Dr. Sylvia Ortmann

Senior scientist, Deputy head of department

Department of Evolutionary Ecology

Tel: 0049 (0) 30 5168 515
E-Mail: ortmann@izw-berlin.de

Short curriculum vitae

Dr. Ortmann studied biology with a focus on animal physiology at the Philipps-Universität Marburg. In 1997 she received her PhD with a study on "Strategies of seasonal adaptation in the Alpine Marmot Marmota marmota" in the Department of Animal Physiology supervised by Prof. Gerhard Heldmaier. Subsequently, she moved for a Post-Doc to the German Institute of Nutrition Research (DIfE) in Potsdam. There, she studied the regulation of food intake in obesity models and set up a metabolic physiology laboratory.

Dr. Ortmann has been a scientist at Leibniz-IZW in the Department of Evolutionary Ecology since 2003 and deputy head of department since 2018. She is also responsible for the scientific management of the field research station of the IZW in Niederfinow. Under her leadership, the Nutritional Physiology Laboratory has developed into a renowned service and cooperation laboratory, especially for veterinarians and primatologists. Since 2013, Dr. Ortmann has been a member of the honorary board of a state foundation, the "Stiftung Naturschutz Berlin".

Projects
Research interests
  • Evolutionary Ecology
  • Animal physiology
  • Animal nutrition
Selected publications

Terranova M, Eggerschwiler L, Ortmann S, Clauss M, Kreuzer M, Schwarm A (in press): Increasing the proportion of hazel leaves in the diet of dairy cows reduced methane yield and excretion of nitrogen in volatile form, but not milk yield. ANIM FEED SCI TECH. doi:10.1016/j.anifeedsci.2020.114790

Clauss M, Dittmann MT, Vendl C, Hagen KB, Frei S, Ortmann S, Müller DWH, Hammer S, Munn AJ, Scharm A, Kreuzer M (2020): Review: Comparative methane production in mammalian herbivores. ANIMAL 14, s113-s123. doi:10.1017/S1751731119003161

Denninger TM, Schwarm A, Dohme-Meier F, Münger A, Bapst B, Wegmann S, Grandl F, Vanlierde A, Sorg D, Ortmann S, Clauss M, Kreuzer M (2020): Accuracy of methane emissions predicted from milk mid-infrared spectra and measured by laser methane detectors in Brown Swiss dairy cows. J DAIRY SCI 103, 2024–2039. doi:10.3168/jds.2019-17101

Deschner T, Hohmann G, Ortmann S, Schaebs FS, Behringer V (2020): Urinary total T3 levels as a method to monitor metabolic changes in relation to variation in caloric intake in captive bonobos (Pan paniscus). GEN COMP ENDOCRINOL 285, 113290. doi:10.1016/j.ygcen.2019.113290

Hejcmanová P, Ortmann S, Stoklasová L, Clauss M (2020): Digesta passage in common eland (Taurotragus oryx) on a monocot or a dicot diet. COMP BIOCHEM PHYS A 246, 110720. doi:10.1016/j.cbpa.2020.110720

Schiffmann C, Unterhitzenberger G, Ortmann S (2020): Extrahepatic biliary tract pathologies in mammalian species of zoo animals and wildlife: A review. J BASIC APPL ZOOL 81, 20. doi:10.1186/s41936-020-00162-2

Scholz C, Firozpoor J, Kramer-Schadt S, Gras P, Schulze C, Kimmig S, Voigt CC, Ortmann S (2020): Individual dietary specialization in a generalist predator: A stable isotope analysis of urban and rural red foxes. ECOL EVOL 10, 8855–8870. doi:10.1002/ece3.6584

Sinz S, Leparmarai PT, Liesegang A, Ortmann S, Kreuzer M, Marquardt S (2020): Effects of dietary grapeseed extract on performance, energy and nitrogen balance as well as methane and nitrogen losses of lambs and goat kids. BRIT J NUTR 125, 26–37. doi:10.1017/S0007114520002512

Hohmann G, Ortmann S, Remer T, Fruth B (2019) Fishing for iodine: What aquatic foraging by bonobos tells us about human evolution.  BMC Zool 4, 5; 

Stillfried M, Grass P, Boerner K, Goeritz F, Painer J, Roellig K, Wenzler M, Hofer, H, Ortmann S, Kramer-Schadt S (2017) Secrets of Success in a landscape of fear: urban wild boar adjust risk perception and tolerate disturbance. Front. Ecol. Evol. 5:157.

Brieger F, Hagen R, Kröschel M, Hartig F, Petersen I, Ortmann S, Suchant R (2017) Do roe deer react to wildlife warning reflectors? A test combining a controlled experiment with field observations. Eur J Wildl Res 63:72 

Ohse B, Hammerbacher A, Seele C, Meldau S, Reichelt M, Ortmann S, Wirth C (2017) Salivary cues: Simulated roe deer browsing induces systemic changes in phytohormones and defense chemistry in wild-grown maple and beech saplings. Func Ecol 31: 340-349

Stillfried M, Gras P, Busch M, Börner K, Kramer-Schadt S, Ortmann S (2017) Wild inside: urban wild boar select natural, not anthropogenic food resources. PLoS ONE 12(4): e0175127

Hayward MW, Ortmann S, Kowalczyk R (2015) Risk perception by endangered European bison Bison bonasus is context (condition) dependent. Landscape Ecol 30: 2079–2093.

Sönnichsen L, Bokje M, Marchal J, Hofer H, Jędrzejewska B, Kramer-Schadt S, Ortmann S (2013) Behavioural responses of European roe deer to temporal variation in predation risk. Ethology 119(3): 233-243

Hohmann G, Potts K, N'Guessan A, Fowler A, Mundry R, Ganzhorn JU, Ortmann S (2010) Plant foods consumed by Pan: Exploring the variation of nutritional ecology across Africa. Am J Physical Anthropology 141(3): 476-485

Ganas J, Ortmann S, Robbins M (2008) Food preferences of Wild Mountain Gorillas. Am J Primatology 70 (10): 927-938

Clauss M, Streich WJ, Schwarm A, Ortmann S, Hummel J (2007) The relationship of food intake and ingesta passage predicts feeding ecology in two different megaherbivore groups. OIKOS 116 (2): 209-216

Tschöp M, Castañeda TR, Joost HG, Thöne-Reineke C, Ortmann S, et al (2004) Does gut hormone PYY3-36 decrease food intake in rodents? Nature, 2004 Jul 8;430(6996) doi 10.1038/nature02665

Ortmann S, Prinzler J, Klaus S (2003) Self-selected macronutrient diet affects energy and glucose metabolism in brown fat-ablated mice. Obesity Research 11(12): 1536-1544

Ortmann S, Heldmaier G (2000) Regulation of body temperature and energy requirements of hibernating Alpine marmots (Marmota marmota). Am. J. Physiol. 278, R698-R704