Pathogens and droughts lead to increasingly thinned forests worldwide, shaping regeneration conditions. In Leipzig (Germany), we investigated the curr…

This research highlights the significance of elucidating the mechanisms behind above-and below-ground organs. The varying trait coordination across clades indicates different resource acquisition str...

Leaf diversity arises from differences among species, but also from differences within species and even within the same crown. In a recent study, we show how intraspecific and intraindividual trait va...

In forests, trait expression is influenced by tree-tree interactions. Castro Sánchez-Bermejo et al. show how phenotypic variability of tree species decreases with tree diversity and contributes import...

Climate change is putting forests at risk. Our research shows that a tree's water-use strategy largely determines its growth across years: whereas one strategy performs better in normal years, the ot....

Humans are driving biodiversity change, which also alters community functional traits. However, how changes in the functional traits of the community alter ecosystem functions—especially belowground...

Using tree mortality to support oak regeneration

Die Aufnahme in die 1652 gegründete Gelehrtengesellschaft gilt als hohe wissenschaftliche Anerkennung.

2024 HARPER PRIZE SHORTLIST: For the next two weeks, we are featuring the articles shortlisted for the 2024 Harper Prize. The Harper Prize is an annual award for the best early career research pape…

2024 HARPER PRIZE SHORTLIST: For the next two weeks, we are featuring the articles shortlisted for the 2024 Harper Prize. The Harper Prize is an annual award for the best early career research pape…

2024 HARPER PRIZE SHORTLIST: For the next two weeks, we are featuring the articles shortlisted for the 2024 Harper Prize. The Harper Prize is an annual award for the best early career research pape…

Pedunculate Oak (Quercus robur L.), a keystone species in European temperate floodplain forests, faces regeneration challenges due to dense canopies c…

Making use of 6 years of microclimate measurements in a large-scale tree diversity experiment covering a species richness gradient ranging from 1 to 24 tree species, we demonstrate that tree species ....

Making use of 6 years of microclimate measurements in a large-scale tree diversity experiment covering a species richness gradient ranging from 1 to 24 tree species, we demonstrate that tree species ...

The Harper Prize is awarded annually by the British Ecological Society for the best paper in Journal of Ecology by an early career author. We are pleased to present th…

The increased positive impact of plant diversity on ecosystem functioning is often attributed to the accumulation of mutualists and dilution of antagonists in diverse plant communities. While increa...

We examined the potential of mixed-species planted forests compared to monospecific forests to act as a nature-based solution to climate change mitigation through carbon sequestration. By analysing m....

Soil fungi are critical for plants and ecosystems but are also affected by the vegetation itself. Here, we show how an experimental gradient of plant species richness and community fine root traits d...

Phenotypic variability within tree species responds to local tree species richness. However, we lack