PD Dr. Günter Köhler

Born in 1950, I got in 1972 a diploma certificate in Marine Ecology (University of Rostock), followed 1979 by a doctorate in Applied Entomology (Institute of Tropical Agriculture, University of Leipzig / Cuban Academy of Sciences). I spent as an ecologist over 45 years at the Institute of Ecology in Jena and hold deputy professorships in Terrestrial Ecology (2011-2012) and Population Ecology (2014-2016), mainly occupied with several ecological lectures and practical trainings for Bachelor (Biology) and Teacher students. Following, and since several years as a pensioner, lectureships in Nature Conservation (until 2021/22) and Insect Ecology as well as in ecological courses continued.

My main research interests stayed in a wide range of Orthopteran ecophysiology, population and community ecology. Since the last two decades I also payed attention to entomo-faunistic surveys in Thuringia, including also Blattoptera, Dermaptera, Coccina, Mecoptera and Myrmeleontidae, as well as several invasive insect species.

Focused on Orthopteran insects, two long-term research projects are still accompanied. Collaborating since 2003 with the biodiversity “Jena-Experiment“ (Scientific coordinator: Dr. Anne Ebeling, Jena) and since 2008 with the “Biodiversity Exploratories” Schorfheide-Chorin, Hainich-Dün and Schwäbische Alb (speaker: Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Weisser, TU Munnich), the determination and ecofaunistic compilation of extensive material sampled with several methods is going on. Furthermore, in the biodiverse Triassic landscape around Jena, the long-term changes in the Orthoptera fauna are studied.

As editor of the long-seller (since 1985) "Bestimmungstafeln wirbelloser Tiere" (Springer Spektrum) I mainly focused on the deeply revised 8th edition (perhaps printed in summer of 2022) in cooperation with several group authors and a computational designer. Furthermore, together with the co-author Sigfrid Ingrisch the orthopterological handbook (Heuschrecken/Orthoptera 1998), summarizing behavioral and ecological aspects of Central European Orthoptera, is planned as a completely revised edition, considering new results of the last three decades. In cooperation with the Museum of Natural History Erfurt chapters for the “Fauna of the Kyffhäuser Mountains“, an outstanding biological hotspot, are in preparation.

See complete list of publications.