Jan-Peter Frahm (14 February 1945 – 5 February 2014) was a German botanist dedicated to the study of mosses.
Career Frahm studied biology and geography at the University of Hamburg before switching to the University of Kiel for his undergraduate degree. He returned to Kiel and earned his Ph.D. in botany in 1972.Tropical Bryology 31: i-iii, 2010. A tribute to Jan-Peter Frahm, or the inexhaustible ways of what to do with bryophytes. He then worked at the University of Duisburg, where he was appointed professor in 1981. Between 1978 and 1994 he issued a number of exsiccatae, among them Bryophyta Vogesiaca exsiccata (1985–1988) and Campylopodes exsiccatae (1980–1992).Triebel, D. & Scholz, P. 2001–2026 IndExs – Index of Exsiccatae. Botanische Staatssammlung München: http://indexs.botanischestaatssammlung.de. München, Germany. Research stays at foreign institutes (eg. Helsinki, Paris, Stockholm, Chicago) and a visiting professorship at the University of Alberta in 1989 followed. He moved from Duisburg to the University of Bonn in 1994.Isabelle Franzen-Reuter: Zum Tod von Prof. Dr. Jan-Peter Frahm. In: Gefahrstoffe – Reinhaltung der Luft. Bd. 74, Nr. 4, 2014, S. 118, .
He was honored in 1995 with the Richard Spruce Award by the International Association of Bryologists for excellence in bryology. He was also awarded by the University of Helsinki. In recognition of his achievements, new species such as Sphagnum frahmii, Porotrichum frahmii, Cololejeunea frahmii, Pylaisiella frahmii and Porothamnium frahmii were named after him. The genus Frahmiella in the family Brachytheciaceae also bears his name. In 2014, he became the namesake of the bryological online journal Frahmia.Frahmia - A Bryological Online Journal.
Frahm conducted research on numerous topics of bryology and published more than 650 publications. Within his moss research, he was concerned with bioindication. Frahm noted that the improved air quality in cities has led to an increased number of lichen species colonizing urban areas. He also demonstrated that the release of ammonia by auto-catalysts causes nitrogen-loving lichens and mosses and nitrogen-emitting plants to settle along roads.Moose reduzieren die Feinstaubbelastung. Pressemitteilung der Universität Bonn, Informationsdienst Wissenschaft, 2. August 2007.
Frahm was also passionate about cooking. He published his own cook book, 10000 Kochideen, in 2007.
Journalistic activity Frahm was the publisher of the following journals: Archive For Bryology, an internet magazine Bryologische Rundbriefe, an electronic newsletter with information on moss research in Germany Limprichtia, a magazine for moss research in Germany Tropical Bryology, an international non-profit journal on the biology of tropical mosses; now under the title Bryophyte Diversity and Evolution
Selected publications
Frahm, Jan-Peter; Gradstein, S. Robbert (1990). Ecology of tropical bryophytes: a bibliography. Tropical Bryology 3: 75–77. Frahm, Jan-Peter; Gradstein, S. Robbert (1991). An altitudinal zonation of the tropical rain forest using bryophytes. Journal of Biogeography 18: 669–678.
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