Plant Ecology and Global Change
In the Plant Ecology and Global Change group, we are interested in how ecological communities respond to global change drivers. We seek to understand how intra- and interspecific diversity separately or interactively shape plant community stability and functioning in changing and deteriorating environments. Using experiments in the field, in the glasshouse, and in the lab with both aquatic and terrestrial plants, we assess how biodiversity relates to the future of plant populations under global change. To do so, we're using an interdisciplinary approach in which we blend plant community ecology and population ecology with ecological genomics and remote sensing tools.
Are you interested in doing a Bachelor thesis project, a Master thesis project or a research internship with Sofia? Just reach out!
Links
Group leader
Group members
Domitille Coq--Etchegaray (Postdoc)
Ting Tang (Postdoc)
Toja Guerra (Research assistant)
Vanessa Schnellmann (MSc student)
Natalie Bilen (MSc student)
Past group members
Lara Zeltner (B.Sc. student and research assistant, 2024)
Dave Kurath (M.Sc. student and research assistant, 2023 – 2024)
Jolanda Klaver (M.Sc. student, 2023)
Katia Pfister (research intern, 2022)
Sofia Vámos (MSc student, 2021–2022)
Lorena Lanthemann (BSc student, 2021)
Belongs to the organizational unit
Publications
ZORA Publication List
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Publications
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2025
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Unmute biodiversity risks of free trade? The EFTA–Mercosur Agreement (Swiss) case study. Environmental Sciences Europe, 37(1):26.
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Leaf spectroscopy reveals drought response variation in Fagus sylvatica saplings from across the species’ range. Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences, 130(2):e2024JG008404.
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2024
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High tolerance to zinc but no evidence for local adaptation in the aquatic plant Lemna minor. Nordic Journal of Botany, 2024(7):e04078.
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Covering the bases: Population genomic structure of Lemna minor and the cryptic species L. japonica in Switzerland. Ecology and Evolution, 14(6):11599.
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2023
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Functional diversity can facilitate the collapse of an undesirable ecosystem state. Ecology Letters, 26(6):883-895.
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Predicting effects of multiple interacting global change drivers across trophic levels. Global Change Biology, 29(5):1223-1238.
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2022
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The importance of ecotype diversity on duckweed growth with and without salt stress. Journal of Plant Ecology, 15(5):1065-1079.
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Species interactions in three Lemnaceae species growing along a gradient of zinc pollution. Ecology and Evolution, 12(2):e8646.
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2021
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Effects of plant community history, soil legacy and plant diversity on soil microbial communities. Journal of Ecology, 109(8):3007-3023.
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Born with a silver spoon: dandelion parents’ life experiences affect the lives and afterlives of their offspring. New Phytologist, 229(6):3044-3047.
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Wer ist der beste Hengst im Stall?. In: Tagesanzeiger, 2021, p.36.
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2020
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Plant responses to diversity‐driven selection and associated rhizosphere microbial communities. Functional Ecology, 34(3):707-722.
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Prior selection prevents the loss of an ecosystem cycle during acidification. bioRxiv 921437v1, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
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2019
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Evidence for rapid evolution in a grassland biodiversity experiment. Molecular Ecology, 28(17):4097-4117.
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2018
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Genomics meets remote sensing in global change studies: monitoring and predicting phenology, evolution and biodiversity. Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability, 29:177-186.
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Evolution increases ecosystem temporal stability and recovery from a flood in grassland communities. bioRxiv 262337, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
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2017
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Community evolution increases ecosystem functioning and stability. 2017, University of Zurich, Faculty of Science.
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Community evolution increases plant productivity at low diversity. Ecology Letters, 21(1):128-137.
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