Josef H. Reichholf

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Josef H. Reichholf (2009)

Josef Helmut Reichholf (born April 17, 1945 in Aigen am Inn ) is a German zoologist , evolutionary biologist and ecologist who has repeatedly caused a sensation as an author with provocative theses.

Life

Reichholf's father died in Poland during World War II before the birth of their only son. Josef Reichholf grew up with his mother and grandmother in Lower Bavaria on the Inn . Even as a child he was fascinated by the nature and wilderness of the lower Inn. After studying biology , chemistry , geography and tropical medicine , a scholarship enabled him to spend one year in Brazil, where he did research on tropical biodiversity.

Together with Bernhard Grzimek , Horst Stern and Hubert Weinzierl , he founded the "Ecology Group" in Munich at the beginning of the 1970s, a nucleus of the later founded Association for the Environment and Nature Conservation Germany (BUND).

Reichholf is honorary professor at the Technical University of Munich   and was head of the ornithology section of the Munich State Zoological Collection from 1974 to 2010 . Reichholf was a member of the presidium of WWF Germany . In 2005 he was awarded the Treviranus Medal of the Association of German Biologists , in 2007 he received the Sigmund Freud Prize for scientific prose from the German Academy for Language and Poetry for his generally understandable contributions to ecology .

Reichholf is the author of numerous books on nature and nature conservation, ecology, evolution, climate and environmental protection. He also gives public lectures on these topics, gives interviews and appears in discussions on television. He is perceived by the public as a controversial lateral thinker and provocateur.

Reichholf has been one of the two honorary presidents of the Association for Landscape Management and Species Protection in Bavaria since October 2018 . In it he succeeded Enoch zu Guttenberg, who died in 2018 .

theses

Reichholf is critical of alliances between science and politics or industry, for example in climate protection or third-party research , as they endanger the independence of science.

Reichholf accuses the climate protection movement of dogmatism . Among other things, he speaks of “catastrophism” when it comes to climate protection and the dying of forests and calls for “false prophets” to be held accountable for the consequences of their gloomy prognoses, if they can be verified at all.

In his book A Brief Natural History of the Last Millennium , Reichholf contradicts the thesis that global warming will lead to the loss of species , since scientific research into habitats shows different findings (immigration and migration of species). For example, the invention of artificial fertilizers has led to ever more massive over-fertilization ( eutrophication ) and to the overgrowth of entire stretches of land that had previously been "cleared" and bare. As a result, there is less and less sun on the ground, so that heat-loving species migrate. The fixation on global warming distracts from far more real and pressing problems such as eutrophication, feed imports , biodiversity , etc., which affect us and nature more directly and more directly. There is an urgent need for action here.

According to Reichholf, changes are particularly necessary in nature conservation . In his book Conservation. In the crisis and the future, he even favors the idea, instead of letting the red list of endangered species become longer and more confusing from year to year, in principle "to protect every animal species" and only to revoke protection in justified exceptional cases. With such a reversal of the existing system (so far it has to be justified why an (animal) species is worth protecting) the basic moral position of the equality of all species is taken into account (why should only songbirds be protected and, for example, small mammals not?)

Reichholf also sees no reason to view new animal and plant species ( neozoa , neophytes ) per se with suspicion. The reasons for their success are mostly man-made grievances (such as over-fertilization); It is against these that action is to be taken, not against the immigrants.

Reichholf also criticizes the fact that at the nature lovers from nature reserves would be locked out while hunters and anglers could make free access and ownership claims. The general public, the tax-paying citizen, must submit to ideologically based laws in the interest of a small minority ( hunting ).

Reichholf's thesis was known and widely discussed in the press and television under the title “In the beginning there was beer” that the origin of agriculture and the settling of people was the storage and processing of intoxicating foods. In the east, starting with the poppy, the " opium zone", on the Indian Ocean there are betel nut and khat , in Central America the peyote cactus , and South America the coca shrub . In the Middle East, beer brewing based on barley cultivation was a major driving force long before bread bakery was invented. In contrast to grain, beer as a food was storable and one could celebrate intoxicating communal festivals. The storage of beer as well as the grain supplies and the clay pots and barrels required for this would have reduced the mobility of hunters and gatherers. Reichholf contradicts the common thesis that the settling down of humans went hand in hand with a shortage of huntable game.

Reichholf is of the opinion that the productivity of nature (e.g. soil fertility ) and the climate have determined the existence or decline of cultures and empires and that many different events in human history can be explained by climate changes . For example, the Crusades in the Middle Ages and the Romantic Era in the 18th and 19th centuries ultimately went back to the warm climate of that time.

Reichholf's evolutionary view of history is based on three principles:

  • Diversity emerges from the one.
  • Life is constant change. There are no best or only right conditions.
  • The future is open.

Reichholf advocates “survivable imbalances ”. Equilibrium means standing still, only tension creates activity.

Reichholf also spoke about the area of ​​tension between science and faith . For Reichholf, the main function of faith is to reduce real complexity in order to make it understandable. Religion fulfills a specific purpose in social groups; it contributes to the order within the group and is therefore to be understood as an evolutionary advantage.

In October 2010, Reichholf accused opponents of the large-scale construction project Stuttgart 21 , who opposed the felling of plane trees for nature conservation reasons , of instrumentalizing nature conservation. Since the plane trees and the Russian beetles that live on them are non-native species, they should be controlled rather than protected for nature conservation reasons.

Reichholf has made various comments on hunting , criticizing that continuous hunting leads to increased shyness and nocturnal activity in wild animals. In view of the damage caused by game in agriculture, Reichholf considers the hunt for wild boar to be necessary to regulate the population and recommends the increased use of silencers and night vision devices as well as short but intensive driven hunts as methods for reducing game density with little disruption for the game.

Controversy

Reichholf's publications, sometimes referred to as “astonishing all-round hit”, have sparked public controversy on various occasions. According to Bernd Lötsch , Reichholf sees himself as “yeast in sourdough” and “always takes the opposite opinion”.

The philosopher Anna Leuschner described Reichholf as a climate skeptic who "without further ado plays off the uncertainties in climate research against the credibility of the forecasts". The internet portal Klima-Liegendetektor accused him of false statements after he had claimed in a guest commentary in the daily newspaper Die Welt that global warming had come to a standstill for a decade and a half, contrary to the statements of the climate models that had predicted warming . In fact, this standstill never happened, and the three preceding years 2014, 2015 and 2016 were each the warmest since measurements began. Stefan Rahmstorf from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research accused him of working with “false and misleading climate curves” in his publications and thus violating the rules of “good scientific practice”. He ignores the reconstructions of the climate development in the last millennium documented in the IPCC report and the current research in biology on the effects of global warming on animal and plant species. Reichholf called Rahmstorf's attacks unjustified and assumed that he was acting in a dubious manner for political reasons. The thesis that warming harms biodiversity is completely absurd in view of the findings in the ice ages.

On the occasion of the publication of the book Stabile imbalances and an accompanying essay, Wolfgang Cramer , professor of global ecology at the University of Potsdam and later research director at the CNRS , accused Reichholf of using his thesis to justify undesirable anthropogenic developments as a biological necessity. Reichholf portrayed raids and wars as “human imbalances” and thus gave them an unjustified place in the ecosystem .

In November 2016, Reichholf put forward the thesis that the H5N8 avian flu, which was rampant among wild and farm poultry populations at the time, was not introduced via wild ducks from Asia, as assumed by the Friedrich Loeffler Institute (FLI). It is more likely that the virus comes from intensive animal husbandry and is spread through their feed and products; the wild birds found dead were more likely to have died of botulism and creeping lead poisoning from shotgun pellets. Reichholf's theses have been adopted by many animal and environmental protection associations, e.g. B. from NABU and Provieh . The FLI replied in March 2017 that there was “no doubt about the finding that the virus came to Europe with migratory birds from Asia,” and supported this with DNA analyzes, among other things.

Awards

Works

  • The life of the squirrel . Hanser, Munich 2019, ISBN 978-3-446-26407-6 .
  • Epilogue to Darwin's work The Origin of Species. Klett-Cotta, Stuttgart 2018, ISBN 978-3-608-96115-7 (32 pages).
  • Butterflies: why they are disappearing and what that means for us . Hanser, Munich 2018, ISBN 978-3-446-26033-7 .
  • Pets: Our close and yet so strange companions (natural customers) . Matthes & Seitz, Berlin 2017, ISBN 978-3-957-57462-6 .
  • Forest journal. Verlag Kessel, Remagen-Oberwinter 2017, ISBN 978-3-945-94125-6 .
  • Symbioses. The amazing togetherness in nature . Illustrations by Johann Brandstetter . Matthes & Seitz, Berlin 2017, ISBN 978-3-95757-366-7 .
  • Evolution. A short history of man and nature. Hanser, Munich 2016, ISBN 978-3-446-24521-1 .
  • My life for nature: on the trail of evolution and ecology . Fischer, Frankfurt am Main 2015, ISBN 978-3-10-062947-0 .
  • Ornis: The life of the birds . C. H. Beck, Munich 2014, ISBN 978-3-406-66048-1 .
  • with Jürg Parli (illustrator): Got the dog (= Vontobel series ). Vontobel Foundation , Zurich 2014, DNB 1049226976 , OCLC 878907684 .
  • Butterflies. Determine accurately in three steps. blv, Munich 2013, ISBN 978-3-8354-0944-6 .
  • Enthusiastic about the living. Facets of change in nature . Gray edition, Zug 2013, ISBN 978-3-906336-62-6 .
  • Unicorn, phoenix, dragon: where do our mythical animals come from . Fischer, Frankfurt am Main 2012, ISBN 978-3-10-062948-7 .
  • The riddle of the green rose and other surprises from the life of plants and animals . Oekom, Munich 2011, ISBN 978-3-86581-194-3 .
  • Natural history (s): About fit coots, beavers with a migration background and why we want the environment to be in balance . Knaus, Munich 2011, ISBN 978-3-8135-0378-4 .
  • The Origin of Beauty: Darwin's Greatest Dilemma . C. H. Beck, Munich 2011, ISBN 978-3-406-58713-9 .
  • Conservation: Crisis and Future . Suhrkamp, ​​Berlin 2010, ISBN 978-3-518-26031-9 .
  • Raven intelligence: what we can learn from crows . Herbig, Munich 2009, ISBN 3-7766-2600-3 .
  • Why people settled down: the greatest mystery in our history . Fischer, Frankfurt am Main 2008, ISBN 978-3-10-062943-2 .
  • End of biodiversity? Endangerment and destruction of biodiversity. Edited by Klaus Wiegand . Fischer Taschenbuch, Frankfurt am Main 2008, ISBN 978-3-596-17665-6 .
  • Stable Imbalances: The Ecology of the Future . Suhrkamp, ​​Frankfurt am Main 2008, ISBN 978-3-518-26005-0 .
  • The bear is on the loose: A critical status report on the chances of our large animals surviving . Herbig, Munich 2007, ISBN 978-3-7766-2510-3 .
  • A brief natural history of the last millennium. Fischer, Frankfurt am Main 2007, ISBN 978-3-10-062942-5 .
  • Urban nature: a new home for animals and plants - a nature guide through the city . Oekom, Munich 2007, ISBN 978-3-86581-042-7 .
  • Evolution: knowing what's right. Herder, Freiburg im Breisgau 2007, ISBN 3-4510-5779-4 .
  • The Future of Species: New Ecological Surprises. C. H. Beck, Munich 2005, ISBN 3-406-52786-8 .
  • The dance around the golden calf: European ecocolonialism. Wagenbach, Berlin 2004, ISBN 3-8031-3615-6 .
  • The false prophets: our lust for disaster . Wagenbach, Berlin 2002, ISBN 3-8031-2442-5 .
  • Why we want to win: sporting ambition as the driving force in human evolution . dtv, Munich 2001, ISBN 3-423-24271-X .
  • The Blue Planet: Introduction to Ecology . dtv, Munich 1998, ISBN 3-423-33033-3 .
  • The riddle of the incarnation: the emergence of man in the interplay of nature. dtv, Munich 1993, ISBN 3-423-30341-7 .
  • The beaver's comeback: ecological surprises . C. H. Beck, Munich 1993, ISBN 3-406-37328-3 .
  • The creative impulse: a new view of evolution . DVA, Stuttgart 1992, ISBN 3-421-02763-3 .
  • The principle of success: locomotion: The evolution of running, flying, swimming and digging. dtv, 1992, ISBN 3-423-30320-4 .
  • The tropical rainforest: the ecobiology of the most biodiverse natural area on earth. dtv, 1990, ISBN 3-423-11262-X .
  • Studies on the biology of the water butterfly Nympula nymphaeata L. (Lepidoptera, Pyralidae) . In: International review of the entire hydrobiology. Number 5, year 55, 1970, ISSN  1522-2632 , pp. 687-728, DNB 482641959 (dissertation Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München 1969).

Films (selection)

  • Josef H. Reichholf. The bird whisperer. Documentary, Germany, 2018, 42:54 min., Script and director: Tilman Urbach , production: Bayerischer Rundfunk , first broadcast: June 5, 2018 on BR Fernsehen , synopsis by ARD , online video available until June 5, 2019.
  • Josef Reichholf: zoologist, ecologist and book author. Talk, Germany, 2015, 44:03 min., Moderation: Prisca Straub, production: Bayerischer Rundfunk , series: alpha-Forum , first broadcast: July 8, 2015 on BR-alpha , table of contents and online video from ARD , conversation text.
  • Hunter's Latin and Wildlife Biology. A hunting ban in Basel: practically possible and scientifically proven. Why it can work. The theory clearly proven. Lecture with slide show at the University of Basel , Switzerland, October 15, 2013, 36:50 min., Production: www.jagdregetztnicht.ch, Internet publication: November 20, 2013, online video.
  • Drugs of Progress. Why people settled down. Talk, Germany, 2009, 44:55 min., Moderation: Alexander Kluge , production: dctp.tv , series: News & Stories , first broadcast: February 8, 2009 on dctp.tv, online video from dctp.tv.
  • Peter Voss asks Josef Reichholf. Is nature striking back, Mr. Reichholf? Talk, Germany, 2008, 44:07 min., Director: Thomas Münch, production: SWR , first broadcast: April 21, 2008 on SWR, series: Peter Voss asks , summary from 3sat , online video from 3sat.

Web links

conversations

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Judith Rauch : The jack of all trades - Josef H. Reichholf. In: Bild der Wissenschaft , October 2002, print version .
  2. ↑ Natural history (s): About fit coots, beavers with a migration background and why we want the environment to be in balance . Knaus, Munich 2011, ISBN 978-3-8135-0378-4 .
  3. ↑ a b “ Unconventional thinker and provocateur in nature conservation.” In: nodium 7 , TU Munich , December 2014, Udo Weilacher in conversation with Josef Reichholf, pp. 4–9, (PDF; 356 kB).
  4. ^ Josef Reichholf: Lecture: On the track of happiness - considerations of evolutionary biology. In: TU Munich , January 30, 2006, series of lectures by the Carl von Linde Academy on the subject of “happiness”.
  5. ↑ Zoological State Collection, Munich : Employee of the ornithology section
  6. ↑ a b Why the climate was to blame for the Crusades. A conversation with the militant biologist Josef Reichholf. In: Zeit Campus , 2007, No. 4, p. 54 f.
  7. ↑ "Third-party research must not be the main research - Joseph H. Reichholf in conversation with Thomas Deichmann about the delicate relationship between science and politics." ( Memento of July 13, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) In: NovoArgumente , No. 93, 3–4, 2008.
  8. ↑ Olaf Stampf and Gerald Traufetter: Interview with Josef H. Reichholf: We are children of the tropics. In: Der Spiegel , No. 19, May 7, 2004.
  9. ↑ The False Prophets: Our Desire for Disaster . Wagenbach , Berlin 2002, ISBN 3-8031-2442-5 .
  10. ↑ a b Who is wrong should pay! Interview in Bild der Wissenschaft , 2008, No. 10, p. 42
  11. ↑ A Brief Natural History of the Last Millennium . S. Fischer, Frankfurt am Main 2007, ISBN 3-10-062942-6 .
  12. ↑ Nature conservation: Crisis and Future , Suhrkamp Verlag, Berlin 2010, ISBN 978-3-518-26031-9 .
  13. ↑ Alexandra Rigos, Johann Grolle: Spiegel controversy: "Bulldozer versus Rhododendron". In: Der Spiegel , January 4, 1999, No. 1, with the ecologist Josef Reichholf and the tropical medicine specialist Rüdiger Disko.
  14. ↑ Nature conservation: Crisis and Future , Suhrkamp Verlag, Berlin 2010, ISBN 978-3-518-26031-9 .
  15. ↑ ZDF Nachtstudio : "Settling riddle - In the beginning there was beer." Discussion, broadcast on September 7, 2008.
  16. ↑ Josef H. Reichholf: "Why people became sedentary". The greatest mystery in our history. S. Fischer, Frankfurt am Main 2008; Drugs of Progress. Why people settled down. Josef H. Reichholf in conversation with Alexander Kluge . In: dctp.tv , February 8, 2009, accessed June 7, 2018.
  17. ↑ Total: Union will ask Baugegner to pay. In: Focus Money , October 10, 2010.
  18. ↑ Katrin Ohlendorf: Hunting: Nature Conservation or Brutal Hobby? · Dlf Nova. In: Deutschlandfunk Nova. December 6, 2014, accessed November 30, 2018 .
  19. ↑ Johannes Kaiser: The figs ripened on the Rhine . Book review “A Brief Natural History of the Last Millennium.” In: Deutschlandradio Kultur , March 27, 2007.
  20. ↑ Reiner Klingholz : [url = https://www.zeit.de/2002/51/SM-Prohpheten Everything flows - even for the better. The conservationist Josef Reichholf fights against the pessimism of his guild. ]. In: Die Zeit , December 12, 2002, No. 51, book review on "The false prophets - our lust for catastrophes".
  21. ↑ Martin Kugler: We can easily put up with a degree of warming. In: Die Presse , March 5, 2008.
  22. ↑ Anna Leuschner: The credibility of science. A scientific and epistemological analysis using the example of climate research . Bielefeld 2012, p. 24.
  23. ↑ One is quickly labeled as a "climate denier" . In: Die Welt , May 28, 2017. Retrieved February 7, 2018.
  24. ↑ Die Welt: Forgot the editorial job? In: klimaretter.info , May 30, 2017. Accessed February 7, 2018.
  25. ↑ Stefan Rahmstorf : Is it all just climate hysteria? In: Universitas , 2007, No. 9, pp. 894–913, ( PDF; 237 kB ); Abridged version in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung : Climate change: German media engage in disinformation . August 31, 2007
  26. ↑ Eckhard Fuhr : Global warming: The holy war of the climate skeptics. In: Die Welt , September 5, 2007.
  27. ↑ Bernhard Pötter: Storm over the ivory tower. In: the daily newspaper , September 17, 2007.
  28. ↑ Essay by Josef H. Reichholf: Life always fights against balance . In: SpOn , June 13, 2008
  29. ^ Replica by Wolfgang Cramer. Speech bubbles in imbalance. In: SpOn , June 13, 2008: "At the end of the tangled theories in the gray area between indefiniteness and dull attacks to somewhere, things get bitterly serious."
  30. ↑ Josef H. Reichholf: Epidemics: The explanation for bird flu cannot be correct. In: Die Welt , March 30, 2017.
  31. ^ Lars Lachmann: Bird flu H5N8 back in Germany. Avian influenza also endangers wild birds. In: NABU . November 10, 2016, accessed June 7, 2018 .
  32. ↑ Avian influenza originating from factory farming. In: NABU Thuringia. November 14, 2016, accessed June 7, 2018 .
  33. ^ Sievert Lorenzen: bird flu / avian influenza. In: Provieh . Association against animal cruel mass animal husbandry. Accessed June 7, 2018 .
  34. ↑ FLI: Avian influenza is clearly transmitted by wild birds. In: agrarheute.com , March 21, 2017.
  35. ↑ Review of Natural History (s) : Zoological Questions. In: FAZ / buecher.de , September 23, 2011, p. 34.
personal data
SURNAME Reichholf, Josef H.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Reichholf, Josef Helmut; Reichholf, Joseph Helmut
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German zoologist, evolutionary biologist and ecologist
DATE OF BIRTH April 17, 1945
PLACE OF BIRTH Aigen am Inn