Young Research Group
Causes and Consequences of Biodiversity Change
Human activities, including land use intensification, nitrogen enrichment and climate change are dramatically altering the Earth’s ecosystems. We are investigating (i) how these drivers influence the assembly and reassembly of ecological communities and (ii) the impact of these changes upon the ecosystem functions and services that people depend upon for their well-being.
The focus of this research is on plant communities, but other taxa (mainly microorganisms and invertebrates) are also studied. Our research is conducted in a wide range of ecosystem types, though with an emphasis on temperate grasslands and forests.
Much of our work is based upon the synthesis of data from large ecological projects including The Biodiversity Exploratories, whose administrative office is also located at Senckenberg.
