Experimental Plant Ecology

Our research focuses on the response of ecosystems to Global Change by experiments across spatial scales (laboratory trials in controlled climate chambers, experiments in plant pots, mesocosms, field scale manipulations, along gradients, as well as field observations), mainly in the following fields:

• Winter ecology (and climatic change in winter).
• The ecological importance of extreme weather events and interacting climate drivers.
• The role of plant diversity for ecosystem functioning, with diversity ranging from genetic diversity to species- and functional diversity and spatial diversity on the landscape level.
• The balance of production and decomposition of plant biomass, mainly belowground and on organic soils.
• Aquatic ecology and ecology of coastal heathlands (Biological Station of Hiddensee)