Klaus Rohde
Klaus Rohde ( born 1932 in Brandenburg an der Havel ) is a German biologist at the University of New England ( Australia) ( UNE ). He works in the field of Meeresparasitologie, evolutionary ecology and zoogeography as well as the ultrastructure and phylogeny of lower invertebrates.
Life
Klaus Rohde studied 1950-1952 Zoology, Botany, Physics and Physical Chemistry at the University of Potsdam, and after his emigration from the GDR to the Federal Republic of Germany from 1953 to 1956 at the University of Münster. There he was in 1956 with a thesis on the behavior and physiology of Paramecium Dr. rer. nat. doctorate.
From 1957 to 1959 he developed for the ASTA -Werke in Brackwede / Westfalen (pharmaceutical industry) tests for the screening of Anthelminthica ( filariasis, hookworm, Cysticercus ).
From 1960 to 1967, Rohde had supervised a teaching position at the University of Malaya in Kuala Lumpur, during which he conducted research on the taxonomy, life cycles, and fine structure of trematodes and monogeneans and bachelor's and master's and doctoral candidates. During this time he also took part in expeditions to various parts of Malaysia and traveled to many countries in East, Southeast, South and East Asia and the Americas.
1967 acquired Rohde a Habilitandenstipendium at the Ruhr- University Bochum and his habilitation in 1970 with a thesis on the morphology, life cycles and ultrastructure of Aspidogastrea Type Multicotyle purvisi.
In 1970 Rohde a two-year research fellowship at the University of Queensland in Australia to conduct research on the taxonomy, ecology, life cycles and ultrastructure of Lobatostoma manteri ( Aspidogastrea ) and various Monogenea. As part of his work he has repeatedly visited the Great Barrier Reef. In 1972 he was a lecturer in zoology at the University of Khartoum in Sudan.
From 1973 to 1976 Rohde led the Heron Iceland Research Station in the Great Barrier Reef, where he conducted research on the taxonomy and ecology of Monogenea and Aspidogastrea. In 1975, the University of Queensland awarded him for his parasitological and zoological researches a second doctorate ( DSc ). In 1976, he received a teaching position at the University of New England (Australia). Soon after, he was promoted to Associate Professor and then appointed as Chair.
Even after his retirement took place in 2001, Rohde continued his scientific papers and written articles and books. Together with the theoretical physicist Dietrich Stauffer, he worked on an application of mathematical models in the investigation of latitudinal gradients in species richness and niche width.
Research priorities
Rohde's research focuses on the fine structure, ecology, zoogeography, parasitology and phylogeny of invertebrates, in particular the Aspidogastrea, Monogenea, Amphilinidea and general aspects of ecology ( niche theory, competition) and zoogeography ( latitudinal ). Together with Tim Littlewood at the Natural History Museum in London, Nikki Watson at the UNE and others, he examined the phylogeny of flatworms ( platyhelminthes ) and other invertebrates by electron microscopy and the basis of life-cycle and DNA data.
His most important scientific contributions are in the following topic areas:
- Meeresparasitologie (incl. marine parasites of humans ).
- In latitudinal species richness ( hypothesis of effective evolutionary time).
- Niche theory ( Free niches fertilization theory of niche limitation).
- Phylogeny of flatworms and other invertebrates by electron microscopy and DNA.
- Ultrastructure of spermatogenesis, protonephridia, sensory receptors of the flatworms.
- Taxonomy in particular the trematodes and monogeneans (numerous new species, 11 new genera, two new subfamilies, for a new genus, a new family has now been built ).
- Life cycles of Aspidogastrea and Amphilinidea.
Rohde presented the first quantitative evidence for the enormous diversity of species of marine parasites in tropical ( coral reef ) and for different latitudinal waters of endo- and ectoparasites. His hypothesis of effective evolutionary time was an important incentive for the development of the metabolic theory of ecology. His work on the phylogeny of flatworms provided evidence that the Neodermata ( major groups of parasitic flatworms) have split off early from the vortex worms ( Turbellaria ). His proof of the large number and diversity of sensory receptors under the flatworms and the great complexity of the nervous system in some parasitic flatworms made it clear that Sacculinisierung (reduction of complexity) in parasites is not a general phenomenon. Rohde's work on the ecology of marine parasites showed that most parasites live in largely unsaturated niche spaces, ie Most niches are empty. Based on these findings, he demonstrated that equilibrium conditions of animal communities in nature are the exception and not the rule.
Awards
- Clarke Medal of the Royal Society of New South Wales (1996, zoology).
- Inaugurale Award for outstanding scientific work of the Vice-Chancellor, UNE (1996).
- Fellow ( Member 's chosen ) several scientific societies and institutions, such as the Australian Society for Parasitology.
- Klaus Rohde was honored for his taxonomic work through many genera and species named after him, as well as a subfamily.
Publications
Rohde has published about 400 scientific papers in journals and book chapters, and several books.
Textbooks and monographs
- Rohde, Klaus: Ecology of Marine Parasites 2nd edition. CAB International, Wallingford, Oxon, U.K. 1993, ISBN 0-851-98845-8.
- Rohde, Klaus: Nonequilibrium Ecology. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, U.K. 2005, ISBN 0-521-67455-7.
- Rohde, Klaus ( eds. ): Marine Parasitology. CSIRO Publ and CAB International, Melbourne and Wallingford, Oxon, UK 2005, ISBN 1-845-93053-3.
- Rohde, Klaus ( ed.): The Balance of Nature and Human Impact. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, U.K. 2013, ISBN 978-1-107-01961-4.
The first edition of The Ecology of Marine Parasites, University of Queensland Press 1982, was translated into Malay - Indonesian: Ekologi parasite sound, Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, Kuala Lumpur, 1991.