PD Dr. habil. Anneke H. van Heteren
Section Mammalogy
Head of Section Mammalogy
curator
Research
Form and structure function as a medium for the interaction between organisms and environment. As a result, research in this area is essential for a comprehensive understanding of organismal function and adaptations to global change. Phenomics is the systematic study of phenotypical organismal traits dependent on large amounts of phenotypic data. This approach provides potent and versatile tools, such as geometric morphometrics and microstructure analysis, to represent shape in statistically robust mathematical models to assess how organisms adapt to global change.
In this context, we delve into various subjects. One aspect involves comprehending how squirrels adapt to seasonality, climate and competition. Another area of research involves comprehending the population dynamics of locally endangered edible dormice. We are a dynamic team with a growing list of publications.
Red squirrel ecology: Adaptations to seasonality, climate and competition
The Eurasian red squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris) is sensitive to habitat loss and degradation, which is likely to occur due to global climate change. Furthermore, urban environments are expanding rapidly almost everywhere, posing a significant global challenge to wildlife survival, including red squirrels. Additionally, common grey squirrels (Sciurus carolinensis) are an invasive species in Europe, which tend to outcompete red squirrels. Climate change could alter the ranges of grey squirrels and red squirrels, leading to changes in their overlapping territories. This, in turn, might affect their interactions and impact the survival of red squirrels, which could disappear from Europe within decades. Comprehending their adaptive flexibility will advance present and future nature conservation projects.
For example, preliminary microstructure analyses show that bone microarchitecture parameters, such as bone volume, differ significantly between individuals that died in different seasons, which is strongly suggestive of intraindividual changes throughout the year caused by seasonal dietary fluctuations. Global change will likely cause changes in food availability for squirrels, which is expected to affect their bone health. Understanding and predicting the biological response of red squirrels to global change will allow us to take the necessary actions, such as providing supplementary feeding.
Edible dormouse ecology: Linking morphology and genetics
The edible dormouse (Glis glis) is the largest dormouse (family Gliridae) and the only extant species in the genus Glis. It is native to the deciduous and mixed forest zone of Europe and south-western Asia. The species is vulnerable to forest fragmentation and is of conservation concern along its northern range, which includes Germany, where populations are fragmented due to deforestation and poor forest management. The edible dormouse has deeply divergent phylogenetic lineages and represents a rare case (at least among mammalian species) of sympatric and allopatric reproductive isolation. This project documents phenotypic and genotypic variability of the edible dormouse in the Alpine foothills from the Late Pleistocene onward. The faunas of alpine areas are particularly meaningful for determining general principles of biodiversity dynamics because the Alps are particularly affected by changes associated with climate change, including increased human land use. Subsequently, this project will be expanded over larger geographic and temporal scales.