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Ecological Plant Geography

Alpine treeline near the Lautaret pass, French Alps
Foto: Maaike Bader

Research

The research group Ecological Plant Geography studies the ecology of plants from the level of the individual (Ecophysiology, funtional Ecology) to the ecosystem (community ecology, spatial ecology). We are particularly interested in studying how spatial distribution patterns of functional plant groups, e.g. epiphytes, trees, or poikilohydric plants like bryophytes, can be explained and predicted based on their physiological, physoignomical, and ecological characteristics and on biotic interactions.

Central questions include:

  • Where and why do plant groups reach their distributional limits?
  • How do such limit change when conditions, e.g. the climate, changes?
  • What role do plant-plant interactions play in determining the dynamics of plant distributional boundaries? 

Our favorite study systems are located in mountains and in the tropics and include the alpine treeline, epiphytic plants and bryophytes (mosses and liverworts).

Themes

See also