Doctoral Projects

Rhizosphere processes in tidal marshes: Plant-mediated organic matter degradation in the rhizosphere (e.g. by root oxygen loss and root exudates) in marshes along estuarine gradients.

Doctoral Alumni: Dr. Monica Wilson 

Metabolic pathways of microbes and organic matter degradation in estuarine marshes: Effects of community composition and key metabolic pathways of microbes on organic matter degradation in the rhizosphere along estuarine gradients.

Doctoral Alumni: Dr. Luise Grüterich 

CH₄ and N₂O oxide cycling in temperate tidal wetlands - interactions between biotic and abiotic drivers: What is the effect of geese and sheep grazing on plant-mediated greenhouse gas fluxes from marsh soils to the atmosphere?

Doctoral Alumni: Dr. Fay Lexmond 

Integrating biotic interactions in estuarine marsh ecosystem models: How can rhizosphere processes and herbivory become integrated in ecosystem models to assess carbon fluxes in estuarine marshes?

Doctoral Alumni: Dr. Youssef Saadaoui 

Surplus C in plants as a driver of allocation and plant-soil-interactions in estuarine alluvial forests: Effects of drought, hypoxia, salinity and the wood density type.

Doctoral researcher: Diana Richter 

Root exudation in estuarine marshes: from description to prediction

Doctoral researcher: Katrin Möller 

Quantifying gene expression and catalytic activities of CO₂ capture processes in the river Elbe Estuary

Doctoral researcher: Albert Dumnitch 

Effects of the coupling between CH₄ and nitrogen transformation processes on land-atmosphere fluxes of CH₄ and N₂O in estuarine tidal marshes

Doctoral researcher: Juliane Lenz 

Effect of rising temperature and flooding frequency on surplus C release from alluvial forest tree species

Doctoral researcher: Maxi Bergmann 

Estimating effects of microbial functional diversity on marsh ecosystem carbon balance

Associated Doctoral researcher: Michelle Schimmel

Ecological plasticity of aquatic primary producers: How is the ecological plasticity of aquatic primary producers changing along estuarine gradients and what are implications for estuarine C cycling?

Doctoral Alumni: Dr. Nele Martens 

Microbial carbon cycling along estuarine gradients: Effects of community composition, key metabolic pathways and metabolic interactions of aggregate-associated microbes on organic matter degradation along estuarine gradients.

Doctoral Alumni: Dr. Sven Tobias-Hünefeldt 

Trophodynamic role of planktonic primary production and secondary consumers in the Elbe River: How does trophic transfer of aggregate-derived C from microbes to higher consumers change along estuarine gradients?

Doctoral Alumni: Dr. Johanna Biederbick

Molecular stress responses in estuarine fish and effects on Carbon cycling: What are the consequences of molecular stress responses in fish for C cycling and how is differential gene expression along estuarine gradients related to biotic interactions?

Doctoral Alumni: Dr. Raphael Koll 

Phytoplankton trajectories and their impact on the population dynamics in the Elbe estuaries: Integrating aggregate processes and trophic interactions in ecosystem models to assess carbon fluxes in estuarine channels

Doctoral Alumni: Dr. Laurin Steidle 

The effect of warming on phytoplankton-microzooplankton interactions in the Elbe Estuary and underlying physiological processes

Doctoral researcher: Diana Puerto 

Zooplankton - fish larvae interactions in the Elbe Estuary under global change

Doctoral researcher: Sahed Palash 

Impacts of warming on microzooplankton-mesozooplankton interactions in the River Elbe Estuarine Ecosystem: a mesocosm approach

Doctoral researcher: Max Lambrecht 

Molecular Stress Response of Estuarine Fish in the Elbe under Environmental and Anthropogenic Stress and Effects on Carbon Cycling

Doctoral researcher: Juliane Schulte 

Climate change effects of fish diversity and metabolism in the Elbe Estuary

Doctoral researcher: Megan Harvey 

Quantifying the role of aggregate-associated microbial processes and interactions for C-cycling and aquatic-terrestrial coupling in the Elbe Estuary

Doctoral researcher: Julia Golebiowska

The hidden garden: carbon cycling and benthic algae community composition along a salinity gradient

Doctoral researcher: Alberta Putri 

Effects of estuarine conditions on organic carbon dynamics in marsh soils: How do soil conditions affect C fluxes by seepage water from estuarine marshes to estuarine channels?

Doctoral Alumni: Dr. Friederike Neiske 

Influence of rhizosphere processes on the C-fluxes from the estuarine marshes to the estuarine channels: How do rhizosphere processes affect C fluxes from estuarine marshes to estuarine channels?

Doctoral Alumni: Dr. Panunporn Tutiyasarn 

Exploring the influence of invertebrate community compositions on aquatic subsidies inputs into the marshlands of the Elbe Estuary: How do C and energy fluxes affect marsh consumer populations and communities, and how does animal movement and activity affect marsh-water C fluxes?

Doctoral researcher: Sina Remmers 

Stable Isotope Ecology of Fishes in the Elbe Estuary: How do C fluxes across marsh-water boundaries affect aquatic consumer populations and communities and how are these populations and communities affecting C fluxes from estuarine channels to estuarine marshes?

Doctoral Alumni: Dr. Elena Hauten 

Importance of smelt (Osmerus eperlanus) for carbon cycling in the Elbe estuary

Doctoral researcher: Linda Hemmetzberger 

Climate and vegetation effects on DOC-mobilization in estuarine marsh soils

Doctoral researcher: Sharjeel Ashfaq 

Influence of aquatic subsidies on nutrition ecology and activity of small mammalian marsh consumers

Doctoral researcher: Nico Reinhold 

Fish fauna structure, feeding ecology and growth of keystone fish species in the Elbe and Odra estuaries: What is the role of keystone fish species in estuarine food webs, how do they grow with available food and how do they migrate within estuarine ecosystems?

Associated Doctoral Alumni: Dr. Jesse Theilen

Working in the project "Blue Estuaries" funded by BMBF

Impact of global change on dissolved inorganic nitrogen generation and the associated microbial communities in the Elbe Estuary: To what extent does the changes in organic vs. inorganic nitrogen inputs affect the microbial community?

Associated Doctoral researcher: Vanessa Russnak

Working in the project "Blue Estuaries" funded by BMBF

Role of intertidal vegetated habitats for land-ocean carbon fluxes: How does biodiversity and climate change effect the carbon-storage capacity of saltmarshes?”

Associated Doctoral Alumni: Dr. Ella Logemann

Working in the cluster of excellene „Climate, Climatic Change, and Society“ (CLICCS)

Stability of Wadden Sea Blue Carbon stocks: How are soil redox conditions and microbial communities affected by global warming? How do plant-communities mediate warming effects?

Associated Doctoral Alumni: Dr. Julian Mittmann-Götsch

Arbuscular mycorrhiza and resilience of salt marshes in times of climate change

Associated Doctoral researcher: Andrea-Carolin Menzel

Non-CO₂ Greenhouse gases from the Baltic and Wadden Sea marshes: effects of management and climate change.

Associated Doctoral researcher: Clarisse Gösele

D7

Temperature and hypoxia tolerance of a key estuarine fish - the tree-spined stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus)

Associated Doctoral researcher: Tyrone Estcourt

D8

Greenhouse gas fluxes in salt marshes in times of climate change

Associated Doctoral researcher: Nadine Hauschild (since April 2024)

D9

Vegetation and microbial communities in Wadden Sea salt marshes in times of climate change and biodiversity loss

Associated Doctoral researcher: Jacqueline Bruhy

Climate protection through dual land use? The effect of solar modules on the restoration of drained peatlands

Associated Doctoral researcher: Robin Pelchen

Role of microzooplankton in the diets of larval fish and chaetognaths in the North Sea pelagic food web

Associated Doctoral researcher: Ishani N. Rathnayake Palle Kumbure Walawwe

Prof. Dr. Nicole Aberle-Malzahn, Dr. Arne M. Malzahn