Migration ecology
Migration ecology
What is migration ecology?
Migration ecology focuses on the scientific study of animal migration. Important research questions concern the genetic basis of the migratory syndrome, what specific skills animals require for migration, how proximte and ultimate mechanisms alter the spatial and temporal distribution and abundance of migrating animals within the annual cycle, the interactions between animals and their biotic and abiotic environment, and how migrating animals influence energy and material cycles within and between ecosystems.
News
05.05.2026 - New publication on bird migration in Asia
In our new paper we studied migration routes and genetics of stonechats that either circumvent the Qinghai-Tibet plateau east- or westward or that migrate across this barrier. This study was led by PhD candidate Tianhao Zhao, supervised by Dr. Wieland Heim.
Zhao T, Anisimov Y, Heim W, Song G, Anisimova V, Batbayar N, Bossu C, Bours A, Chen S, Chen W, Davaasuren B, Dule, Jiao S, Jiao X, Hellström M, Langebrake G, Li Z, Liao SY, Liu A, Liu Z, Roved J, Wang X, Weissensteiner M, Wen G, Zhang D, Zhang G, Zhang Y, Ruegg K, Liedvogel M, Bensch S, Wertheim B, Lei F, Helm B (2026) Migration patterns and hybridization within the Asian stonechat complex in response to a major geographical barrier. Evolution Letters: qrag019 [https://doi.org/10.1093/evlett/qrag019]
20.04.2026 - Reinforcements from Thailand
We are pleased to welcome Pattraporn Simla from King Mongkut’s University in Thailand to our research group. In her doctoral thesis, she studies the ecology and conservation of the critically endangered Yellow-breasted Bunting in its wintering grounds. Over the next six months, she will work together with Wieland Heim to analyze data on the threats this rare bird species is facing.
Current research priorities
We are an important part of the following cooperative research areas:
Magnetoreception and navigation in vertebrates: from biophysics to brain and behaviour
The central goal of the Sonderforschungsbereich (SFB)/Collaborative Research Center (CRC) 1372 is to gain a comprehensive and multidisciplinary understanding of magnetoreception and navigation in vertebrates, from the biophysical mechanisms to the natural behaviour of navigating animals, taking into account all intermediate steps.
Excellent Research on Animal Navigation
The scientific mission of the Cluster of Excellence proposal NaviSense is to provide a thorough, interdisciplinary understanding of the mechanisms used by animals to navigate, and how these mechanisms can inspire technology and impact society, ecology, and biodiversity.
