Botany and Biodiversity Research
The scientific discipline of botany, in conjunction with the field of biodiversity, is concerned with the diversity, evolution and ecological roles of plants across a wide range of environments. Research in this area is centred on the acquisition of knowledge regarding the biodiversity of plants at various levels, ranging from genetic variation and species relationships to functional traits and ecosystem dynamics.
Approaches to the study of the subject include systematics, phylogenetics, and comparative studies, as well as ecological and biogeographical analyses. These methodologies empower researchers to investigate the origins and distribution of plant diversity and to identify the processes that drive speciation, adaptation, and community assembly.
Plants are of central importance in the functioning of ecosystems. The scientific study of these interactions, in conjunction with the responses of plants to environmental change, is a key area of research in this field. Moreover, it provides a scientific basis for the conservation and sustainable management of plant diversity in a rapidly changing world.
Supervisors
Gerald Schneeweiss
Privatdoz.
Head of the Plant Geography Working Group
Member of the Systematic and Evolutionary Biology Research Group
Research Areas
- Plant taxonomy
- Biogeography and Phylogeography
- Molecular phylogenetics
- Austrian flora
- Evolution in high mountain plants
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Norman Wickett
PhD
Head of the Plant Phylogenomics Working Group
Member of the Systematic and Evolutionary Biology Research Group
Research Areas
- Plant and fungal diversity patterns
- Ecological, evolutionary & molecular mechanisms of diversity
- Evolutionary genomics, systematics & biogeography
- Ecological genomics, epigenetics & chemodiversity
- Biodiversity conservation & integrative approaches
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Ovidiu Paun
Head of the Plant Ecological Genomics Working Group
Member of the Systematic and Evolutionary Biology Research Group
Research Areas
- Plant evolution
- Adaptive radiation
- Ecological epigenomics
- Population genomics
- Comparative genomics
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Hanna Schneeweiss
Privatdoz.
Head of the Plant Evolutionary Cytogenetics Working Group
Member of the Systematic and Evolutionary Biology Research Group
Research Areas
- Plant genome evolution
- Repeatome evolution
- Polyploidy
- Evolutionary plant cytogenetics
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Irmgard Greilhuber
Head of the Mycology Working Group
Member of the Systematic and Evolutionary Biology Research Group
Research Areas
- Mycology
- Fungal conservation
- Neomycota
- DNA barcoding
- Austrian funga
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Stefan Dullinger
Head of the Biodiversity Dynamics and Conservation Research Group
Research Areas
- Biodiversity
- Biogeography
- Global change biology
- Distribution modelling
- Mountains
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Jürg Schönenberger
Head of the Structural and Functional Botany Research Group
Research Areas
- Angiosperm evolution
- Floral evolution
- Pollination biology
- Structural Botany
- Palaeobotany
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Agnes Dellinger
PhD
Head of the Plant-Animal Interactions Working Group
Member of the Biodiversity Dynamics and Conservation Research Group
Research Areas
- Plant-animal interactions
- Buzz-pollination
- Flower evolution
- Environmental gradients
- Flower biomechanics
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Fridgeir Grimsson
Privatdoz. PhD
Senior Scientist
Member of the Biodiversity Dynamics and Conservation Research Group
Research Areas
- Palynology
- Paleobotany
- Flower-Animal Interactions
- Cenozoic
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Franz Essl
Head of the Bioinvasions, Global Change & Macroecology Research Group
Research Areas
- Invasion science
- Global change
- Plant diversity
- Macroecology
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Thomas Wrbka
Project Lead of MaGIC Landscapes Project
Member of the Biodiversity Dynamics and Conservation Research Group
Research Areas
- Sustainable management of European grasslands (land sparing & sharing)
- Biodiversity & ecosystem services in agricultural landscapes
- Incentive systems & farmer behavior
- Landscape-level governance & cooperation
- Conservation strategies across multi-scale case studies
Jacqueline Loos
Project Lead of the POWERSHIFT project
Research Areas
- Human-nature relationships
- Environmental justice
- Butterflies
- Sustainable landscapes
- Social-ecological systems
Bea Maas
Privatdoz.
Senior Scientist in the Biodiversity Dynamics and Conservation Research Group
Research Areas
- Agroecology
- Agroforestry systems
- Conservation science
- Ecosystem services
- Transdisciplinary approaches
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PhD Students
Cornelia Amon
Project: Influence of resource and consumer diversity on the quality and microbial processing of fine particulate organic matter during leaf breakdown in streams
Supervisor: Franz Essl
Jennifer Hennenfeind
Project: The interplay of biodiversity change, climate change and violent conflict
Supervisors: Franz Essl & Bernd Lenzner
ORCIDGiles Colling
Project: Alien species Accumulation Across Scales (ASAAS)
Supervisors: Franz Essl & Stefan Dullinger
ResearchGateORCID
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Google Scholar
Ekin Kaplan
Project: Temporal Changes and underlying Drivers of the Richness and Composition of Eu-rope’s Native and Non-Native Flora
Supervisor: Franz Essl
Ana Isabel Martinez Richart
Project: Landscape connectivity in forests. A multi-taxa case study on stepping stones between the Dürrenstein-Lassingtal Wilderness Area, and the Kalkalpen and Gesäuse National Parks, Austria
Supervisor: Franz Essl
Tobias Schernhammer
Project: Bridging the gap between population genetics and historic landscape ecology for large branchiopods
Supervisors: Franz Essl & Bernd Lenzner
Emma Shih Mendez
Project: Analysing vegetation changes in Europe with resurvey studies
Supervisors: Franz Essl & Stefan Dullinger
ORCIDClemens Pachschwöll
Project: Detecting ‘invaders in disguise’ DNA barcoding of invasive plant species in Austria
Supervisors: Franz Essl & Gerald Schneeweiss
César Augusto Arvelos
Project: Floral trait functioning and buzz-bee-niche partitioning in Melastomataceae
Supervisor: Agnes Dellinger
Benjamin Seth Lazarus
Project: Investigating plant-pollinator interaction in Melastomataceae, the most morphologically diverse buzz-pollinated family
Supervisor: Agnes Dellinger
Johan Esteban Urrea Cardenas
Project: Trait evolution patterns in Pyxidantheae (Melastomataceae): Pollination and fruit dispersal as sources of diversity
Supervisor: Agnes Dellinger
Andrea Errante
Project: Floral Longevity and Reproductive Assurance in Melastomataceae - A Phylogenetic Analysis of Reproductive Strategy Evolution
Supervisor: Agnes Dellinger
ResearchGateORCID
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Moritz Julian Fallgatter
Project: Global trends in alpine plant species composition under climate change
Supervisor: Stefan Dullinger
Florian Danzinger
Project: A safe operating space for agricultural landscapes: integrating green infrastructure, ecological restoration and stakeholder involvement
Supervisor: Stefan Dullinger & Thomas Wrbka
ResearchGateORCID
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Google Scholar
Johannes Hausharter
Project: The role of micro-climate and micro-environment for population dynamics of alpine plants
Supervisor: Stefan Dullinger
Norbert Helm
Project: Linking the micro- with the macroscale in alpine plant ecology
Supervisor: Stefan Dullinger
Elias Nikolas Kapitany
Project: Semi-natural grasslands in Europe: Regional conservation value, recent development trends and drivers
Supervisor: Stefan Dullinger
Rym Stefanie Nouioua
Project: Birds, bats and related ecosystem services in a European land use context
Supervisor: Stefan Dullinger & Bea Maas
ResearchGateORCID
u:cris URL
Google Scholar
Sonia Rashid
Project: Modelling climate-driven range changes of European butterflies and their host plants - do transient dynamics matter?
Supervisor: Stefan Dullinger
Parvin Safiyan Böldaji
Project: Habitat suitability of the Asiatic cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus venaticus) and its primary prey species in north-eastern Iran
Supervisor: Stefan Dullinger
Rosemarie Benthen
Project: Evolution of the karyotypes and genomes of peppers (genus Capsicum, Solanaceae)
Supervisor: Hanna Schneeweiss
Vildana Kapetanovic
Project: Diversity and evolution of chili peppers, the genus Capsicum (Solanaceae)
Supervisor: Hanna Schneeweiss
Florian Lukas Brück
Project: The epigenetic dimension of effects of climate change on high-alpine plants
Supervisor: Ovidiu Paun
ResearchGateORCID
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Aiden Pieter J. Hendrickx
Project: Sparking explosive radiations: a comparative genomic study in subgenus Tillandsia
Supervisor: Ovidiu Paun
ResearchGateORCID
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Google Scholar
Amin Ghane
Project: The role of structural variation in adaptive radiation Persimmon trees in New Caledonia
Supervisor: Ovidiu Paun
Teerna Saugata Khastgir
Project: The drivers of the adaptive radiation of persimmons on New Caledonia, a biodiversity hotspot
Supervisor: Ovidiu Paun
Thomas Dean Buchloh
Project: Why are polyploids so abundant? Exploring non-selective hypotheses to explain polyploid formation and persistence.
Supervisor: Norman Wickett
Francesca Beclin
Project: The evolutionary history of an aberrant chromosome of the genus Aquilegia
Supervisor: Magnus Nordborg (ÖAW)
Lukas Dirr
Project: The Application of Citizen-Science and Crowd-Sourced Data in the Field of Aerobiology
Supervisor: Grimsson Fridgeir
Anna-Sophie Hawranek
Project: Floral development, floral diversity, and pollination biology in the genus Aquilegia
Supervisor: Jürg Schönenberger & Chartier Marion
ResearchGateu:cris URL
Google Scholar
Maria Lindhuber
Project: Plant-pollinator interactions along stepping stone corridors in urban ecosystems
Supervisor: Jürg Schönenberger
Xieting Wu
Project: Mesofossil flowers from the Late Cretaceous flora of Southern Bohemia
Supervisors: Jürg Schönenberger & Maria von Balthazar
Stefan Jerson
Project: Macromycetes in Burgenland – Biodiversity, Threats and Conservation Potential with Special Consideration of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
Supervisors: Irmgard Greilhuber & Norman Wickett
Jonas Dennis Larsson
Project: Evolution in high mountain systems (Phyteuma, Campanulaceae)
Supervisor: Gerald Schneeweiss
Clemens Pachschwöll
Project: Detecting ‘invaders in disguise’ DNA barcoding of invasive plant species in Austria
Supervisors: Gerald Schneeweiss & Franz Essl
Iris Sophie Schlick-Steiner
Project: Demographic response of alpine biota to climate change
Supervisor: Gerald Schneeweiss
Anna-Lena Mieke
Project: Reshaping Power Moments in Conservation Initiatives through Reflexive Practice: Mechanisms and Durability in Conservation Conflict Governance
Supervisor: Jacqueline Loos
ResearchGateORCID
u:cris URL