The chair of General Ecology at the Technical University of Brandenburg (BTU) exists since the 15.10.1993. It is part of the Faculty 4 "Environmental Science and Process Engineering", which is made up by 23 different environmental-oriented disciplines. Corresponding to the education profile and the research fields most of the employees of the chair of General Ecology are biologists.
Classes are mainly offered in the Bachelor and Master program of the International course of studies "Environmental and Resource Management". Additionally, classes are offered in the Master-Plus study course "World Heritage Studies", for the study course "Environmental and Process Engineering" (particularly for the in-depth branch of study "Environmental Management"), for the study course "Industrial Engineering" (as a part of the branch of study "Environmental Technology") as well as for the study course "Urban and Regional Planning".
Main emphasis in teaching lies on the exchange of basic knowledge in biology and ecology. Particularly, the ecology of individuals, populations, and communities as well as the transfer of applied ecological knowledge into the fields of ecosystem management and the protection of biodiversity are of great importance.
The methodical education consists of ecological field work concerning vegetation, fauna and habitat types and the work with software for the evaluation, interpretation, and cartographic representation of ecological data. The application of multivariate statistics ("explorative data analysis") and geostatistics (variograms, kriging) in ecology is presented. This happens in combination with environment-oriented practicals and excursions.
Important research activities of the chair deal with:
basic research and development of guiding principles in post-mining landscapes and close-to-natural open landscapes (e.g. former military training areas).
PCR-examinations of selected animal populations
taxonomic examinations of pondweeds (working on Potamogeton: Rothmaler IV, Flora Malesiana, Ranunculus Subgenus Batrachium: Rothmaler, HEGI)
autecology, population ecology, and life story of higher aquatic and marsh plants, ecology of water bodies and wetlands, long-term examination of the environment in water bodies, mires and marshes
population biology and vegetation science of terrestrial phytocoenoses, especially in post-mining areas
ecology of arthropods (locusts, bugs, caddis flies, moths, and dragonflies) in limnic and terrestrial habitats, particularly of post-mining landscapes
Applied Ecology
theory of nature conservation, application of scientific- ecological results for concrete planning schemes, fundamentals of the development of guiding principles and ecological assessment
nature conservation in post-mining landscapes, military training areas and large-scale nature reserves, development of guiding principles and action plans
implentation of nature reserves and creation of large-scale concepts for the protection of nature (habitat network systems), restoration and rehabilitation.
