Gerhard Weidemann

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Gerhard (Gerd) Weidemann (born August 14, 1934 - December 21, 2013 ) was a German zoologist and ecologist .

biography

Weidemann received his doctorate in 1964 in Kiel with Adolf Remane and Berndt Heydemann on the hymenoptera family Proctrotrupidae. As an ecologist in Peter Ax's group at the University of Göttingen, he was instrumental in developing the German contribution to the International Biological Program (IBP), the first internationally oriented research program based on ecosystems. The Göttingen team examined representative ecosystems in the Solling (Solling project), in particular the beech forest that dominates there . Gerd Weidemann researched the life cycles and energy expenditure of dominant ground beetle species . At the beginning of the 1970s, he worked as a full professor of ecology at the University of Bremen . Here he was involved in project studies and established a successful working group with a focus on ecosystem research, recultivation and ecotoxicology. He was also significantly involved in setting up the Institute for Ecology and Evolutionary Biology (IFÖE) and the interdisciplinary center for environmental research and sustainable technologies (UFT). With the project team for nature conservation in agricultural areas, he received the prize for excellent teaching and its innovation ( Berninghausen Prize ) in 1994 and led the first major evaluation of the biology / chemistry department. Weidemann retired in 1999.

He was a committed member of the Society for Ecology , the German Soil Science Society and other professional associations. With a focus on soil ecology and ecotoxicology, the working group founded by Gerd Weidemann will be continued by his successor Juliane Filser.

He was a founding member of the Independent Voting Association (UWG) in Worpswede near Bremen and, as a member of the local council and the district council, was particularly involved in local development, environmental and landscape protection and transport.

Research priorities

His main teaching and research topics were soil ecology, ecosystem research, ecotoxicology and the further development of ecological theory.

General ecology

Within ecology , Gerd Weidemann took a holistic syn-ecological perspective. This emphasizes the importance of the interactions between organisms and takes into account complexity on different scales, from the micro level to the ecosystem and the biosphere. The ecological structure can only be understood as a process of interaction, but not by reducing it to an isolated consideration of the individual components. This led Gerd Weidemann to develop a systemic research program that also includes intensive cooperation with other specialist disciplines, such as soil science, chemistry and the social and legal sciences. Gerd Weidemann's research concept is theory-based, but always rooted in natural realities. As a connoisseur of biodiversity (sic! Plants, vertebrates, invertebrates), he promoted species knowledge as the basis of ecological research, both in general overview and specializing in groups of the soil fauna (protozoa, nematodes, collembola, soil mites, etc.).

Ecosystem research

In ecosystem research, he participated in the first internationally coordinated attempt to develop a comparative quantitative-functional typology of ecosystems ( International Biological Program IBP). The research area in the Solling, a beech forest ecosystem, is still being investigated by the Research Center for Forest Ecosystems (University of Göttingen). At the University of Bremen, these approaches were further developed by Gerd Weidemann in the areas of soil ecology and ecotoxicology. With the establishment of the research area "Siedenburg'sche Bauschuttdeponie Bremen Walle" he established long-term research at the University of Bremen. In addition to national parks and major projects, the location is now one of 17 German areas in the global network "Long Term Ecological Research LTER".

Soil ecology

As a terrestrial ecologist , Gerd Weidemann dealt intensively with the properties and functions of soils as a result of the interaction of abiotic conditions and soil organisms and with soil development as an ecosystem process. His expertise in the field of soil science provides essential impetus for this. For Gerd Weidemann, the soil can only be adequately researched with a system-oriented, cross-scale and interdisciplinary approach. His work and that of his working group deal with activities, population developments and interactions of soil organisms, but also with the development of ecosystems ( succession ) and the modeling of ecological processes. The knowledge gained in this way is used in risk assessment as well as in concepts for recultivation and renaturation.

Ecotoxicology

Gerd Weidemann understood ecotoxicology as an interdisciplinary science that deals with the effects of substances on the living environment and in particular traces the indirect effects that only emerge in the system context. The Weidemann working group has mainly devoted itself to the changes caused by chemicals, which become clear at the levels of populations, communities and ecosystem functions. The overriding goal of this ecotoxicological work is to contribute to an improvement of the bioindication and the risk assessment and assessment of chemicals and to make this useful for different practical contexts. The theoretical foundation and the ecological application orientation were largely developed by Gerd Weidemann, whereby he does not shy away from the necessary political debate.

Publications (selection)

A complete list of publications by the AG Weidemann lists the Center for Environmental Research and Sustainable Technologies (University of Bremen) can be found on the website

  • Weidemann, G., H. Koehler & T. Schriefer, 1982: Recultivation: a problem of stabilization during ecosystem development. In: Bornkamm, R., JALee & MRDSeaward (eds.): Urban ecology. Proc. 2nd Europ. Ecol. Symp., Berlin 1980. Blackwell Sc. Publ., London, etc .: 305-313
  • Weidemann, G., Schauermann, J. 1986: The animal world, its food relationships and its role. In: Ellenberg, H., Mayer, R., Schauermann, J. (eds.): Ecosystem Research - Results of the Solling Project. Ulmer, Stuttgart: 179-266.
  • Mathes, K., Weidemann, G. 1990: A baseline-ecosystem approach to the analysis of ecotoxicological effects. - Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety 20: 197-202.
  • Breckling, B., Ekschmitt, K., Mathes, K., Poethke, HJ, Seitz, A., Weidemann, G. 1992: Thoughts on theory in ecology. - Rat. Ges. Ökol. 21: 1-8.
  • Scheringer, M. , Mathes, K., Weidemann, G., Winter, G. 1998: For a paradigm shift in the assessment of ecological risks from chemicals within the framework of the state chemicals regulation. - Journal for Applied Environmental Research 11: 227-234.
  • Weidemann, G. 1999 (ed.): Coastal dunes on the North Sea. - Faun. Eco. Mitt. Kiel Suppl. 26.
  • Vagts, I., Cordes, H., Weidemann, G., Mossakowski, D. 2000: Effects of climate changes on the biological systems of the coasts (salt marshes and dunes) - final report of the BMBF research project (parts A and B).
  • Weidemann, G., Koehler, H. 2004: Succession. In: Fränzle, O., Müller, F., Schröder, W. (Hg.): Handbuch der Umweltwissenschaften, 12. Erg. Lfg 6/04 ,. III-2.1 Landsberg, EcoMed .: 3-49.

See also

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Obituary by Gerhard Weidemann , accessed on January 1, 2014
  2. ↑ Institute for Ecology and Evolutionary Biology (IFÖE)
  3. ↑ Center for Environmental Research and Sustainable Technologies, University of Bremen (UFT)
  4. ↑ GeoUnion: German Soil Science Society
  5. ↑ UFT, Department of Ecology
  6. ↑ List of publications
personal data
SURNAME Weidemann, Gerhard
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Weidemann, Gerd
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German ecologist
DATE OF BIRTH August 14, 1934
DATE OF DEATH December 21, 2013