Welcome to the Biogeography and Biodiversity Lab of Prof. Dr. Severin Irl! We are a young lab that gets excited about all aspects revolving around biogeography, (macro)ecology and biodiversity science. We use islands and island-like habitats such as habitat islands or mountain systems as model systems to study patterns and processes generating diversity and endemism in space and time. However, we are also interested in influences that threaten all aspects of diversity such as (anthropogenic) disturbances, neobiota or climate change. Mainly we use plants as study objects because plants are the basis of all terrestrial life and they usually don't run away!

One of our favorite islands is la isla bonita. This beautiful island, also known as La Palma on the Canary Islands, is lush green and dusty desert-like, impossibly steep and gently rolling, has the bluest skies and ever-present clouds, you can find dragons, giant rosettes and dandelion trees, you can bathe in a sea of clouds and indulge in the finest wines, you can see more stars than you've ever dreamed of and watch fiery red sunsets that rival the glowing hot lava that built the island! Sound interesting? Then, get in contact or drop by our offices at the Institute of Physical Geography at the Goethe-University Frankfurt.

A new and particularly interesting research system that our lab has been focusing on in recent years are the quartz islands of southern Africa. These are edaphic habitat islands composed of whitisch angular quartz pebbles. Because of the semi-arid to arid climate we find highly specialized dwarf succulents mainly from Aizoaceae, Crassulaceae and Asteraceae with a high degree of endemism and habitat specialism. Our research on quartz islands is done in collaboration with Dr. Ute Schmiedel from the University of Hamburg.