Peter Schausberger
Univ.-Doz. Dr.
until February 2019: Guest Professor University of Tsukuba, Japan
Funded by the Austrian Science Fund (FWF)
Phone: +43-1-4277-76118
Mail: peter.schausberger[at]univie.ac.at
Research interests
I am a multi- and trans-disciplinarily working zoologist with a focus on behavioral ecology-related topics and multi-trophic interactions. My current research comprises and links elements of animal behavior, ecology, evolution and biological control. Plant-inhabiting mites such as herbivorous spider mites (Tetranychidae) and eriophyoid mites (Eriophyidae), and predatory mites of the family Phytoseiidae are the main organisms I work with. These mites are, due to their ubiquity, small size and ease of rearing, widely used model animals in the above-mentioned disciplines. Predatory mites are key players in natural and biological control of herbivorous mites and insects in natural as well as agricultural ecosystems such as orchards, vineyards and greenhouse crops, making them perfectly suited animals for research on predator-prey interactions, multi-trophic interactions and pest management.
I have a keen interest in fundamental processes in behavioral ecology (learning, species and kin recognition, cannibalism, anti-predation, sexual selection, linkage between behavioral and life history traits) and examine direct and indirect interactions in multi-trophic systems (or subsystems thereof) consisting of predatory mites, herbivorous mites and insects, plants and micro-organisms. My investigations take place in the laboratory, walk-in environmental and greenhouse chambers, and the open field. The organizational and spatial levels looked at range from individuals and their interactions (in small-scale artificial cages, on detached leaves and leaf discs), to populations (on detached leaves and whole plants) and communities (on whole plants and plant groups). I primarily conduct manipulative experiments and use methodological procedures and tools such as direct observations, analyses of videotaped behaviors (EthoVision XT), olfactometer tests, and molecular/chemical analys
Curriculum vitae
Publications
Hosseini, A, Hosseini, M & Schausberger, P 2022, 'Plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria enhance defense of strawberry plants against spider mites.', Frontiers in Plant Science, vol. 12, 783578. doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2021.783578
Schausberger, P, Yano, S & Sato, Y 2021, 'Cooperative behaviors in group-living spider mites.', Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, vol. 9, no. 745036, 745036. doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2021.745036
Schausberger, P, Çekin, D & Litin, A 2021, 'Learned predators enhance biological control via organizational upward and trophic top-down cascades', Journal of Applied Ecology, vol. 58, no. 1, pp. 158-166. doi.org/10.1111/1365-2664.13791
Schausberger, P 2021, 'Not Seeing the Mites for the Hairs. Comment on Möth et al. Unexpected Effects of Local Management and Landscape Composition on Predatory Mites and Their Food Resources in Vineyards. Insects 2021, 12, 180. ', Insects, vol. 12, 671. doi.org/10.3390/insects12080671
Schausberger, P, Seiter, M & Raspotnig, G 2020, 'Innate and learned responses of foraging predatory mites to polar and non-polar fractions of thrips’ chemical cues', Biological Control, vol. 151, 104371. doi.org/10.1016/j.biocontrol.2020.104371
Schausberger, P & Sato, Y 2020, 'Kin-Mediated Male Choice and Alternative Reproductive Tactics in Spider Mites', Biology, vol. 9, no. 11, 365. doi.org/10.3390/biology9110360
Schausberger, P & Cekin, D 2020, 'Plastic female choice to optimally balance (k)in- and out-breeding in a predatory mite', Scientific Reports, vol. 10, 7861. doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-64793-9
Çekin, D & Schausberger, P 2020, Flexible female choice in haplo-diploid predatory mites Phytoseiulus persimilis. in IOBC-WPRS Bulletin. vol. 149, pp. 48-49.
Sato, Y & Schausberger, P 2020, Spider mite mothers adjust sons’ reproductive tactics in response to operational sex ratio. in Book of Abstracts. 39th Annual Meeting of the Japan Ethological Society, 20/10/20.
Schausberger, P & Sato, Y 2020, Trans-generational plasticity of alternative reproductive tactics in male spider mites. in IOBC-WPRS Bulletin. vol. 149, pp. 50-51.
Media
Spinnentiere: Verhalten bei Paarung programmiert, Tierwelt, sda apa, 29.11.2019
Mütter bestimmen Paarungsverhalten der Söhne - bei Spinnmilben, Kurier, 28.11.2019
Wie Milben-Mütter ihre Söhne beeinflussen, Science ORF.at, 27.11.2019
Spinnmilben-Mütter bestimmen das Paarungsverhalten der Söhne, APA-Science, 27.11.2019
Toll treiben es die wilden Milben, DER STANDARD; 05.10.2019
Junge Köpfe lernen besser – selbst wenn es Milbenköpfe sind, DER STANDARD, 19.04.2018
Auch bei Milben gilt: Was Hänschen nicht lernt, lernt Hans nimmermehr, APA-Science, 18.04.2018
Japanische Kollegen haben eine unserer Studien in Poesie umgesetzt
Es kommt doch auf die Größe an. "Die Presse", Print-Ausgabe, 09.04.2016