Dr. Felix Fornoff
![]() | Felix Fornoff | ORCID iD: 0000-0003-0446-7153 Web of Science ResearcherID: AAA-3776-2019 |
phone: +49 (0)761 203 -67790 | ||
e-mail: felix.fornoff | ||
Room No. 502 |
Research
I am interested in the research areas of Biodiversity, Ecosystem-functioning, Community Ecology and Conservation. My research is centered on terrestrial ecosystems, especially insect-insect and insect-plant interactions. In this respect, I study the dependency of diversity and functioning on bottom up processes and in relation to human activities such as agricultural or urban land use. I am fascinated by ecosystems ranging for tropical forests to temperate grasslands and value the advantages of different approaches including replicated experimental manipulations, observational studies and citizen science approaches.
Current projects:
- RestPoll - Restoring pollinator habitats across European agricultural landscapes based on multi-actor participatory approaches (EU)
- INTEGRA: Integration von Habitatstrukturen in landwirtschaftlich genutzte Flächen zur Förderung von Bestäuberinsekten
- BEF-China - Multi-Troph: SP4: Linking cavity-nesting bee and wasp food webs to other trophic interactions
- Ground-nesting wild bees in flower strips and the influence of ploughing on ground-nesting bee nests
- Identification and protection of wild bees as crop pollinators
- Monitoring of insects and their ecosystem functions in a school garden network
Besides theory, fieldwork, statistics and evaluation I am interested in photography. Mainly natural motifs, especially wild bees. A small selection of my photos can also be found at: Have fun with the fascination of nature! | ![]() |
Teaching
Summer Semester:
- M.Sc. Modul (51180) Formenkenntnisse, Biodiversität und Funktionen
Winter Semester:
- M.Sc. Modul (13011) Wildbienenbestimmung
Vita
since 2018 | Postdoc at the Chair of Nature Conservation and Landscape Ecology, Faculty of Environment and Natural Resources, University of Freiburg |
2013 - 2017 | PhD thesis: "Multitrophic interaction and functional diversity in diversity experiments" at the Chair of Nature Conservation and Landscape Ecology, Faculty of Environment and Natural Resources, University of Freiburg |
2008 - 2011 | Master of Biological Science, Faculty of Biology, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany. Thesis in Biology: "Chemical Ecology of Aquatic Plant-Herbivore Interactions" |
2005 - 2008 | Bachelor of Biological Science, Faculty of Biology, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany. Thesis: "Top Radiotracking Movement and Activity of Neotropical Katydids" |
2012 | Research internship, STRI-Intern, Barro Colorado Island, Panama. Research: "Ecology, structure and long term dynamics of neotropical forests" |
2012 | Research internship, Stream and Riparian Research Laboratory, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada. Research: "Top down effects on food web, community composition, detritivory and primary production in a temperate rainforest stream" |
2011 - 2012 | Postgraduate research assistant, Faculty of Biology/Limnology, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany. Research: "Tracking resource reallocation in an aquatic macrophyte as response to herbivory using stable isotopes" |
2011 - 2012 | Postgraduate research assistant, Faculty of Biology/Botanical Garden, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany. Research: "Reviewing the ecology and control measures of the invasive Indian Balsam (Impatiens glandulifera) in Europe and Germany" |
2009 - 2010 | Erasmus-Scholarship for International Studies at Cardiff University, Wales |
2008 | Research internship, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Gamboa, Panama. Research: "Foraging behavior of neotropical bats" |
2007 | Field internship, Hellenic Ornithological Society, Pylos, Greece. Field work: Conservation of the Chamaelio africanus |
ResearchGate
GoogleScholar
Publications
2025
Larsen, Y., Kalweit, M., Fornoff, F. & Messing, D. (2025): Pollen oder Grashüpfer Digitale Bestimmung von Wildbienen und Wespen in Nisthilfen für mehr Artenvielfalt im Biologieunterricht. MNU Journal. Accepted.
Mupepele, A.C., von Königslöw, V., Bleile, A.M., Fornoff, F., Fründ, J. & Klein, A.M. (2025): Plant–pollinator interactions in apple orchards from a production and conservation perspective. Conservation Science and Practice: e13280. https://doi.org/10.1111/csp2.13280
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Crone, M.K., Fornoff, F., Klein, A.M & Grozinger, C. (2024): DNA metabarcoding reveals unexpected diet breadth of the specialist large-headed resin bee (Heriades truncorum) in urbanized areas across Germany. Insect Conservation and Diversity, https://doi.org/10.1111/icad.12791
Li, Y., Schuldt, A., Ebeling, A., Eisenhauer, N., Huan, Y., Albert, G., Albracht, C., Amyntas, A., Bonowski, M., Bruelheide, H., Bröcher, M., Chesters, D., Chen, J., Chen, Y., Chen, J.T., Ciobanu, M., Deng, X., Fornoff, F., Gleixner, G., Guo, L., Guo, P.F., Heintz-Buschart, A., Klein, A.M., Lange, M., Li, S., Li, Q., Li, Y., Luo, A., Meyer, S.T., von Oheimb, G., Rutten, G., Scholten, T., Solbach, M.D., Staab, M., Wang, M.Q., Zhang, N., Zhu, C.D., Schmid, B., Keping, M., Liu, X. (2024): Plant diversity enhances ecosystem multifunctionality via multitrophic diversity. Nature Ecology and Evolution, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-024-02517-2
Wang , J.T., Li, Y., Zhou, Q.S., Fornoff, F., Shi, X., Li, S., Martini, M., Klein, A.M., Schuldt, A., Liu, X., Ma, K., Bruelheide, H., Luo, A. & Zhu, C.D. (2024): Multi-dimensionality of tree communities structure host-parasitoid networks and their phylogenetic composition. eLife13: RP100202. Link
- Fornoff, F., Lanner, J., Orr, M., Xie, T., Guo, S., Guariento, E., Tuerlings, T., Smagghe, G., Parys, K., Ćetković, A., Bila Dubaić, J., Geslin, B., Scharnhorst, V.S., Pachinger, B., Klein, A.M. & Meimberg, H. (2024): Home-and-away comparisons of life history traits indicate enemy release and founder effects of the solitary bee, Megachile sculpturalis. Basic and Applied Ecology 76: 69-79. Link
- Klaus, F., Ayasse, M., Classen, A., […], Fornoff, F., [...], Klein, A.M. et al. & Pistorius, J. (2024): Improving wild bee monitoring, sampling methods, and conservation. Basic and Applied Ecology 75: 2-11. Link
- Mupepele, A.C., von Königslöw, V., Bleile, A.M., Fornoff, F., Fründ, J. & Klein, A.M. (2023): Plant-pollinator interactions in apple orchards from a production and conservation perspective. BioRxiv (preprint). online first. doi: 10.1101/2023.11.20.567831. Link
- Lindermann, L., Grabener, S., Fornoff, F., Hopfenmüller, S., Schiele, S., Stahl, J. & Dieker, D. (2023): Wildbienen und Wespen in Nisthilfen bestimmen: Ein Bestimmungschlüssel für Deutschland; Ratgeber. Braunschweig: Thünen-Institut für Biodiversität. doi: 10.3220/MX1685523077000. Link
- Li, Y., Schmid, B., Schuldt, A. Li, S., Wang, M.Q., Fornoff, F., Staab, M., Guo, P.F., Anttonen, P., Chester, D., Bruelheide, H., Zhu, C.D., Ma, K. & Liu, X. (2023): Multitrophic arthropod diversity mediates tree diversity effects on primary productivity. Nature Ecology & Evolution 7: 832-840. Link
- Fornoff, F., Halla, W., Geiger, S.; Klein, A.M. & Sann, M. (2023): DNA barcoding resolves quantitative multi-trophic interaction networks and reveals pest species in trap nests. Insect Conservation and Diversity 16: 725-731. Link
- Georgi, M., Gärtner, S.M., Förschler, M.I., Buse, J., Fornoff, F., Ssymank, A. & Klein, A.M. (2023): Mulching time of forest meadows influences insect diversity. Insect Conservation and Diversity 16: 368-378. Link
- Dürrbaum, E., Fornoff*, F., Scherber, C., Vesterinen, E.J. & Eitzinger*, B. (2023): Metabarcoding of trap nests reveals differential impact of urbanization on cavity nesting bee and wasp communities. Molecular Ecology 23: 6449-6460. Link *These authors contributed equally to the study
2022
- Tang, T., Zhang, N., Bongers, F., Staab, M., Schuldt, A., Fornoff, F., Lin, H.; Cavender-Bares, J., Hipp, A., Li, S., Liang, Y., Han, B., Klein, A.M., Bruelheide, H., Durka, W., Schmid, B., Ma, K. & Liu, X. (2022): Tree species and genetic diversity increase productivity via functional diversity and trophic feedbacks. eLife 11: e78703. Link
- Georgi, M., Fornoff, F., Gärtner, S.M., Neitzel, S., Geist, A. & Klein, A.M. (2022): Timing and mulching frequency affected the number of nests of cavity-nesting wasps that hunt for aphids in forest meadows. Journal of Insect Conservation 26: 973-981. Link
- Von Königslöw, V., Fornoff, F. & Klein, A.M. (2022): Wild bee communities benefit from temporal complementarity of hedges and flower strips in apple orchards. Journal of Applied Ecology 59: 2814-2824. Link
- Ollerton, J., Trunschke, J., Havens, K., Landaverde-González, P., Keller, A., Gilpin, A.M., Rodrigo Rech, A., Baronio, G.J., Phillips, B.J., Mackin, C., Stanley, D.A., Treanore, E., Baker, E., Rotheray, E.L., Erickson, E., Fornoff, F., Brearley, F.Q., Ballantyne, G., Iossa, G., Stone, G.N., Bartomeus, I., Stockan, J.A., Leguizamón, J., Prendergast, K., Rowley, L., Giovanetti, M., de Oliveira Bueno, R., Wesselingh, R.A., Mallinger, R., Edmondson, S., Howard, S.R., Leonhardt, S.D., Rojas-Nossa, S.V., Brett, M., Joaqui, T., Antoniazzi, R., Burton, V.J., Feng, H.H., Tian, Z.X., Xu, Q., Zhang, C., Shi, C.L., Huang, S.Q., Cole, L.J., Bendifallah, L., Ellis, E.E., Hegland, S.J., Straffon Díaz, S., Lander, T.A., Mayr, A.V., Dawson, R., Eeraerts, M., Armbruster, W.S., Walton, B., Adjlane, N., Falk, S., Mata, L., Goncalves Geiger, A., Carvell, C., Wallace, C., Ratto, F., Barberis, M., Kahane, F., Connop, S., Stip, A., Sigrist, M.R., Vereecken, N.J., Klein, A.M., Baldock, K., & Arnold, S.E.J. (2022): Pollinator-flower interactions in gardens during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown of 2020. Journal of Pollination Ecology 31: 87-96. Link
- Klein, A.M., von Königslöw, V., Mupepele, A., Fornoff, F. & Wintermantel, D. (2022): Blühstreifen, Hecken und Spontanvegetation: Wie können wir Wildbienen im Obstanbau gezielt fördern? In: Eben, A. & Herz, A. (eds.) Online - Fachgespräch zum Thema „Biodiversität im Obstbau“. Journal für Kulturpflanzen 74: 11-18. Link
- Von Königslöw, V., Fornoff, F. & Klein, A.M. (2022): Pollinator enhancement in agriculture: Comparing sown flower strips, hedges and sown hedge herb layers in apple orchards. Biodiversity and Conservation 31: 433-451. Link
2021
- Knuff, A., Nitsch, H., Stackelberg, N., Fornoff, F. & Schramek, J. (2021): FAKT-Blühmischungen zur Förderung von Bestäubern. Landinfo 3: 28-31. Link
- Fornoff, F., Staab, M., Zhu, C.D. & Klein, A.M. (2021): Multi-trophic communities re-establish with canopy cover and microclimate in a subtropical forest biodiversity experiment. Oecologia 196: 289-301. Link
- Guo, P.F., Wand, M.Q., Orr, M., Li, Y., Chen, J.T., Zhou, Q.S., Staab, M., Fornoff, F., Chen, G.H., Zhang, N.L., Klein, A.M., Zhu, C.D. (2021): Tree diversity promotes predatory wasps and parasitoids but not pollinator bees in a subtropical experimental forest. Basic and Applied Ecology 53: 134-142. Link
2020
- Roquer-Beni, L., Rodrigo, A., Arnan, X., Klein, A.M., Fornoff, F., Boreux, V. & Bosch, J. (2020): A novel method to measure hairiness in bees and other insect pollinators. Ecology and Evolution 10: 2979-2990. Link
- Klein, A.M., Freitas, B.M., Bomfim, I.G.A., Boreux, V., Fornoff, F. & Oliveira, M.O. (2020): A Polinização Agrícola por Insetos no Brasil - Um Guia para Fazendeiros, Agricultores, Extensionistas, Políticos e Conservacionistas. Albert-Ludwigs University Freiburg, Nature Conservation and Landscape Ecology. FreiDok plus. online. doi: 10.6094/UNIFR/151237. 149p. Link
- Klein, A.M., Freitas, B.M., Bomfim, I.G.A., Boreux, V., Fornoff, F. & Oliveira, M.O. (2020): Insect Pollination of Crops in Brazil - A Guide for Farmers, Gardeners, Politicians and Conservationists. Albert-Ludwigs University Freiburg, Nature Conservation and Landscape Ecology. FreiDok plus. online. doi: 10.6094/UNIFR/151200. 149p. Link
2019
- Klein, A.M. & Fornoff, F. (2019): Die Bestäubungsprofis. In: Deutsches Bienen Journal - Sonderheft: Wildbienen Spezial. pp. 30-31. Link
- Nitsch, H., Fornoff, F., Bauer, C., Sauer, N., Schäfer, L., Wunderlich, L., Claßen, A., Pabst, H., Schramek, J. & Klein, A.M. (2019): Ad hoc-Studie zur faunistischen Bewertung von FAKT-Blühmischungen. Institut für ländliche Strukturforschung, Frankfurt. interner Link, download
- Schuldt, A., Ebeling, A., Kunz, M., Staab, M., Guimarães-Steinicke, C., Bachmann, D., Buchmann, N., Durka, W., Fichtner, A., Fornoff, F., Härdtle, W., Hertzog, L., Klein, A.M., Roscher, C., Schaller, J., von Oheimb, G., Weigelt, A., Weisser, W., Wirth, C., Zhang, J., Bruelheide, H. & Eisenhauer, N. (2019): Multiple plant diversity components drive consumer communities across ecosystems. Nature Communications 10: 1460. Link
- Fornoff, F., Klein, A.M., Blüthgen, N. & Staab, M. (2019): Tree diversity increases robustness of multi-trophic interactions. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 286: 20182399. Link
- Pauli, T., Castillo-Cajas, R.F., Rosa, P., Kukowka, S., Berg, A., van den Berghe, E., Fornoff, F., Hopfenmüller, S., Niehuis, M., Peters, R.S., Staab, M., Strumia, F., Tischendorf, S., Schmitt, T. & Niehuis, O. (2019): Phylogenetic analysis of cuckoo wasps (Hymenoptera: Chrysididae) reveals a partially artificial classification at the genus level and a species-rich clade of bee parasitoids. Systematic Entomology 44: 322-355. Link
2018
- Gutiérrez-Chacón, C., Fornoff, F., Ospina-Torres, R. & Klein, A.M. (2018): Pollination of granadilla (Passiflora ligularis) benefits from large wild insects. Journal of Economic Entomology 111: 1526-1534. Link
- Cao, H., Klein, A.M., Zhu, C.-D., Staab, M., Durka, W., Fischer, M. & Fornoff, F. (2018): Intra- and interspecific tree diversity promotes multitrophic plant–Hemiptera–ant interactions in a forest diversity experiment. Basic and Applied Ecology 29: 89-97. Link
- Klein, A.M., Fornoff, F., Mupepele, A.C., Boreux, V. & Pufal, G. (2018): Relevance of wild and managed bees for human well-being. Current Opinion in Insect Science 26: 82-88. Link
2017
- Cao, H.-X., Salle, J.L., Fornoff, F., Guo, P.-F. & Zhu, C.-D. (2017): Notes on Kocourekia Bouček (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae: Tetrastichinae) with description of a new species from China. Zootaxa 4317: 391–400. Link
- Schuldt, A., Fornoff, F., Bruelheide, H., Klein, A.M. & Staab, M. (2017): Tree species richness attenuates the positive relationship between mutualistic ant-hemipteran interactions and leaf chewer herbivory. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 284: 20171489. Link
- Staab, M., Fornoff, F., Klein, A.M. & Blüthgen, N. (2017): Ants at plant wounds - A little-known trophic interaction with evolutionary implications for ant-plant interactions. American Naturalist 190: 442-450. Link
- Fornoff, F., Klein, A.M., Hartig, F., Benadi, G., Venjakob, C., Schaefer, M. & Ebeling, A. (2017): Functional flower traits and their diversity drive pollinator visitation. Oikos 126: 1020-1030. Link
2012 - 2015
- Rothhaupt, K.-O., Fornoff, F. & Yohannes, E. (2015): Induced responses to grazing by an insect herbivore (Acentria ephemerella) in an immature macrophyte (Myriophyllum spicatum): an isotopic study. Ecology and Evolution 5: 3657-3665. Link
- Fornoff, F. & Gross, E.M. (2014): Induced defense mechanisms in an aquatic angiosperm to insect herbivory. Oecologia 175: 173-185. Link
- Fornoff, F., Dechmann, D.K.N. & Wikelski, M. (2012): Observation of movement and activity via radio-telemetry reveals diurnal behaviour of the neotropical katydid Philophyllia ingens (Orthoptera: Tettigonidae). Ecotropica 18: 27-34.