Research and Education
Research in our section is devoted to benthic copepods, a group of the Crustacea, and to the groundwater fauna. All these organisms are barely visible to the naked eye. They belong to the size fraction between half a millimetre and 1.5 millimetres which is called meiofauna as opposed to the macrofauna on the one hand and the microfauna on the other. Meiofaunal studies therefore are at the centre of our research. Teaching in our section aims at introducing students into the theory and techniques to study the diversity of animal life, systematics, and evolutionary biology.
Research on CopepodsCopepods dominate the aquatic environment and are at the ecological centre in this sphere. They compose a large part of the aquatic biomass being the biggest source of animal protein on earth. They channel much of the energy flow and exercise a profound effect on marine and freshwater ecosystems as key primary consumers in the aquatic food chains, as important contributors to the remineralisation of sedimented organic matter, and as parasites and associates of an enormous variety of other animal species. They are phylogenetically highly successful as regards phylogenetic age, number of living species and success of adaptive radiation.They are an ideal group therefore to practise what is felt to be a future development in biology. According to E.O. Wilson there will be a change from the present stress on levels of biological organisation to more emphasis on taxonomic groups of organisms. He predicts an increased esteem and growth of studies of particular taxonomic groups for their own sake because the times of broad generalisations in biology are over and yield the stage to fundamental discoveries about individual taxa. Our research centers around harpacticoid copepods which we study from a variety of different angles. Harpacticoids are typically benthic copepods occupying a wide spectrum of niches at the bottom of oceans and inland waters. The base of all studies on individual taxa is a good knowledge of their phylogenetic history. We therefore devote considerable efforts to reconstruct the phylogenetic relationships within the Harpacticoida studying their morphology (Dahms, George, Schminke, Seifried, Willen), their inner anatomy, their mating behaviour (Glatzel), and their larval development (Dahms). These investigations are done using light and electron (SEM, TEM) microscopy and high resolution video techniques. Connected with the phylogenetic studies are investigations of species diversity in Harpacticoida (Dahms, George). Diversity is studied at the alpha (number of species occurring together within a particular habitat) and beta diversity level (the species turnover rate along a - latitudinal or bathymetric - transect). A particular aspect of our research are population biology and community studies of copepods and other taxa in the Subantarctic (Elwers), the Great Barrier Reef (Schönberg), and the North Sea. All our investigations on copepods include taxonomic descriptions because harpacticoids abound in undiscovered species particularly in those areas where we collected most of our material: the polar oceans and the deep sea. Of particular interest for us is the bentho-pelagic transition zone which harbours a rather distinct assemblage of (predominantly plesiomorphic) copepods belonging not only to the Harpacticoida but also to the Platycopioida, Misophrioida, Poecilostomatoida, and Calanoida to which we have turned our interest recently. Types and paratypes of the newly described species are deposited in our Copepod Collection. Our research has greatly profited from the occasion to build up a reprint library containing publications on all aspects of copepod research. The collection of reprints and books is called the MONOCULUS Copepod Library. Together with the MONOCULUS Copepod Newsletter it is also part of our services to the copepodologists community worldwide. The newsletter is published by us since the very first efforts started in 1981 to bring together all scientists in the world working on copepods. In the meantime they are united in the World Association of Copepodologists (WAC) and a new branch of science, copepodology, has emerged integrating researchers who not long ago would have identified themselves as planktologists, parasitologists, systematists, ecologists etc. Oldenburg is the cradle of both.
Research on groundwater faunaThe second aspect of our research is the study of the groundwater fauna. Groundwater is a precious resource for a number of vital functions such as public, industrial and agricultural water supply. Nearly 75% of the inhabitants of the member states of the European Community are dependent on groundwater for their water supply. Groundwater is stored as large reservoirs in the porous and karstic underground. The vital functions of these reservoirs are being threatened by the effects of pollution and overexploitation.On the other hand, aquifers are not only reservoirs but also ecological systems. Along with bacteria and protists the groundwater is inhabited by an abundant and diverse fauna. These organisms cooperate in keeping the groundwater bearing strata clean of organic particles entering the groundwater from the soil or surface waters. Research in our group concentrates on the following topics:
TeachingThere are lectures and practicals offered at a regular interval:
For first year students - the course of lectures "Stämme des Tierreichs" (Phyla of the animal kingdom), part 1 "Wirbellose" (Invertebrates) during winter term and part 2 "Wirbeltiere" (Vertebrates") during summer term.For third and fourth year students - Fortgeschrittenen-Praktikum Zoomorphologie I (Cnidaria, "Vermes", Arthropoda) during one term. A particular offer each summer are the courses of the "Summer Academy of Systematic Zoology" (Sommerakademie für Systematische Zoologie) which attracts participants from all over Germany and which are organised by H.K. Schminke in cooperation with W. Westheide (University of Osnabrück). Summer Academy for Systematic Zoology  to the Marine Station in Concarneau, Brittany |
