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Research & Projects
In the research group Ecological Plant Geography, plants are studied from the level of the individual (ecophysiology, functional ecology) up to the ecosystem (plant interactions, spatial ecology). In particular we study how spatial distribution patterns of plant functional groups, at various spatial scales, can be explained and predicted based on the plants’ physiological, physiognomical and ecological properties and possibilities.
Central questions are:
- Where and why do plants reach their limits?
- How do distributional limits shift when conditions (e.g. climate) change?
- What role do plant-plant interactions play in the dynamics of distributional limits and plant communities?
Systems of our special interest are plants in the alpine zone, including the alpine treeline, epiphytic plants and bryophytes (mosses and liverworts), especially in the tropics.
Themes
- Climate-change effects on tropical bryophytes (1 finished and 2 current projects, Elodie Moureau, Nada Nikolic)
- Elevational gradients in bryophyte diversity and functional composition (1 current project, Eyvar Rodríguez)
- Life on a leaf: community dynamics of epiphylls (1 current project, Dr. Anna Mezaka)
- Islands in the sky: island biogeography of epiphytes as spider habitats (1 current project, Dr. Francisco Mendez)
- Climate and plant-trait effects on plant productivity and litter decomposition (1 current project, Rafaella Canessa)
- Bryophyte functional trait relationships (1 finished project, Dr. Wang Zhe)
- Ecological roles of epiphytes in cloud-forest ecosystems (1 finished project, Dr. Diana Gómez)
- Ecology and ecophysiology of alpine treelines (1 finished project, Dr. Hannah Loranger)
- Interactions among alpine plants (1 finished project, Dr. Carolina García)