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Max Planck Institute for Ornithology
General Research Interests
Most behavioural and physiological responses of animals to predictable and unpredictable changes of the environment - including seasonal
and rhythmic phenomena - are modulated and mediated by hormones. In the Evolutionary and Environmental Physiology Lab we investigate
the role of hormones in the control of seasonal behaviour, their modulation in response to predictable and unpredictable changes
of the environment, and how the limited number of vertebrate hormone systems have been evolutionary modified to serve different needs
in different species. To test such general concepts it is often useful to investigate exceptional cases. We gain novel insight by studying
"non-model species" (such as birds with unique mating systems or behaviours, or populations of one species that live
in different environments) at multiple levels including behaviour, life-history, ecology and physiology. While we consider it
essential to study free-living animals and manipulate phenotypes (e.g. through hormone implants) in the field, it is equally
important to integrate these data with laboratory experiments under controlled conditions.
Group members
current members:
Monika Trappschuh (technician)
Lisa Gill, Camila Villavicencio (PhD students)
Beate Apfelbeck (Postdoc)
past members:
Ingrid Schwabl (technician)
Vivian Goerlich, Martin Schäffler, Felix Schmidt, Madeleine Scriba, Johanna Stegherr, Alex Weber (Diploma students)
Christina Muck (PhD student)
Cornelia Voigt, Michael Räß (Postdocs)
Katharina Hirschenhauser (Humboldt fellow)
© 2011, Max-Planck-Gesellschaft, München
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