metabarcoding reveals that mixed forests mitigate negative effects of non‐native trees on canopy arthropod diversity. Ecological Applications, 33(8), e2921. https://doi.org/10.1002/eap.2921

5. Wildermuth, B., Dönges, C., Matevski, D., Penanhoat, A., Seifert, C. L., Seidel, D., Scheu, S., & Schuldt, A. (2023). Tree species identity, canopy structure and prey availability differentially affect canopy spider diversity and trophic composition. Oecologia, 203(1–2), 37–51. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-023-05447-1

4. Wildermuth, B., Fardiansah, R., Matevski, D., Lu, J.-Z., Kriegel, P., Scheu, S., & Schuldt, A. (2023). Conifers and non-native tree species shift trophic niches of generalist arthropod predators in Central European beech forests. BMC Ecology and Evolution, 23(1), 3. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12862-023-02105-1

3. Schuldt, A., Huke, P., Glatthorn, J., Hagge, J., Wildermuth, B., & Matevski, D. (2022). Tree mixtures mediate negative effects of introduced tree species on bird taxonomic and functional diversity. Journal of Applied Ecology, 59(12), 3049–3060. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2664.14300

2. Wildermuth, B., Oldeland, J., Arning, C., Gunter, F., Strohbach, B., & Juergens, N. (2022). Spatial patterns and life histories of Macrotermes michaelseni termite mounds reflect intraspecific competition: Insights of a temporal comparison spanning 12 years. Ecography, 2022(9), e06306. https://doi.org/10.1111/ecog.06306

1. Wildermuth, B., Oldeland, J., & Juergens, N. (2021). A beneficial relationship: Associated trees facilitate termite colonies (Macrotermes michaelseni) in Namibia. Ecosphere, 12(7), e03671. https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.3671