Ernst-Detlef Schulze

Ernst-Detlef Schulze (born September 12, 1941 in Berlin ) is a German plant ecologist and was Managing Director of the Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry in Jena until September 2009 . Between 1997 and 2004 he was also a member of the Scientific Advisory Board on Global Change of the German Federal Government .

biography

Ernst-Detlef Schulze was born in Berlin and lived near the Hessian city of Bad Hersfeld in his early childhood . He studied forest sciences at the Georg-August University in Göttingen and then went to the University of California, Los Angeles , financed by a scholarship from the Volkswagen Foundation . There he studied biology and completed his studies with a Master of Science degree .

In 1969 he received his doctorate from the University of Würzburg with a thesis on the material balance of the red beech . He stayed in Würzburg as a research associate and completed his habilitation in 1974. After that, he was first C2 professor at the University of Würzburg and then went to the Technical University of Munich as C3 professor . In 1975 he moved again, this time as a C4 professor at the University of Bayreuth , where he stayed until 1997. He was spokesman for the Collaborative Research Center “Laws and Control Mechanisms of Substance Turnover in Ecological Systems” of the German Research Foundation from 1980 to 1994 and of the “Bavarian Forest Toxicology Research Group” from 1983 to 1990. Together with Bernhard Ulrich from Göttingen, he founded the five ecosystem research centers in Germany and has been researching global material cycles since then. One of the centers, the “Bayreuth Institute for Terrestrial Ecosystem Research” (BITÖK), was headed by Schulze from 1989 to 1993 as managing director.

In 1997 Schulze was appointed director of the newly founded Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry in Jena . Since 1999 he has also been an honorary professor at the Friedrich Schiller University in Jena .

Research work

Ernst-Detlef Schulze mainly works in the field of ecophysiology and examines the global material cycles. In the early years of research, he specialized primarily in photosynthetic regulation and the water balance of plants at various locations on earth. As part of the “Bavarian Forest Toxicology Research Group” he investigated the causes of the new types of forest damage in Germany, in particular the effects of sulfur and nitrogen inputs into the forest ecosystem. His work and findings are of great importance in ecosystem research , in which the interactions between plants, animals, microorganisms and the inanimate environment (soil, air) are examined.

In his working group at the Max Planck Institute, he researches global material conversions and coordinates the European research project CarboEurope , which determines Europe's carbon balances . Together with Wolfgang Weisser , he is the coordinator of the currently worldwide unique biodiversity experiment near Jena . With the support of the German Research Foundation (DFG), he also oversees long-term ecological studies in Germany as part of the Exploratorien project.

politics

Between 1997 and 2004 Schulze was a member of the Scientific Advisory Board on Global Change of the German Federal Government .

In May 2017 he gave an interview to the German Press Agency in which he denied the importance and need for forest nature reserves (NWE5 National Biodiversity Strategy ). The Thüringer Allgemeine headed the report with "Forest researcher: forest wilderness harms biodiversity." Schulze assumes that if the forest is taken out of use, beech monocultures in particular will develop. "Ultimately, Environment Minister Siegesmund is committed to reducing biodiversity and destroying biodiversity." he accused the Thuringian Environment Minister Siegesmund.

The interview generated so much attention that the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN) felt compelled to publish a technical clarification on the interview.

Awards and memberships (selection)

• 1990: Member of the Leopoldina
• 1992: Max Planck Research Award together with Harold A. Mooney , Stanford University
• 1993: Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
• 2004: Vladimir Ivanovich Vernadsky Medal of the European Geosciences Union
• 2006: Environment Prize of the Federal Environment Foundation for his work on climate research .
• 2008: Federal Cross of Merit (1st class)

Web links

• Literature by and about Ernst-Detlef Schulze in the catalog of the German National Library
• Portrait at the environmental award of the Federal Environment Foundation
• Homepage at the Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry (with a detailed list of publications)
• Press release by the MPI on the award of the environmental prize

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Portrait at the Bayreuth Institute for Terrestrial Ecosystem Research ( Memento of the original from October 2, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
2. ↑ Forest researcher: Forest wilderness harms biodiversity . ( thueringer-allgemeine.de [accessed on May 19, 2017]).
3. ↑ Clarification by the BfN on the interview with Ernst-Detlef Schulze | Mountain forest project. Retrieved May 19, 2017 . 
4. ↑ Member entry by Ernst-Detlef Schulze (with picture) at the German Academy of Natural Scientists Leopoldina , accessed on July 22, 2016.