Dr. Max Müller
CV
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Since 2025
Local Manager Biodiversity Exploratory Schwäbische Alb, TU Darmstadt
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2021 - 2025
Local Manager Biodiversity Exploratory Schwäbische Alb, Ulm University
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2022
Local Manager Biodiversity Exploratory Schorfheide-Chorin, Senckenberg, Frankfurt
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2020 - 2021
Postdoctoral researcher, Institute of Zoology, University of Regensburg
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2015 - 2020
PhD, Institute of Zoology, University of Regensburg
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​2013 - 2015
Master of Biology, Ulm University & University Stavanger, Norway
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2009 - 2012
Bachelor of Biology, Ulm University
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Research interests
I am interested in understanding how land-use and landscape structure shape mammal communities and, in turn, influence ecological interactions and disease dynamics. My research project focuses on quantifying the abundance and diversity of both large and small mammals using camera trapping. I further investigate how these mammal communities affect the density of the tick species Ixodes ricinus and the Borrelia prevalence, as studied within the LaBiRo and DIVERSITIX projects, exploring the potential for a “dilution effect.” In addition, I examine how experimental manipulations - such as canopy opening and deadwood enrichment - impact the abundance, diversity, and circadian activity patterns of mammals.
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Research domains:
Forest ecology
Wildlife ecology
Mammals
Disease ecology
Biodiversity
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Contact
Dr. Max Müller
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​Phone +49 (0)1735457543
​​​Ecological Networks
Department of Biology
Technische Universität Darmstadt
Schnittspahnstr. 3
D-64287 Darmstadt
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​​Biodiversitäts-Exploratorium Schwäbische Alb
Altes Lager, R13
Biosphärenallee 3
D-72525 Münsingen​​​​​
Publications
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Müller, Max, Sara Weilage, Lara Maria Inge Heyse, et al. 2025. ‘Landscape Heterogeneity, Forest Structure, and Mammalian Host Diversity Shape Tick Density and Prevalence of the Causative Agent of Lyme Borreliosis’. FEMS Microbiology Ecology 101 (9): fiaf088. https://doi.org/10.1093/femsec/fiaf088.
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Weilage, Sara, Lidia Chitimia-Dobler, Max Müller, Martin Pfeffer, and Anna Obiegala. 2025. ‘Influence of Tick Age and Land-Use on Borrelia Burgdorferi s.l. in Ixodes Ricinus Ticks from the Swabian Alb, Germany’. Parasites & Vectors 18 (1): 370. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13071-025-06971-0.​
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Lassen, Suscha Nicolina, Christian Imholt, Max Müller, et al. 2025. ‘Land Use Intensity Has an Impact on Borrelia Burgdorferi Sensu Lato Prevalence and Genodiversity in Ticks from Central Germany’. Parasites & Vectors 18 (1): 371. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13071-025-06980-z.
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Sultana, Marufa, Max Müller, Magdalena Meyer, and Ilse Storch. 2022. ‘Neighboring Green Network and Landscape Metrics Explain Biodiversity within Small Urban Green Areas—A Case Study on Birds’. Sustainability 14 (11): 6394. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14116394.
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Müller, Max, and Veronica Egger. 2020. ‘Dendritic Integration in Olfactory Bulb Granule Cells upon Simultaneous Multispine Activation: Low Thresholds for Nonlocal Spiking Activity’. PLOS Biology 18 (9): e3000873. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3000873.
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Lage-Rupprecht, Vanessa, Li Zhou, Gaia Bianchini, Sara Aghvami, Max Müller et al. 2020. ‘Presynaptic NMDARs Cooperate with Local Spikes toward GABA Release from the Reciprocal Olfactory Bulb Granule Cell Spine’. eLife 9 (November): e63737. https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.63737.
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Müller Max, Mary Ann Go, Michael Lawrence Castañares, Veronica Egger, and Vincent R. Daria. 2019. ‘A Compact Holographic Projector Module for High-Resolution 3D Multi-Site Two-Photon Photostimulation’. PLOS ONE 14 (1): e0210564. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0210564.
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Aghvami, S. Sara, Max Müller, Babak N. Araabi, and Veronica Egger. 2019. ‘Coincidence Detection within the Excitable Rat Olfactory Bulb Granule Cell Spines’. The Journal of Neuroscience 39 (4): 584–95. https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1798-18.2018.