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Joshua Emil Spitz
About
My DFG-funded PhD research at MultiTroph, supervised by Dr. Michael Staab and Prof. Dr. Heike Feldhaar, centers on diversity and ecological functions of ants within a tree diversity experiment at BEF-China.
I have a broad interest in ant taxonomy and ant-plant interactions, from the molecular to the ecosystem level. It fascinates me how the life histories of ants and plants run parallel and influence each other at different stages and in many ways.
In my research, I am investigating how tree diversity, mediated by ant community, may influence ecosystem functioning. Thereby I am using integrated taxonomic and functional information to explain the impact of shifts in ant community.
As a Chinese son-in-law I am familiar with both cultures. In my free time, I love to dive into Chinese language, culture, and history.
Education:
MS (2022), Technical University of Munich, Germany
BS (2019), University of Freiburg, Germany
Contact
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B1|01, Room 256
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Joshua E. Spitz
MultiTroph
Fachbereich Biologie
Technische Universität Darmstadt
Schnittspahnstr. 3
64287 Darmstadt
Germany
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Fieldwork at BEF-China
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Thanks to the help of the local management and workers, colleagues from MultiTroph, and students from TU Darmstadt and Jingdezhen University, we can look back to two successful field seasons at BEF-China in 2023 and 2024.
Preliminary data indicated a hump-shaped relationship of ant richness to tree species richness at BEF-China. Currently we are in another intensive phase of ant identification together with our master's students Annika Langlotz and Felix Knorr. I am already looking forward to analyzing this new data.
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