Stefan PinkertPhilipps University of Marburg | PUM · Conservation Ecology
Stefan Pinkert
Dr. rer. nat. & MSc student – Environmental Geography
About
31
Publications
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Introduction
My research focuses on understanding the ecological and evolutionary processes that underpin the remarkable diversity of insects from a functional and phylogenetic perspective. I use state-of-the-art approaches to quantify morphological traits of species, compile and harmonize taxonomic data and model species distributions – data that in concert allow to tackle some of the most pressing issues in ecology and to rigorously test long-standing evolutionary hypotheses.
Additional affiliations
March 2017 - February 2020
Publications
Publications (31)
We investigated the effects of contemporary and historical factors on the spatial variation of European dragonfly diversity. Specifically, we tested to what extent patterns of endemism and phylogenetic diversity of European dragonfly assemblages are structured by (i) phylogenetic conservatism of thermal adaptations and (ii) differences in the abili...
Aim -- Recent studies increasingly use statistical methods to infer biotic interactions from cooccurrence information at large spatial scale. However, disentangling biotic interactions from other factors that can affect co-occurrence patterns at the macro scale is a major challenge. --
Approach -- We present a set of questions that analysts and re...
Recent results on the thermal biology of unicellular fungi provide evidence that pigmentation is an ancient adaptation for harvesting solar radiation. A new model system promises novel opportunities for quantifying radiative heat transfer and improving biophysical models. Recent results on the thermal biology of unicellular fungi provide evidence t...
Aim
Many taxa show remarkable similarities in their diversity patterns, and these similarities are commonly used to define large‐scale conservation priorities. Here, we investigated the relative importance of contemporary climate and climate change since the Last Glacial Maximum for determining the species richness and rarity patterns of four anima...
Individuals of large or dark‐colored ectothermic species often have a higher reproduction and activity than small or light‐colored ones. However, investments into body size or darker colors should negatively affect the fitness of individuals as they increase their growth and maintenance costs. Thus, it is unlikely that morphological traits directly...
Biogeographical inference and assessments of species' threat status and trends depend on comprehensive information on the current geographical distribution of species. Even country‐level presences remain poorly known for many insect species and consistent global overviews for those species are missing. Here we integrate information from literature...
Recent climate and land-use changes are having substantial impacts on biodiversity, including population declines, range shifts, and changes in community composition. However, few studies have compared these impacts among multiple taxa, particularly because of a lack of standardized time series data over long periods. Existing data sets are typical...
Insects provide vital ecological functions and account for over half of all described species. An at least basic understanding of their geographical distributions is key for addressing a range of central ecological and evolutionary questions and to inform conservation. However, even for popular groups, such as butterflies, the knowledge of species’...
Previous macroecological studies have suggested that larger and darker insects are favored in cold environments and that the importance of body size and color for the absorption of solar radiation is not limited to diurnal insects. However, whether these effects hold true for local communities and are consistent across taxonomic groups and sampling...
Understanding the consequences of past and future climatic changes on biodiversity has become one of the most important challenges of current ecological research. Due to the funda-mental importance of climate for determining the distribution and abundance of species, climatic changes have led to strong shifts of species’ ranges to higher altitudes...
Aim
The protection of phylogenetic diversity has become a priority in conservation biology, but its achievement requires a detailed understanding of (a) hotspots of phylogenetic diversity on a management‐relevant scale and (b) the land use and climate factors determining local phylogenetic diversity. In this study, we identified spatial patterns of...
The cover image relates to the Research Article https://doi.org/10.1111/ddi.13134, in which Pinkert et al., study the drivers of cross‐taxon congruence, detect biodiversity refugia using climate diversity relationships and assess the coverage of biodiversity hotspots of sub‐Saharan Africa by protected areas.
1. Previous macrophysiological studies suggested that temperature-driven color lightness and body size variations strongly influence biogeographical patterns in ectotherms. However, these trait-environment relationships scale to local assemblages and the extent to which they can be modified by dispersal remains largely unexplored. We test whether t...
Forest relicts in the mountainous regions of Africa represent one of the most diverse ecosystems on our planet, but the processes that have generated this remarkable diversity are still poorly understood. We estimate divergence times for an endemic, flightless grasshopper family and reconstruct a potential scenario for their colonization of Africa...
Melanin-based dark colouration is beneficial for insects as it increases the absorption of solar energy and protects against pathogens. thus, it is expected that insect colouration is darker in colder regions and in regions with high humidity, where it is assumed that pathogen pressure is highest. These relationships between colour lightness, insec...
We tested to what extent patterns of endemism and phylogenetic diversity of European dragonfly assemblages are structured by (i) phylogenetic conservatism of thermal adaptations and (ii) differences in the ability of post-glacial recolonization by species adapted to running waters (lotic) and still waters (lentic). Dragonfly species richness peaked...
Based on three specimens, the first record of hawker dragonflies from Baltic amber is described in a new genus with two new species: Elektrogomphaeschna peterthieli gen. et sp. nov. and E. annekeae sp. nov.. They belong to the family Gomphaeschnidae and are tentatively attributed to the extinct subfamily Gomphaeschnaoidinae. The latter was previous...
The identification of areas with outstanding intra-and cross-taxon diversity is a key element of strategic conservation planning. Because the availability of adequate distribution data is very limited, current conservation networks are, however, only based on a few well-known taxa that serve as surrogates for biodiversity. Here we investigated the...
The new genus and species Linqibinia pani of paracymatophlebiid hawker dragonfly is described from the Middle Jurassic Jiulongshan formation (Inner Mongolia, China). Previously only known from Karatau in Kazakhstan, the discovery of another member of this family extends its range to across Central Asia. It furthermore confirms that the Aeshnoptera...
Supporting informations for our article: Colour lightness of dragonfly assemblages across North America and Europe
Dark-coloured ectotherms absorb energy from the environment at higher rates than light-coloured ectotherms. The thermal melanism hypothesis (TMH) states that this physical mechanism links the colour lightness of the body surfaces of ectotherms to their thermal environment and hence to their geographical distribution. Studies on different insect tax...
Dark-coloured ectotherms absorb energy from the environment at higher rates than light-coloured ectotherms. The thermal melanism hypothesis (TMH) states that this physical mechanism links the colour lightness of the body surfaces of ectotherms to their thermal environment and hence to their geographical distribution. Studies on different insect tax...
Aim: We test whether patterns of endemism and evolutionary history of European dragonfly assemblages are structured by phylogenetically conserved adaptations to temperature and differences in the dispersal propensity of species developing in running (lotic) and standing (lentic) waters.
Location: Europe.
Methods: Digital distribution maps from IUCN...
Assessments of the determinants of large‐scale variation in biodiversity have commonly focused on spatial patterns in species richness. However, because this approach assigns equal value to each species most current explanations of patterns in biodiversity suffer from not considering differences in the phylogenetic structure of communities that may...
Recent compilations of large scale physiological data and progress in spatial statistics have led to a renewed interest in some of macroecologies most fundamental questions. Although the investigation of physiological characteristics (traits) among species has been subject to several studies, their geographic variation owing to ambient conditions r...
Projects
Projects (5)
Few insects have endeared themselves to humanity as much as have the butterflies. It's easy to see why we like them: their boldly patterned wings can be beautiful, even jewel-like, and we usually find them fluttering leisurely through hedgerows and flower gardens (and not, say, burrowing through rotting wood, or hovering over dumpsters). People have liked butterflies for a very long time, too. Many of the first entomologists ("studiers of insects") began as amateur butterfly enthusiasts. Some took on butterfly catching as a lifelong hobby, and left behind massive collections of pinned specimens accompanied by meticulous descriptions of the life stages and host plants of different species.
The bejeweléd treasure trove of knowledge that has resulted should, in theory, make butterflies the best understood of all insect clades, and ideal subjects of ecological research. Unfortunately, a lot of this information is out of reach of the broader scientific community, either gathering dust in the attics of private collections or hidden in the unturned pages of ancient field guides. What the butterflies need is a network: a cooperative online platform to collect, organize, and distribute this information to the public, free-of-charge, for use in research and science education.
To kick off the ButterflyNet project we are producing a complete species-level butterfly phylogeny, the first of any major insect clade, that will let us organize the approximately 18,800 butterfly species according to their evolutionary relationships. To each species we will then attach all available data on geographic distributions, host plant associations, and other interesting life history traits, collected and compiled from digitized field guides and online resources. When our work is done, the accumulated knowledge from centuries of observations and ongoing research will be made available through ButterflyNet to expert scientists and amateur butterfly enthusiasts alike.
For more information, take a look see:
https://www.butterflynet.org/#/project/
Understanding the processes and assessing the contribution of contemporary and historical drivers shaping large-scale patterns in dragonfly diversity.
