Dr. Sabine Nooten

I am an insect ecologist interested in functional community ecology, biodiversity and climate change. My work seeks to understand how environmental and climatic features influence species traits at the community level. I am also interested in finding out how species traits shape biotic interactions and ecological processes, and how these in turn are influenced by changes in the environment and climate.

Check out my website for more information here

Current projects

The effects of heat waves on flower detection and visitation in bumblebees

This project investigates the effects of heat waves on the bumblebees' ability to detect and locate floral resources. It is funded by the British Ecological Society (BES) Small Research Grant.

Life in challenging environments: identifying species trait-environment relationships in alpine bumblebees

This project seeks to understand how functional traits (morphological, chemical and physiological) enable bumblebees to persist in climatically challenging mountainous environments. This project is funded by the German Research Foundation  (DFG)  (link). 

Send me an email, if this sparks your interest and you would like to work with me.

For more info check out my website

2024 - present      Habilitation Position,  Department of Animal Ecology and Tropical Biology, University of Würzburg   
2021 - 2024          Temporary Principal Investigator, Department of Animal Ecology and Tropical Biology, University of Würzburg
2019 - 2021          Postdoctoral Researcher, School of Biological Sciences, University of Hong Kong, SAR China
2018 - 2019          Postdoctoral Researcher, Department of Biological Sciences, University of New Hampshire, Durham, USA
2017 - 2018          Visiting Research Fellow, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany
2015 - 2016          Visiting Research Fellow, Western Sydney University, Sydney, Australia
2013 - 2015          Postdoctoral Researcher, Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, Western Sydney University, Sydney, Australia
2013 - 2013          Research Assistant, Brain Behaviour and Evolution, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia
2008 - 2013          PHD student, Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia
2004 - 2006          Research Assistant (Dipl.), Institute for Molecular Biosciences, Goethe-University, Frankfurt a. M., Germany 
2002 - 2004          Research Assistant (student), Crustacean Section, Senckenberg Museum, Frankfurt a. M., Germany
1997 - 2004          Diploma student, Institute for Molecular Biosciences, Goethe-University, Frankfurt a. M., Germany 

^# denotes shared first authorship; ^denotes shared last authorship; *denotes student authors

29. Kuhn* M. and Nooten S.S., Elevation related influence on body size and hairiness in alpine bumblebees. In review, Ecological Entomology

28. Nooten S. S., Korten* H., Schmitt T., Kárpáti Z. (2024) The heat is on: reduced detection of floral scents after heat waves in bumblebees. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 291: 20240352, doi: https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2024.0352 , link featured in Nature and  Science, 

27. Bogar* T. A., Nooten^ S. S. and Guénard^ B. (2023) Development of a new apparatus to partition ant body size reveals their respective functional role within ant communities. Journal of Basic and Applied Ecology,74:90-97, doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.baae.2023.12.004 link
(Preprint Authorea, link)

26. Gould E., Fraser H. S., Parker T. H, Nakagawa S., Griffith, S. C., Vesk P. A., Fidler F.,  … Nooten, S. S. …et al. (85+ authors) 2023 Same data, different analysts: variation in effect sizes due to analytical decisions in ecology and evolutionary biology. Preprint EcoEvoRxiv https://ecoevorxiv.org/repository/view/6000/ link

25. Maihoff F., Sahler S., Schoger S., Brenzinger K., Kallnik K., Sauer N., Bofinger L., Schmitt T., Nooten^ S. S., Classen^ A. (2023) Cuticular hydrocarbons of alpine bumble bees (Hymenoptera: Bombus) are species-specific, but show little evidence of elevation-related climate adaptation. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, 11:1082559, doi: 10.3389/fevo.2023.1082559, link

24. Schultheiss^# P., Nooten^# S. S., Wang R., Wong M. K. L., Brassard F., and Guénard B. (2022) The abundance, biomass and distribution of ants on Earth. The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 119 (40) e2201550119, doi: 10.1073/pnas.2201550119, link featured in Science,  Washington Post, New York Times,  The Guardian, BBC, New Scientist and over 300 others. In the top 1% of all research outputs scored by Altmetric

23. Nooten S. S., and Guénard B. Ant communities in disturbed subtropical landscapes: is climate more important than stochastic processes? Oecologia, 200:441–454 doi: 10.1007/s00442-022-05276-8,  link

22. Nooten S. S., Chan K. H., Schultheiss P., Bogar T. A. and Guénard B. (2022) Ant body size mediates functional performance and species interactions in carrion decomposer communities. Functional Ecology, doi:10.1111/1365-2435.14039 link  blog

21. Nooten S. S. & Rehan S. M. (2022) Effects of land use type and seasonal climate on ground nesting wild bees. Agricultural and Forest Entomology, 2022:1-8, doi:10.1111/afe.12486 link

20. Nooten S. S., Lee R. H.  and Guénard B. (2021) Evaluating the conservation value of sacred forests for ant taxonomic, functional and phylogenetic diversity in highly degraded landscapes. Biological Conservation, 109286,doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2021.109286 link

19. Nooten S. S., Odanaka, K. and Rehan S. M. (2020) Effects of farming practice and seasonal phenology on wild bees in blueberry orchards. Northeastern Naturalist, 27:841–860 link

18. Nooten S. S., Odanaka, K. and Rehan S. M. (2020) Characterization of wild bee communities in apple and blueberry orchards. Agricultural and Forest Entomology, 22:157–168, doi:10.1111/afe.12370 link

17. Nooten S. S. & Rehan S. M. (2019) Historical changes in bumble bee body size and range shift of declining species. Biodiversity and Conservation, 29:451–467, doi:10.1007/s10531-019-01893-7 link

16. Nooten S. S., Schultheiss P., Rowe* R. C., Facey* S. L. and Cook J. M. (2019) Habitat complexity affects functional traits and diversity of ant assemblages in urban green spaces (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Myrmecological News, 29: 67–77, doi:10.25849/myrmecol.news_029:067 link  blog  

15. Nooten S. S. & Rehan S. M. (2019) Agricultural land use yields reduced foraging efficiency and unviable offspring in the wild bee Ceratina calcarata. Ecological Entomology,  44:534–542, doi:10.1111/een.12730 link

14. Odanaka K., Hall J., Nooten S. and Rehan S. (2019) Wild Bees of Eastern North America: a guide to common pollinators and flowers. University of New Hampshire, Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research. 120 p. 

13. Odanaka K., Hall J., Nooten S. and Rehan S. (2018) Wild Bees of New England: A Guide to Common Pollinators & Flowers. University of New Hampshire, Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research. 120 p. pdf

12. Nooten S. S., Schultheiss P., Wright* J., Macdonald, C., Singh, B., Cook J. & Power, S. (2018) What shapes plant and animal diversity on urban golf courses? Urban Ecosystems, 21:565–576, doi:10.1007/s11252-017-0728-4 link video-clip  magazine

11. Kremer* J. M. M., Nooten S. S, Cook J. M., Ryalls J. M. W., Barton C. V. M., Johnson S. N. (2018) Elevated atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations promote ant tending of aphids. Journal of Animal Ecology, 87:1475–1483, doi:10.1111/1365-2656.12842 link

10. Nooten S. S. & Hughes L. (2017) The power of the transplant: direct assessment of climate change impacts. Climatic Change, 144:237–255, doi:10.1007/s10584-017-2037-6 link

9. Nooten S. S. & Andrew N. R. (2017) Transplant Experiments – a Powerful Method to Study Climate Change Impacts (p 46-67). In Global Climate Change and Terrestrial Invertebrates (eds S.N. Johnson & T.H. Jones). Wiley, UK. doi:10.1002/9781119070894.ch4 link

8. Nooten S. S. & Hughes L. (2016) Roles of family and architecture in driving insect community structure: a comparison of nine Australian plant species. Australian Journal of Entomology, 55:423–432 link

7. Facey S. L., Fidler D. B., Rowe R. C., Bromfield L. M., Nooten S. S., Staley J. T., Ellsworth D. S. & Johnson S. N. (2016) Atmospheric change causes declines in woodland arthropods and impacts specific trophic groups. Agricultural and Forest Entomology, 19:101-112 link

6. Schultheiss, P., Wystrach, A., Schwarz, S., Tack, A., Delor, J., Nooten, S. S., Bibost, A.-L., Freas, C. A. & Cheng, K. (2016) Crucial role of ultraviolet light for desert ants in determining direction from the terrestrial panorama. Animal Behaviour, 115:19–28 link

5. Julle-Daniere, E., Schultheiss, P., Wystrach, A., Schwarz, S., Nooten, S. S., Bibost, A.-L. & Cheng, K. (2014) Visual matching in the orientation of desert ants (Melophorus bagoti): The effect of changing skyline height. Ethology, 120:783–792 link

4. Nooten S. S., Andrew N. R. & Hughes L. (2014) Potential impacts of climate change on insect communities: a transplant experiment.  PLOS ONE 9(1): e85987 doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0085987  link media 

3. Nooten S. S. & Hughes L. (2014) Potential impacts of climate change on patterns of insect herbivory on four Australian plant species. Austral Ecology, 39:668-676; doi:10.1111/aec.12129  link

2. Schultheiss P. & Nooten S. S. (2013) Foraging patterns and strategies in an Australian desert ant. Austral Ecology 38:942–951 link

1. Nooten S. S. & Hughes L. (2013) Patterns of insect herbivory on four Australian shrubby plant species. Australian Journal of Entomology 52:309–314  link