Field Research Station Niederfinow

Interdisciplinary research on model species

One focus of the Leibniz-IZW is on research into the biology and adaptability of native wild animals. Therefore, a field research station was founded in Niederfinow, Brandenburg, in 1993. Here, projects are carried out on life course strategies and conflicts, reproductive biology, nutritional physiology and the behaviour of European wildlife under near-natural but controlled conditions. European deer, hares, marmots and bats, which live on an area of about 4 hectares, serve as model animals. >> More information

Selected projects at the field research station

Physiology, ecology and conservation of migratory bats

In this project the researchers investigate how migratory bats find their way when traveling over thousands of kilometres each year and which specific threats they are exposed to when moving across anthropogenically shaped landscapes.

Comparative environmental epigenomics in wildlife

Epigenetic changes function as flexible mechanisms to increase a species' adaptability to environmental changes, but past studies have focused mostly on maternal effects. Here we study parental transmitted epigenetic responses and ask also if different environmental changes invoke different or similar responses.

Information on animal studies

At the field research station of the Leibniz-IZW, experiments with animals are carried out regularly. This page explains, among other things, the reasons, the animal species studied, the stress, the legal framework and the procedure of animal studies at the IZW.