User:Realmitchel/Martin Zimmer (Biologist)

Martin Zimmer (born 1967 in Cologne, Germany) is a German biologist and professor of mangrove ecology at the Leibniz Centre for Marine Tropical Ecology (ZMT) in Bremen.

Biography
Zimmer studied biology at the University of Cologne and received his doctorate degree there and in Ann Arbor, Michigan. His research in the context of his habilitation and as a private lecturer for evolutionary ecophysiology at the University of Kiel brought him into contact with coastal ecosystems for the first time. Later he led a working group for terrestrial ecology at the University of Salzburg. He is a cooperation professor at Faculty 2 of the University of Bremen.

Scientific research
Zimmer researches interactions in biocoenoses under changing environmental conditions. Mangrove ecosystems are strongly affected by global environmental changes, such as global warming, rising sea levels or changes in the salinity of brackish water due to increased rainfall. In addition there is the local use by humans. Zimmer and his team want to determine how these factors affect the ecosystem and its services. He investigates individual system components, symbiotic interactions, food webs and material flows in mangroves and their neighbouring ecosystems.