Georg Küstner

• Agroecology
• Bioacoustics
• Biological pest control
• Conservation biology
• Evidence synthesis
• Integrated pest management
• Invasive alien species
• Landscape ecology
• Nature-based solutions
• Nature conservation
• Nature's contributions to people
• Remote sensing of biodiversity
• Science-policy interface
• Species Distribution Modelling
• Tropical ecology

FARMS4Biodiversity – Farmer-led Agroecological Research in Malawi using Scenarios for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services

Education

09/2019 - present - PhD student | Graduate School of Life Sciences | Department Of Animal Ecology And Tropical Biology | University of Würzburg | Würzburg | Germany

               Working title: “Biological pest control along a landscape complexity gradient in smallholder agroecosystems in northern Malawi”

               Supervisors: Ingolf Steffan-Dewenter, Katja Poveda, Aaron Iverson

10/2015 - 07/2018 - Global Change Ecology (MSc) | University of Bayreuth | Bayreuth | Germany

                Master thesis: “The influence of forest cover and land use on water quality and macroinvertebrate communities in Tunkhel River catchment in
                                             northern Mongolia”

10/2011 - 10/2014 - Nature Conservation and Landscape Planning (BSc) | Anhalt University of Applied Sciences | Bernburg (Saale) | Germany

                 Bachelor thesis: “The condition of littoral vermetid crusts in the Maltese islands"

Professional experience

01/2024 - present - Research associate | Bavarian Environment Agency (LfU) | Augsburg | Germany

09/2019 - 09/2023 - Research associate | University of Würzburg | Würzburg | Germany

09/2018 - 05/2019 - Carlo Schmid Fellow in the Natural Science's sector of UNESCO | Hanoi | Vietnam

04/2018 - 06/2018 - Internship at the Helmholtz Centre for Enviornmental Research (UFZ)/German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) |
                                      Department of Community Ecology | Spatial Interaction Ecology Research Group | Halle (Saale) | Germany

03/2018 - 04/2018 - Internship at the German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN) | Department of Protected Areas | Bonn | Germany

07/2013 - 09/2013 - Internship at the lower nature conservation authority of the city of Erlangen | Erlangen | Germany

 09/2010 - 09/2011 - Anderer Dienst im Ausland (ADiA) with Children for Green New Nepal (CGNN) via weltwärts with the GIZ | Lalitpur | Nepal

2025

Noble DWA, Xirocostas ZA, Wu NC, ..., Küstner G, ..., Nakagawa S, Lagisz M (2025) The promise of community-driven preprints in ecology and evolution. Proc. R. Soc. B 292: 20241487.

2024

Ellssel P, Küstner G, Kaczorowska-Dolowy M,Vázquez E, Di Bene C, Li H, Brizuela-Torres D, Elangovan Vennila E, Vicente-Vicente JL and Avila-Ortega DI (2024) Building a solid foundation: advancing evidence synthesis in agri-food systems science. Front. Sustain. Food Syst. 8: 1410205.

2023

Vogel C, Mkandawire T, Mkandawire M, Küstner G, Dakishoni L, Bezner Kerr R, Iverson A, Poveda K, Steffan-Dewenter I (2023) The importance of shrubland and local agroecological practices for pumpkin production in sub-Saharan smallholdings. Basic and Applied Ecology 73: 51-61.

Vogel C, Mayer V, Mkandawire M, Küstner G, Bezner Kerr R, Krauss J, Steffan-Dewenter I (2023) Local and landscape scale woodland cover and diversification of agroecological practices shape butterfly communities in tropical smallholder landscapes. Journal of Applied Ecology 60: 1659-1672.

Vogel C, Poveda K, Iverson A, Boetzl FA, Mkandawire T, Chunga TL, Küstner G, Keller A, Bezner Kerr R, Steffan-Dewenter I (2023) The effects of crop type, landscape composition and agroecological practices on biodiversity and ecosystem services in tropical smallholder farms. Journal of Applied Ecology 60: 859-874.

2022

Kpienbaareh D, Bezner Kerr R, Nyantakyi-Frimpong H, Amoak D, Poveda K, Nagothu US, Vogel C, Iverson A, Mehreteab T, Luginaah I, Steffan-Dewenter I, Wang J, Küstner G, Enloe S, Mayer V, Dakishoni L, Lupafya E, Shumba L, Chunga T, Kanyimbo P, Munthali P, Gondwe T, Mhoni I, Mkandawire M, Mkandawire T, Moyo P, Tembo Y (2022) Transdisciplinary agroecological research on biodiversity and ecosystem services for sustainable and climate resilient farming systems in Malawi. Advances in Ecological Research 66: 3-35.

2021

Pfeiffer M, Küstner G, Erdenesukh E, von Tümpling W, Hofmann J (2021) Investigation of environmental and land use impacts in forested permafrost headwaters of the Selenga-Baikal river system, Mongolia - Effects on discharge, water quality and macroinvertebrate diversity. International Soil and Water Conservation Research 9: 605-619.