Lange taught general botany, forest botany, forest genetics, plant systematics, general ecology, ecophysiology, vegetation and plant sociology at the universities of Göttingen, Darmstadt and Würzburg. He carried out identification exercises for higher plants, mosses, fungi and lichens, and supervised experimental internships and excursions. He has taught as a visiting scholaratUtah State University, in Australia at Australian National University, and in China at Lanzhou University.[5] Doctoral students Lange has supervised include Ludger Kappen, Burkhard Büdel [de], Roman Türk and Volkmar Wirth [de]. Lichenologists Thomas Nash and Allan Green have spent considerable time in his laboratory as guest researchers.[6]
During Lange's 25 years at the University of Wurzburg he alternated long periods in the field with work analysing results back at the lab and writing scientific papers.[2]
The aim of his ecological-botanical research was to quantitatively record the behavior and reactions of wild and cultivated plants, as well as of lichens in their outdoor locations in the interplay with their environment.[7] Possibility of existence, distribution and productivity as a result of their morphological properties and their physiological functions were analyzed and causally interpreted. The water balance and photosynthetic carbon gain were a focus of interest. A constant change between measurements and experiments in the field and working under controlled conditions in the laboratory, for example in climatic chambers, was characteristic of such ecophysiological investigations. His research focused on plants and lichens in extreme growth areas from the Antarctic to the tropical rainforestinPanama. His investigations were both basic research and applied aspectd, such as irrigation cultures in desert areas (e.g. in the Negev desert in Israel), work on forest damage caused by air pollutants, or the analysis of "biological soil crusts" as protection against erosion in arid areas. As exact ecophysiological metabolic measurements on plants under field conditions require a specially designed measurement method, Lange set up mobile field laboratories to continuously record photosynthesis and transpiration in plants. In cooperation with specialist companies (in particular, Heinz Walz GmbH), Lange developed special instruments, for example, air-conditioned cuvettes, and "porometers" to determine gas exchange and diffusion resistance of plants and lichens.[3]
1976–1981: "Board of Trustees of the Academy for Nature Conservation and Landscape Management", Munich / Laufen
1981–1988: Founder and spokesman of the Würzburg DFG research group "Ecophysiology"
1982–1989: Founding member and advisory board member of the “Bavarian Forest Toxicology Research Group” of the Bavarian State Ministry for Education and Culture
1987–1990: Chairman of the "Arid Ecosystems Research Center" of the Hebrew University Jerusalem (Israel)
1989–1991: Speaker of the DFG Collaborative Research Center 251 at the University of Würzburg "Ecology, Physiology and Biochemistry of Plant Performance under Stress"
Ecological Studies Volume 100 was dedicated to Otto Lange’s retirement, while special volumes in lichenological journals also celebrated his 70th and 80th birthdays.[4]
The lichen species Peltula langeiBüdel & Elix (1997), Hubbsia langeiFollmann (1997) and Jackelixia ottolangeiS.Y.Kondr., V.Wirth & Kärnefelt (2010), as well as the genus LangeottiaS.Y.Kondr., Kärnefelt, Elix, A.Thell & Hur (2014)[13] were named after Otto Ludwig Lange.[4]
Lange has published about 400 scientific articles, roughly half of which dealt with lichens.[6] About 170 of these were published after his retirement in 1992.[2] A complete list of his scientific works can be found in Büdel's publication that celebrates his 80th birthday.[5] Some of his major works include the following:
Lange, Otto Ludwig (1953). "Hitze- und Trockenresistenz der Flechten in Beziehung zu ihrer Verbreitung" [Lichen resistance to heat and drought in relation to its distribution]. Flora oder Allgemeine Botanische Zeitung. 140 (1): 39–97. doi:10.1016/S0367-1615(17)31917-1.
Lange, Otto Ludwig; Schulze, Ernst-Detlef; Koch, Werner (1970). "Experimentell-ökologische Untersuchungen an Flechten der Negev-Wüste. II. CO2-Gaswechsel und Wasserhaushalt von Ramalina maciformis (Del.) Bory am natürlichen Standort während der sommerlichen Trockenperiode" [Experimental ecological studies on lichens in the Negev desert: II. CO2 gas exchange and water balance of Ramalina maciformis (Del.) Bory in its natural location during the summer dry period]. Flora (in German). 159 (1–2): 38–62. doi:10.1016/S0367-2530(17)31005-8.
Schulze, Ernst-Detlef; Lange, Otto Ludwig (1990).『Die Wirkungen von Luftverunreinigungen auf Waldökosysteme』[The effects of air pollution on forest ecosystems]. Chemie in unserer Zeit. 24 (3): 117–130. doi:10.1002/ciuz.19900240306.
Lange, Otto L. (2003). "Photosynthetic productivity of the epilithic lichen Lecanora muralis: long-term field monitoring of CO2 exchange and its physiological interpretation". Flora - Morphology, Distribution, Functional Ecology of Plants. 198 (4): 277–292. doi:10.1078/0367-2530-00100.
^ abcKärnefelt, Ingvar (2009). "Fifty influential lichenologists". In Thell, Arne; Seaward, Mark R. D.; Feuerer, Tassilo (eds.). Diversity of Lichenology – Anniversary Volume. Bibliotheca Lichenologica. Vol. 100. Stuttgart: J. Kramer. pp. 283–368 (see pp. 314–315). ISBN978-3-443-58079-7.
^ abcdefghiSchulze, Ernst-Detlef (2018). "In Memoriam: Otto Ludwig Lange (1927–2017)". In Glibert, Patricia M.; Burford, Michele A.; Zhou, Mingjiang; Berdalet, Elisa; Pitcher, Grant C. (eds.). Global Ecology and Oceanography of Harmful Algal Blooms. Springer. pp. v–vii. ISBN978-3-319-70069-4.
^ abcdBüdel, Burkhard (2007). "Otto Ludwig Lange – 80 years: Eco-physiology – the key to understanding the function and distribution patterns of plants and lichens". Flora - Morphology, Distribution, Functional Ecology of Plants. 202 (8): 590–607. doi:10.1016/j.flora.2007.04.004.
