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Centre for Biodiversity Monitoring and Conservation Science (zbm)

An intact natural environment is the basis for a healthy life. However, the majority of our habitats have been severely damaged by human influences such as changes in land use, environmental pollution, the spread of invasive species and climate change. At the Centre for Biodiversity Monitoring and Nature Conservation Science (zbm), our scientists are investigating the causes and consequences of the decline in biodiversity on meadows and fields, in moors, forests and heathland.

Search for drivers of species decline

They analyse the interactions between land use and plants and animals in scientific experiments, using new and automated methods for species detection and DNA metabarcoding. They use statistical models to read trends and identify the drivers of species decline. In doing so, they combine data from theory-based small-scale experiments with applications in agriculture and nature conservation at landscape level and incorporate research data from mineralogy and geology-palaeontology.

From knowledge to action

With proposed solutions for the conservation of biodiversity and the sustainable use of natural resources, they enter into discussions with climate researchers, political stakeholders, NGOs and representatives of agricultural and environmental policy.

Sections | of 5

Head of the centre

Prof. Dr. Christoph Scherber

  • Head of Centre for Biodiversity Monitoring and Conservation Science (zbm)
  • Deputy Director General LIB at the Bonn location

Phone: +49 228 9122 450
E-Mail: c.scherber@leibniz-lib.de

Contact for enquiries in Bonn

Larissa Pape

  • Centre assistance

Phone: +49 228 9122 358
Fax: +49 228 9122 212
E-Mail: l.pape@leibniz-lib.de

Contact for enquiries in Hamburg

Marijke Essink-Argentato

  • Centre assistance

Phone: +49 40 238317 700
E-Mail: m.essink-argentato@leibniz-lib.de

Publications

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    2026

  • 2026/09

    Ludreschl, C., Kirse, A., Hartke, T.R., Bhansali, S., Bourlat, S.J., Mayer, C., Ott, D., Bott, F., Rutte, D., Siemt, P., Espeland, M., Scherber, C.

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    Optimised light sources reduce nocturnal insect attraction at railway stations

    Biological conservation, 321

  • 2026/09

    Zizka, V., Schwesig, K., Gurjar, T., Engel, N., Hölzel, N., Scherber, C.

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    Management of wetlands in mining sites conserves habitat for threatened amphibians

    Journal for Nature Conservation, 93

  • 2026/07

    Reinberg, C., Aspiotis, S., Malcherek, T., Peters, S.T.M., Mihailova, B.

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    Thermally activated multistep alteration of Fe 2+ -bearing fluorophlogopite revealed by in situ Raman spectroscopy

    European Journal of Mineralogy, 4, 38

  • 2026/07

    SCHALL, O.O., LIMA, D., KOTTHOFF, U., PINHEIRO, A.P., HEADS, S.W., HUSEMANN, M.

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    New species of Locustopsidae (Orthoptera: Caelifera) from the Crato Formation including the new subfamily Pseudoacridinae subfam. nov.

    Zootaxa, 1, 5853

  • 2026/07

    Peters, S.T.M., Feng, D., Troll, V.R., Pack, A., Tornos, F., Andersson, U.B., Lehmann, B., Di Rocco, T.

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    Formation of iron oxide-apatite deposits triggered by magmatic assimilation of evaporitic sulfate

    Nature communications, 1, 17

  • 2026/07

    Barnes, A.D., Brose, U., Eisenhauer, N., Berti, E., Brauns, M., Eggert, S.L., Garcia-Callejas, D., Giling, D.P., Hall, R.O., Hines, J., Jochum, M., Korobushkin, D.I., Kortsch, S., Kratina, P., Manca, M., Mor, J., Nordström, M.C., O’Gorman, E.J., Ott, D., Perkins, D.M., Rosenbaum, B., Saifutdinov, R.A., Saito, V.S., Tanentzap, A.J., Vinagre, C., Gauzens, B.

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    Food web complexity underlies biodiversity effects on ecosystem functioning

    Nature

  • 2026/06

    Koutsovoulos, G.D., Sorg, M., Hörren, T., Buchner, D., Bourlat, S.J., Langen, K., Trichas, A., Leese, F., Stamatakis, A.

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    Charting the Insect Biodiversity of Crete: Insights from a Pilot Metabarcoding Survey

  • 2026/06

    Schwarze, M., Schulz, M., Sielenkämper, J., Ott, D., Rödder, D., Scherber, C.

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    Anteil dunkelgrau gefärbter Kreuzottern von 2010–2024 in einem Moor in Nordwestdeutschland. Feldherpetologisches Magazin

    Feldherpetologisches Magazin, 23

  • 2026/06

    Ludreschl, C., Scherber, C.

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    Maßnahme 61: Forschung für mehr Naturschutz. „Insektenschutz an Bahnhöfen durch insektenfreundliche Beleuchtung“ (BALIN)

  • 2026/06

    Serbina, L.Š., Kotthoff, U., Burckhardt, D.

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    The first fossil member of Aphalaridae (Hemiptera, Sternorrhyncha, Psylloidea) from the Miocene of Southern Germany (Randeck Maar)

    Evolutionary Systematics, 1, 10

  • 2026/05

    Willmott, L.A., Kotthoff, U., Harms, D.

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    First fossil of the pseudoscorpion family Chernetidae Menge, 1855 (Arachnida, Pseudoscorpiones) from mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber

    Evolutionary Systematics, 1, 10

  • 2026/05

    Hollingsworth, P.M., Fantoni, K., Koureas, D., Arakelyan, M., Aravanopoulos, F.A., Bacela-Spychalska, K., Ballesteros-Mejia, L., Beja, P., Bonchev, G.N., Bou Dagher Kharrat, M., Bourlat, S.J., Chkhartishvili, T., Čiampor, F., Costa, F.O., Csabai, Z., Dankova, G., Ekrem, T., Emerson, B., Ferreira, S., Gadawski, P., Gkagkavouzis, K., Hebert, P.D.N., Ichim, M.C., Jelić, M., Kaitetzidou, E., Kalamujić Stroil, B., Kamenova, S., Keskin, E., Laini, A., Lawniczak, M., Madesis, P., Montagna, M., Mutanen, M., Peters, R.S., Price, B., Rewicz, T., Rougerie, R., Rulik, B., Szucsich, N., Vos, R., Goodall-Copestake, W.P., Triantafyllidis, A., Grabowski, M.

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    Species identification, discovery, and biomonitoring: Strategic priorities for DNA barcoding in Europe, set in a global context

    BioScience

  • 2026/05

    Zawalińska, K., Canelas, J., Clausen, M., Ryynänen, T., Di Girolamo-Neto, C., Kirse, A., Dalton, D.T., Ashton-Butt, A., Muscatt, G., Noble, D., Svetnik, I., Tsybulska, J., Borchard, N.

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    Measuring what matters: operationalising biodiversity indicators for results-based CAP monitoring

    Ecological indicators, 186

  • 2026/04

    Kirse, A., Scherber, C.

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    Monitoring technologies in farmland biodiversity: Outlook from BioMonitor4CAP project

  • 2026/04

    Glock, I., Sodtke, K., Wieters, B., Witt, F.K., Lubjuhn, J., Scherber, C.

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    Insecticide‐level pest control provided by in‐field flower strips

    Journal of applied ecology, 4, 63

  • 2026/04

    Hartke, T.R., Wittenhorst, M., Koch, M., Scherber, C., Twietmeyer, S., Bourlat, S.J., Böhme, M., Kirse, A.

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    Combining Time-Stamped Insect Sampling With eDNA-Metabarcoding of Guano to Reconstruct Community Interactions

    Ecology and Evolution, 4, 16

  • 2026/03

    Schulz, T., Koeberl, C., Heldwein, O., Elfers, B., Tusch, J., Peters, S., Pack, A., Münker, C.

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    Highly siderophile element, triple oxygen‐, e182W, and Re‐Os isotopic composition of early Archean impact spherules from South Africa and the spherule–matrix complementarity

    Meteoritics and Planetary Science

  • 2026/03

    Chitimia-Dobler, L., Mey, C., Harms, D., Hammel, J., Dunlop, J.A., Kotthoff, U., Mans, B.J.

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    Redescription of Alloceraea cretacea (Acari: Ixodida) with an additional nymphal fossil added to this species: Novel insights into the evolution of the Haematobothrion

    Parasitology

  • 2026/03

    Lin, W., He, X., Hu, J., Balle, M., Darras, K.F.A., Jing, S., Scherber, C., Toledo-Hernández, M., Yan, Y., Zhang, C., Zeng, S., Wanger, T.C.

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    Pesticides but not microplastics affect pollination in rape seed production in China

    Environmental Research Food Systems, 1, 3

  • 2026/02

    Odin Schall, O., Heads, S.W., Lima, D., Pinheiro, A.P., Kotthoff, U., Husemann, M.

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    Revision of the lagoon crickets (Elcanidae: Insecta: Orthoptera) of the Lower Cretaceous Crato Formation of Brazil with the description of new taxa

    Cretaceous Research

  • 2026/02

    Koureas, D., Beja, P., Blaxter, M., Böhne, A., Bourlat, S., Ekrem, T., Emerson, B., Heil, K., Melo-Ferreira, J., Price, B., Vos, R., Addink, W., Alioto, T., Aravanopoulos, F., Astrin, J., Aury, J., Barnes, I., Bruschini, C., Buzan, E., Cochrane, G., Cserkész, T., Dailianis, T., Duijm, E., Dunshea, G., Fernández, R., Ferreira, S., Formenti, G., Fratini, S., Gkagkavouzis, K., Goble, C., Grabowski, M., Grüning, B., Gut, I., Gut, M., Harrison, P., Hausmann, A., Höglund, J., Iacolina, L., Iannucci, A., Jakobsen, K., Kõljalg, U., Lantz, H., Lewin, H., Macher, J., Manousaki, T., Martin, F., Mengual, X., Oliveira, P., Oomen, R., Raupach, M., Riesgo, A., Roest Crollius, H., Somogyi, A., Struck, T., Svardal, H., Tooming-Klunderud, A., Triantafyllidis, A., Vinnere Pettersson, O., Wagner, M., Wincker, P., Yan, N., Alonso, J., Casino, A., Ciofi, C., Daňková, G., Hollingsworth, P., Lawniczak, M., Mazzoni, C., Waterhouse, R.

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    Biodiversity Genomics Europe (BGE) Project – Abridged Grant Proposal

    Research Ideas and Outcomes, 12

  • 2026/02

    Scherber, C., Kirse, A., Kempel, A., Ott, D., Hartke, T.

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    Insect declines: Challenges and solutions

    Current Opinion in Insect Science

  • 2026/01

    Ludreschl, C., Kirse, A., Hartke, T..R., Bhansali, S., Bourlat, S..J., Ott, D., Bott, F., Rutte, D., Siemt, P., Espeland, M., Scherber, C.

    Show more...

    Optimised light sources reduce nocturnal insect attraction at railway stations

  • 2026/01

    Schall, O.O., Kotthoff, U., Husemann, M.

    Show more...

    Two new members of the Elcanidae (Insecta, Orthoptera) from mid-Cretaceous amber

    Journal of Orthoptera Research, 1, 35

  • 2026/01

    Wan, N., Wang, Y., Fu, L., Liu, J., Woodcock, B.A., Hu, Y., Eskelinen, A., Hector, A., Loreau, M., Hautier, Y., Bardgett, R.D., Kardol, P., Zuppinger-Dingley, D., Fraser, L.H., Bullock, J.M., Nakagawa, S., Shen, S., Xin, F., Shi, D., Li, Z., Zhou, J., Scherber, C.

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    Global evidence that plant diversity suppresses pests and promotes plant performance and crop production

    Nature Ecology & Evolution

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