Dr. Annika Schirmer
Research interest
I am a behavioural ecologist, mainly interested in the behaviour of small mammals. My interests particularly lie in the continuously growing research area of inter-individual differences, i.e. animal personality, and its connection to individual movement, space use and interactions between con- and heterospecific individuals. Thereby I am concentrating on observing individuals of wild populations and assessing the behavioural variation and individual movement under natural conditions. During my PhD I worked with two small omnivorous rodents which are common competitors and naturally occur sympatrically: the bank vole (Myodes glareolus) and the striped field mouse (Apodemus agrarius).
Since I have taken over one of the technician positions in the working group I am involved in most of the ongoing projects, supporting the researchers during data collection, management and analysis and during the publication process, as well as take care of aquisition and maintenance of technical devices, IT-related issues and manage our database.
Kontakt
University of Potsdam / Animal Ecology
Maulbeerallee 1
Room 1.02b
14469 Potsdam
Academic career
Since 12/2020 Technician, Animal Ecology, Institute for Biochemistry and Biology, University of Potsdam
02/2020 - 11/2020 Post doctoral researcher & Technician, Animal Ecology, Institute for Biochemistry and Biology, University of Potsdam
08/2019 - 02/2020 Post doctoral researcher, Plant Ecology and Nature Conservation, Institute for Biochemistry and Biology, University of Potsdam
06/2019 Doctoral degree, Animal Ecology, Institute for Biochemistry and Biology, University of Potsdam
Thesis: " Consistent individual differences in movement-related behaviour as equalising and/or stabilising mechanisms for
species coexistence"
2015 – 2019 Doctoral studies, Animal Ecology, Institute for Biochemistry and Biology, University of Potsdam
2012 – 2015 Master’s degree in Ecology, Evolution and Nature Conservation, University of Potsdam
2008 – 2011 Bachelor’s degree in Biology, University of Cologne
Projects
Inter-individual differences and coexistence
Publications
Dammhahn M, Mazza V, Schirmer A, Göttsche C, Eccard J A (2020) Of city and village mice: behavioural adjustments of striped field mice to urban environments. Scientific Reports 10:13056 . https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-69998-6
Schirmer A, Hoffmann J, Eccard J A, Dammhahn M (2020) My niche: individual spatial niche specialization affects within- and between-species interactions. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 287:20192211 . https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2019.2211
Hoffmann J, Schirmer A, Eccard J A (2019) Light pollution affects space use and interaction of two small mammal species irrespective of personality. BMC Ecology 19:26 . https://doi.org/10.1186/s12898-019-0241-0
Schirmer A, Herde A,Eccard J A, Dammhahn M (2019) Individuals in space: Personality-dependent space use, movement and microhabitat use facilitate individual spatial niche spezialisation. Oecologia, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-019-04365-5
Eccard J A, Reil D, Folkertsma R, Schirmer A (2018) The scent of infanticide risk? Behavioural allocation to current and future reproduction in response to mating opportunity and familiarity with intruder. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 72:175 DOI: 0.1007/s00265-018-2585-4