Personal

I am an ecological modeller and theoretical ecologist particularly interested in the evolution of ecological interactions and how plastic behaviour of individuals affects populations, communities and ecosystem resilience. Besides statistical and top-down approaches, I develop and analyze individual-based models to investigate the bottom-up mechanisms that define the structure and dynamics of ecological systems.

Research interests

• Fundamentals of individual-based ecology and modelling

• Influence of diversity and plasticity, in particular physiological properties, on the dynamics and resilience of ecological systems

  • Forests, trees, shrubs under climate change / drought stress

  • Plasmid communities and antibiotic resistance

• Interaction of water utilisation, water storage and growth in trees

• Reforestation for the development of multifunctional forests

• Eco-evolutionary dynamics of networks of root-grown trees

• Enzyme kinetics for deadwood decomposition by fungi