The role of earthworms for plant performance and ecosystem functioning in a plant diversity gradient dem Fachbereich Biologie der Technischen Universität Darmstadt zur Erlangung des akademischen Grades eines Doctor rerum naturalium vorgelegte Dissertation von Alexandru Milcu aus Alexandria Berichterstatter: Prof. Dr. Stefan Scheu Mitberichterstatter: Prof. Dr. Schwabe-Kratochwil Tag der Einreichung: 13. 06. 2005 Tag der mündlichen Prüfung: 12. 07. 2005 Darmstadt 2005 “Earthworms are the intestines of the soil” Aristotle (about 330 B.C.) Photo: Jussi Baade THE JENA EXPERIMENT Curriculum Vitae Personal information Alexandru Milcu Date and place of birth 24. 09. 1976, Alexandria, Romania Nationality Romanian Education 07. 2002 – present PhD student “The role of earthworms for plant performance and ecosystem functioning in a plant diversity gradient”, subproject in Jena Biodiversity Project (BIODIV) 09. 1999 – 02. 2002 Master of Science in Biology, specialization Systems Ecology “Temporal activity patterns at common vole populations (Microtus arvalis)” Department of Systems Ecology and Sustainability, Faculty of Biology, University of Bucharest, Romania 04. 2001 – 09.2001 Socrates-Erasmus exchange student at Friedrich-Schiller University Jena, Germany 09.