Lichtgedanken 04

Rubrik 6 How individuality ensures survival Ecologists investigate how living organisms manage to adapt to their environment and thus find their own ecolo- gical niche. The team working with Prof. Dr Holger Schielzeth is working in a new Collaborative Research Centre as an external partner Sustain able development needs research UNESCO is hon ouring the University of Jena with a Chair on Global Understanding for Sustainab ility A grasshopper faces many different dangers. If a stork is trying to kill it, it is important to act with skill. It is not always the huge leap that saves its life. »When it comes to escaping, it makes sense to be flexible«, says Prof. Dr Hol- ger Schielzeth. Survival often depends on the element of surprise The grasshoppe r jumps—sometimes far, sometimes n ot so far, sometimes to the right, somet imes to the left—and seeks cover. »Its survival is dependent on the element of surprise and each animal has its o wn strategy«, states the Jena professor o f population ecology. A new Collaborative Research Centre/ Transregional Collaborative Research Centre, funded by the German Research Foundation with a total of around 8.5 million euros over the next four years, is investigating how living organisms manage to adapt to their environment and find their own ecological niche. The centre, which is called »Eine neue Synthese zur Individualisation für die Verhaltensforschung, Ökologie und Evolution: Nischenwahl, Nischenkon- formität, Nischenkonstruktion« (A new synthesis regarding individualis- ation for behavioural science, ecology and evolution: niche choice, niche con- formity, niche construction), is based in Bielefeld and Münster. Prof. Schielzeth is involved as an external partner and is responsible for two of the total of 19 projects. He is receiving around 350,000 euros for this role, which will be used for two additional doctoral positions. In one project, he is investigating how the question of how variability of be- haviour can ensure survival. Schielzeth and his team are researching the flight behaviour of grasshoppers for this pur- pose. The researchers want to find out whether the behaviour of the animals is inherited and, if so, in what way. The strong statistica l expertise of the Jena researchers is b earing fruit in an- other project. The syn thesis project has the aim of creating a common platform for discussing the res ults of all subpro- jects so that these re sults can then be incorporated into me ta-analyses. AB The new Chair, held by social geogra- pher Prof. Dr Be nno Werlen, will lead to the further integration of social sciences and the humanities into sus- tainability resea rch over the next four years. Werlen ha s already made a start on this in recent years as the founder and director of the initiative »Inter- national Year of Global Understand- ing« (IYGU). »Thanks to the UNESCO Chair, Jena will continue to act as a key coordination unit for the numer- ous global initiatives that fall within the framework of the IYGU« says Ben- no Werlen. He believes that there is a great opportunity within the collabo- ration between resea rch and society to establish sustainabil ity as a primary criterion for political decision-making. As a holder of the c hair, he wants to support and implem ent both research projects and educatio nal campaigns in the respective region s.  AB Insects—here an example of a »gladiator« Tyranno- phasma gladiator—have to deal with a lot of dangers in nature. In many situations, the animals decide how to respond individually.