Wilhelm Barthlott (born 1946 in

Forst Forst may refer to: Communities In Germany *, in the district of Aachen *Forst (Baden), in Baden-Württemberg *Forst (Lausitz), in Brandenburg * Forst (Unterfranken), part of Schonungen, Bavaria * Forst, Altenkirchen, in the district of Altenk ...

, Germany) is a German

botanist Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek wo ...

and biomimetic materials scientist. His official botanical author citation is Barthlott. Barthlott's areas of specialization are biodiversity (Global distribution, assessment, and change in biodiversity) and Bionics/Biomimetics (in particular, superhydrophobic biological surfaces and their technical applications). He is one of the pioneers in the field of biological and technical interfaces. Based on his systematic research on plant surfaces, he developed self-cleaning (

lotus effect The lotus effect refers to self-cleaning properties that are a result of ultrahydrophobicity as exhibited by the leaves of ''Nelumbo'', the lotus flower. Dirt particles are picked up by water droplets due to the micro- and nanoscopic architect ...

) technical surfaces and technical surfaces, which permanently retain air under water (

Salvinia effect The Salvinia effect describes the permanent stabilization of an air layer upon a hierarchically structured surface submerged in water. Based on biological models (e.g. the floating ferns ''Salvinia'', backswimmer ''Notonecta''), biomimetic Salvinia- ...

). This led to a paradigm shift in particular areas of material science and facilitated the development of superhydrophobic biomimetic surfaces. His map of the global biodiversity distribution is the foundation for numerous research topics. Barthlott has been honored with many awards (e. g. the German Environment Award) and memberships in Academies (e. g. the German National Academy of Science Leopodina). A large red-flowering tropical shrub, '' Barthlottia madagascariensis'' and other plants are named after him.

Career

Wilhelm Barthlott descends from a French

Huguenots The Huguenots ( , also , ) were a Religious denomination, religious group of French people, French Protestants who held to the Reformed, or Calvinist, tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss politica ...

family, which arrived with Jacques Barthelot in 1698 on the grounds of the

Maulbronn monastery Maulbronn Monastery (german: Kloster Maulbronn) is a former Cistercian abbey and ecclesiastical state in the Holy Roman Empire located at Maulbronn, Baden-Württemberg. The monastery complex, one of the best-preserved in Europe, was named a UNESCO ...

in Germany, where his mother's family houses had existed already before 1520. He studied biology, physics, chemistry, and geography at the

University of Heidelberg } Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg, (german: Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg; la, Universitas Ruperto Carola Heidelbergensis) is a public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, ...

, Germany. He earned his doctorate in 1973 with a dissertation on systematics and biogeography of cacti investigated by means of scanning electron microscopy. He was appointed a professorship at the Free University of Berlin (Freie Universität Berlin) at the Institute for Systematic Botany and Plant Geography from 1982 to 1985. In 1985 he became the chair of systematic botany at the Botanical Institute of the University of Bonn and also the director of the

Botanical Gardens A botanical garden or botanic gardenThe terms ''botanic'' and ''botanical'' and ''garden'' or ''gardens'' are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word ''botanic'' is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens, an ...

. In 2003 he established the Nees Institute for Biodiversity of Plants as founding director. He was influential in the reorganization and expansion of both institutions. Barthlott became emeritus in 2011, and continued as the head of the long-run research project "Biodiversität im Wandel" ("Biodiversity in Change") until 2015, of the Academy of Sciences and Literature of Mainz. He co-founded with Walter Erdelen (

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

) the Biodiversity Network in Bonn BION in 2011, which was implemented by Wilhelm Barthlott and his successor Maximilian Weigend in 2013. He is investigating biological and technical superhydrophobic interfaces within the scope of his research projects in biomimetics. Barthlott published one of the internationally most cited papers in plant science. His work in materials science based on superhydrophobic Lotus Effect surfaces ''"can be considered the most famous inspiration from nature ....and has been widely applied...in our daily life and industrial productions''".

Fields of work

Research

Barthlott has done extensive research focusing on Andean South America and Africa, in particular, on the taxonomy and morphology of

cacti A cactus (, or less commonly, cactus) is a member of the plant family Cactaceae, a family comprising about 127 genera with some 1750 known species of the order Caryophyllales. The word ''cactus'' derives, through Latin, from the Ancient Greek ...

orchids Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Along with the Asteraceae, they are one of the two largest families of flowering ...

and

bromeliads The Bromeliaceae (the bromeliads) are a family of monocot flowering plants of about 80 genera and 3700 known species, native mainly to the tropical Americas, with several species found in the American subtropics and one in tropical west Africa, ...

, applying scanning electron microscopy and molecular methods. Barthlott's studies on

carnivorous plant Carnivorous plants are plants that derive some or most of their nutrients from trapping and consuming animals or protozoans Protozoa (singular: protozoan or protozoon; alternative plural: protozoans) are a group of single-celled eukaryot ...

s converged systematic and ecological research. These studies led to the discovery of the first protozoan trapping plant in the genus ''

Genlisea ''Genlisea'' ( ) is a genus of carnivorous plants also known as corkscrew plants. The 30 or so species grow in wet terrestrial to semi-aquatic environments distributed throughout Africa and Central and South America. The plants use highly modifi ...

''. This plants also exhibit one of the highest evolutionary rates and has the smallest known genome among all flowering plants. The naming of ''

Genlisea barthlottii ''Genlisea'' ( ) is a genus of carnivorous plants also known as corkscrew plants. The 30 or so species grow in wet terrestrial to semi-aquatic environments distributed throughout Africa and Central and South America. The plants use highly modifi ...

'' pays tribute to his investigation in this regard. The shrub ''Barthlottia madagascariensis'' or the miniature Titan Arum '' Amorphophallus bartlottii'' and further species were named after him. Among his discoveries are the giant bromeliad '' Gregbrownia lyman-smithii'' (syn. ''Mezobromelia lyman-smithii'') amd epiphytic cacti such as ''

Rhipsalis juengeri ''Rhipsalis'' is a genus of epiphytic flowering plants in the cactus family, typically known as mistletoe cacti. They are found in parts of Central America, the Caribbean and northern regions of South America. They also inhabit isolated locatio ...

Pfeiffera miyagawae ''Pfeiffera'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Cactaceae, found in Bolivia and northwest Argentina. There is some debate about the circumscription of the genus. It is in the Phyllocacteae tribe. The genus name of ''Pfeiffera'' is in ...

'' and ''

Schlumbergera orssichiana ''Schlumbergera orssichiana'' is a species of plant in the family Cactaceae. It is endemic to a small area of the coastal mountains of south-eastern Brazil where its natural habitat is moist forest. It grows on trees as an epiphyte. It is in the ...

''. A complete list of plants can be found on the IPNI. His biogeographic-ecological work was mostly conducted in South America, West Africa and Madagascar concentrating on arid regions, epiphytes in tropical forest canopy, as well as tropical

inselbergs An inselberg or monadnock () is an isolated rock hill, knob, ridge, or small mountain that rises abruptly from a gently sloping or virtually level surrounding plain. In Southern Africa a similar formation of granite is known as a koppie, a ...

. Additional works concentrated on the global mapping of biodiversity and its macroecological dependencies on the climate and other abiotic factors (Geodiversity), including migration and globalization. His Biodiversity Distribution Map has been published in numerous textbooks and has been the foundation for many postgraduate studies. In the framework of the BMBF-BIOTA-AFRICA project, which was led by him, the biodiversity patterns in Africa as a model continent were analyzed and potential impacts of climate change are investigated.

Bionics, biomimetics, and biological interfaces

Wilhelm Barthlott was the first botanist using high resolution scanning electron microscopy systematically in the research of biological surfaces since 1970. Most prominent among his results was the discovery of the self-cleaning effect of

superhydrophobic Ultrahydrophobic (or superhydrophobic) surfaces are highly hydrophobic, i.e., extremely difficult to wet. The contact angles of a water droplet on an ultrahydrophobic material exceed 150°. This is also referred to as the lotus effect, after the ...

micro- and nanostructured surfaces, which were technically realized with the trademark Lotus Effect from 1998 on, and resulting products distributed worldwide. The patents and the trademark Lotus Effect are owned by the company Sto-AG. Today about 2000 publications per year are based on his discovery, while the physics behind self-cleaning surfaces is still not completely understood. Currently, the research on biological interfaces and bionics is Barthlott's central area of interest. Ongoing research areas include air-retaining surfaces on the model of the floating fern Salvinia, which is based on a complex physical principle (

). Technical application of this effect is conceivable in shipping: By means of a reduction in frictional resistance ("passive air lubrication"), a 10% decrease in fuel consumption could potentially be achieved. Another application is the oil-water-separation by adsorption and transportation of oil on air retaining surfaces. File:Biodiversity Global Plant Species.png, The first detailed world map of biodiversity of plants (first publisherd in Barthlott et al. 1996), shows the global distribution of plants File:Barthlottia madagascariensis (Scrophulariaceae) at type locality SE Madagascar - Foto Charles Rakotavao (Tropicos®), W. Barthlott, Lotus.Salvinia.de.jpg, '' Barthlottia madagascariensis'', a large shrub from the foxglove family in Madagascar discovered in 1996 File:Salvinia molesta © W. Barthlott, Lotus-Salvinia.de.jpg, The complex hairy surface of the Floating Fern Salvinia, related to the Lotus Effect, led Barthlott in 1994 to the discovery of the physically complex

. It can be technically applied for passive air lubrication in ship hull or for oil-water-separation File:Lotus-Effekt (Honey spoon 3) © W. Barthlott, Lotus-Salvinia.de.jpg, This honey-spoon was at the Bonn University in 1994 the first technical product to demonstrate the self cleaning effect of superhydrophobic surfaces after the discovery of the Lotus-Effect in 1977

Honors and awards

* 1990 Member of the Academy of Science and Literature in Mainz * 1991 "Foreign Member" of the

Linnean Society of London The Linnean Society of London is a learned society dedicated to the study and dissemination of information concerning natural history, evolution, and taxonomy. It possesses several important biological specimen, manuscript and literature colle ...

. * 1997 Member of the Academy of Science of North Rhine-Westphalia Düsseldorf * 1997 Karl-Heinz-Beckurts Award * 1998 Nomination for the German Future Innovation Award (Deutscher Zukunftspreis des Bundespräsidenten) * 1998 Order of Andrès Bello of President Rafael Caldera of the Republic of Venezuela * 1999 Member of the German National Academy of Sciences, Leopoldina * 1999 Philip Morris Award * 1999

German Environmental Prize The German Environmental Prize (german: Deutscher Umweltpreis) is a government-sponsored award for protecting the environment. Worth €500,000, it is one of the most valuable environmental awards in Europe. The sponsor German Federal Environment ...

(Deutscher Umweltpreis) * 2001 Treviranus Medal of the Association of German Biologists (Verband Deutscher Biologen) * 2001 GlobArt Award (Austria) * 2002 Cactus d'Or (Monaco) * 2004 Scientist in Residence of the University Duisburg-Essen * 2005 Innovation Award of the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research * 2006 Award of the university competition "Ingenious Inventors" (Hochschulwettbewerb Patente Erfinder) of North Rhine-Westphalia * 2007 Maecenas medal of the University of Bonn * 2010 – 2014 Director of the Board of the International Society of Bionic Engineering (ISBE), Beijing (China)

Publications

Barthlott's publications comprise more than 470 titles, including books and articles. A complete directory can be found a
Wilhelm Barthlott Google Scholar Citations

Selected works

* *Barthlott, W. (2020): Plants and nature in Bible and Quran - how respect for nature connects us. - pp. 233–244 in Proceed. Conf. "Science and Actions for Species Protection: Noah's Arks for the 21st Century, May 2019, Eds. J.von Braun et al.. – The Pontifical Academy of Sciences PAS, Vatican City * * * * * * * * *Barthlott, W. et al. (2016): Pflanzen der Heiligen Bücher Bibel und Koran - النباتات في الكتب السماوية: الإنجيل و القرآن. BfN Skripten No. 448, 106 S. * *Barthlott, W. et al. (2015): Biogeography and Biodiversity of Cacti. - Schumannia 7, pp. 1–205, ISSN 1437-2517 *Barthlott, W. et al. (2014): Orchid seed diversity: A scanning electron microscopy survey. – Englera 32, pp. 1–244. * * * * *Barthlott, W. et al. (2007): The curious world of carnivorous plants. 244 pp., Timber Press * *Barthlott, W. et al. (2005): Global centres of vascular plant diversity. Nova Acta Leopoldina 92 (342): 61-83 * * * * * * * *Burr, B. et al. (1995): Untersuchungen zur Ultraviolettreflexion von Angiospermenblüten. III. Dilleniidae und Asteridae. 186 pp , Akad. Wiss. Lit. Mainz. F. Steiner Verlag, Stuttgart. * *Barthlott, W. & E. Wollenweber (1981): Zur Feinstruktur, Chemie und taxonomischen Signifikanz epicuticularer Wachse und ähnlicher Sekrete. 67 S., Akad. Wiss. Lit. Mainz. F. Steiner Verlag, Stuttgart. *Barthlott, W. (1979): Cacti. 249 S., Stanley Thornes Publishers, London. *Barthlott, W. & N. Ehler (1977): Raster-Elektronenmikroskopie der Epidermis-Oberflächen von Spermatophyten. 105 pp ., Akad. Wiss. Lit. Mainz. F. Steiner Verlag, Stuttgart.

References

External links

im Katalog der Deutschen Nationalbibliothek
Autoreintrag
un
Liste der beschriebenen Pflanzennamen
für Wilhelm Barthlott beim IPNI
Google Scholar Citations Wilhelm Barthlott

ResearchGate Wilhelm Barthlott

"Prof.Dr. Wilhelm Barthlott: 99 seconds for the future of biodiversity""Der Lotus-Effekt"
by Philip Morris Stiftung 1998 *
Lufthaltende Schiffsbeschichtungen nach biologischem Vorbild zur Reibungsreduktion"
Fraunhofer UMSICHT
Nees-Institut für Biodiversität der Rheinischen Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn

Botanische Gärten der Rheinischen Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn (http://www.botgart.uni-bonn.de)

BMBF-BIOTA AFRIKA-Projekt (http://www.biota-africa.org)

BION Bonn (http://www.bion-bonn.org/de)

* Bundesamt für Naturschut

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barthlott, Wilhelm 1946 births 20th-century German botanists Living people Members of the German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina 21st-century German botanists University of Bonn faculty