Team > M.Sc. Jens Diller

Faculty of Biology, Chemistry and Earth Sciences
Chair Animal Ecology I

M.Sc. Jens Diller

PhD candidate

PhD project: Invasive alien species are an ever-increasing threat to biodiversity. These alien species displace native species and cause high ecological and economic damage in the areas they affect. The Indian touch-me-not, Impatiens glandulifera, originating from the Himalayas, was introduced to Europe in 1839 and has spread over large parts of the northern hemisphere to this day. It prefers to grow on the banks of water bodies, where it often forms monocultures. The spreading success of I. glandulifera can be attributed not only to its rapid growth, but also to the production of allelopathic substances that inhibit the growth of competitors. These substances include 2-methoxy-1,4-naphthoquione (2-MNQ), which has already been shown to have a negative effect on the germination and growth of native European plants. Due to the high distribution of I. glandulifera and its growth in riparian zones, it is very likely that large amounts of 2-MNQ are also released into the surrounding waters during rainfall, as this substance is released into the environment by leaves and roots. However, there are no studies to date that investigate the impact of 2-MNQ on limnic organisms.

In my PhD project, I would like to investigate possible effects of 2-MNQ on different levels of the food web using model organisms already established in research in aquatic habitats. These studies could subsequently contribute to the development of appropriate management strategies to minimise damage in order to maintain freshwaters essential to humans in a "good ecological status" in the long term, as defined by the European Water Framework Directive (WFD), and to preserve them for present and future generations.

Funding

The project is funded by the Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt (DBU).

Faculty of Biology, Chemistry and Earth Sciences
Chair Animal Ecology I

Publications

2024

Frederic Hüftlein, Jens Diller, Heike Feldhaar, Christian Laforsch: Riparian invader: A secondary metabolite of Impatiens glandulifera impairs the development of the freshwater invertebrate key species Chironomus riparius. In: NeoBiota, 92 (2024). - S. 155-171.
doi:10.3897/neobiota.92.119621

2023

Jens Diller, Frederic Hüftlein, Darleen Lücker, Heike Feldhaar, Christian Laforsch: Allelochemical run-off from the invasive terrestrial plant Impatiens glandulifera decreases defensibility in Daphnia. In: Scientific Reports, 13 (2023). - .
doi:10.1038/s41598-023-27667-4

2022

Jens Diller, Sophia Drescher, Mario Hofmann, Max Rabus, Heike Feldhaar, Christian Laforsch: The Beauty is a beast : Does leachate from the invasive terrestrial plant Impatiens glandulifera affect aquatic food webs?. In: Ecology and Evolution, 12 (2022). - .
doi:10.1002/ece3.8781

2021

Jonathan M. Jeschke, Christian Laforsch, Patricia Diel, Jens Diller, Martin Horstmann, Ralph Tollrian: Predation. In: Reference Module in Earth Systems and Environmental Sciences. - Amsterdam : Elsevier, 2021.
doi:10.1016/B978-0-12-819166-8.00016-5

Faculty of Biology, Chemistry and Earth Sciences
Chair Animal Ecology I

M.Sc. Jens Diller
PhD candidate

E-mail: Jens.Diller@uni-bayreuth.de