Ecosystem Functioning and Global Change

Research in the Grassland Sciences group focuses on the process- and system-oriented understanding of functional plant diversity and of ecosystem biogeochemistry, in particular biospheric-atmospheric greenhouse gas exchange, both in response to human and biophysical drivers, across spatial and temporal scales.

Based on a multidisciplinary approach, we use classical ecological methods and further develop innovative tools, such as stable isotope analyses and micrometeorological measurements, in our observational and experimental studies.

• Using PhenoCams to track crop phenology and explain the effects of different cropping systems on yield
  Liu, Yujie; Bachofen, Christoph; Wittwer, Raphael; Duarte, Gicele Silva; Sun, Qing; et al.
  Agricultural Systems 10.1016/j.agsy.2021.103306  JAN 2022
• ForestTemp - Sub-canopy microclimate temperatures of European forests
  Haesen, Stef; Lembrechts, Jonas J.; De Frenne, Pieter; Lenoir, Jonathan; Aalto, Juha; et al.
  Global Change Biology  10.1111/gcb.15892  DEC 2021
• Effect of nitrogen deposition on centennial forest water-use efficiency
  Gharun, Mana; Klesse, Stefan; Tomlinson, Gregory; Waldner, Peter; Stocker, Benjamin; et al.
  Environmental Research Letters  10.1088/1748-9326/ac30f9  NOV 2021
• TreeNet – The Biological Drought and Growth Indicator Network
  Zweifel, R; Etzold, S; Basler, D; Bischoff, R; Braun, S; Buchmann, N; Conedera, M; Fonti, P; Gessler, A; Haeni, M; Hoch, G; Kahmen, A; Kochli, R; Maeder, M; Nievergelt, D; Peter, M; Peters, RL; Schaub, M; Trotsiuk, V; Walthert, L; Wilhelm, M; Eugster, W
  Frontiers In Forests And Global Change  10.3389/ffgc.2021.776905  NOV 4 2021
• A high-temperature water vapor equilibration method to determine non-exchangeable hydrogen isotope ratios of sugar, starch and cellulose
  Schuler, Philipp; Cormier, Marc-Andre; Werner, Roland A.; Buchmann, Nina; Gessler, Arthur; et al.
  Plant Cell And Environment 10.1111/pce.14193  SEP 2021
• The three major axes of terrestrial ecosystem function
  Migliavacca, Mirco; Musavi, Talie; Mahecha, Miguel D.; Nelson, Jacob A.; Knauer, Juergen; et al.
  Nature  10.1038/s41586-021-03939-9  OCT 21 2021
• The costs of diversity: higher prices for more diverse grassland seed mixtures
  Schaub, Sergei; Finger, Robert; Buchmann, Nina; Steiner, Vera; Klaus, Valentin H.
  Environmental Research Letters  10.1088/1748-9326/ac1a9c  SEP 2021
• Relative importance of climatic variables, soil properties and plant traits to spatial variability in net CO2 exchange across global forests and grasslands
  Zhou, Huimin; Shao, Junjiong; Liu, Huiying; Du, Zhenggang; Zhou, Lingyan; et al.
  Agricultural And Forest Meteorology 10.1016/j.agrformet.2021.108506  SEP 15 2021
• Interactive effects of tree species mixture and climate on foliar and woody trait variation in a widely distributed deciduous tree
  Didion-Gency, Margaux; Bachofen, Christoph; Buchmann, Nina; Gessler, Arthur; Morin, Xavier; et al.
  Functional Ecology 10.1111/1365-2435.13898  NOV 2021
• Improvement of modeling plant responses to low soil moisture in JULESvn4.9 and evaluation against flux tower measurements
  Harper, Anna B.; Williams, Karina E.; McGuire, Patrick C.; Rojas, Maria Carolina Duran; Hemming, Debbie; et al.
  Number of growth days and not length of the growth period determines radial stem growth of temperate trees
  Etzold, Sophia; Sterck, Frank; Bose, Arun K.; Braun, Sabine; Buchmann, Nina; Eugster, Werner; Gessler, Arthur; Kahmen, Ansgar; Peters, Richard L.; Vitasse, Yann; Walthert, Lorenz
  Ecology Letters  10.1111/ele.13933  DEC 2021Geoscientific Model Development 10.5194/gmd-14-3269-2021 JUN 3 2021
• Improved global estimations of gross primary productivity of natural vegetation types by incorporating plant functional type
  Lin, Shangrong; Li, Jing; Liu, Qinhuo; Gioli, Beniamino; Paul-Limoges, Eugenie; et al.
  International Journal Of Applied Earth Observation And Geoinformation 10.1016/j.jag.2021.102328  AUG 2021
• Tree growth in Switzerland is increasingly constrained by rising evaporative demand
  Trotsiuk, Volodymyr; Babst, Flurin; Grossiord, Charlotte; Gessler, Arthur; Forrester, David I.; Buchmann, Nina; Schaub, Marcus; Eugster, Werner
  Journal Of Ecology 10.1111/1365-2745.13712 AUG 2021
• Why trees grow at night
  Zweifel, Roman; Sterck, Frank; Braun, Sabine; Buchmann, Nina; Eugster, Werner; et al.
  New Phytologist 10.1111/nph.17552  SEP 2021Journal Of Ecology 10.1111/1365-2745.13712 AUG 2021
• FLUXNET-CH4: a global, multi-ecosystem dataset and analysis of methane seasonality from freshwater wetlands
  Delwiche, Kyle B.; Knox, Sara Helen; Malhotra, Avni; Fluet-Chouinard, Etienne; McNicol, Gavin; et al.
  Earth System Science Data 10.5194/essd-13-3607-2021  JUL 29 2021
• The role of dew and radiation fog inputs in the local water cycling of a temperate grassland during dry spells in central Europe
  Li, Yafei; Aemisegger, Franziska; Riedl, Andreas; Buchmann, Nina; Eugster, Werner
  Hydrology And Earth System Sciences 10.5194/hess-25-2617-2021  MAY 19 2021
• Reply to: "Results from a biodiversity experiment fail to represent economic performance of semi-natural grasslands"
  Schaub, Sergei; Finger, Robert; Leiber, Florian; Probst, Stefan; Kreuzer, Michael; et al.
  Nature Communications 10.1038/s41467-021-22310-0  APR 9 2021
• Cropping systems alter hydraulic traits of barley but not pea grown in mixture
  Sun, Qing; Gilgen, Anna K.; Signarbieux, Constant; Klaus, Valentin H.; Buchmann, Nina
  Plant Cell And Environment  10.1111/pce.14054  Early Access: APR 2021
• The effect of temperature changes and K supply on the reproduction and growth of Bolboschoenus planiculmis
  Liu, Ying; Bachofen, Christoph; Lou, Yanjing; Ding, Zhi; Jiang, Ming; et al.
  Journal Of Plant Ecology 10.1093/jpe/rtaa091 Published: APR 2021
• Are there memory effects on greenhouse gas emissions (CO2, N2O and CH4) following grassland restoration?
  Merbold, Lutz; Decock, Charlotte; Eugster, Werner; Fuchs, Kathrin; Wolf, Benjamin; et al.
  Biogeosciences, 10.5194/bg-18-1481-2021   MAR 2 2021
• Evaluating long-term success in grassland restoration: an ecosystem multifunctionality approach
  Resch, Monika Carol; Schutz, Martin; Buchmann, Nina; Frey, Beat; Graf, Ulrich; et al.
  Ecological Applications, 10.1002/eap.2271   APR 2021
• Biodiversity facets affect community surface temperature via 3D canopy structure in grassland communities
  Guimaraes-Steinicke, Claudia; Weigelt, Alexandra; Proulx, Raphael; Lanners, Thomas; Eisenhauer, Nico; et al.
  Journal Of Ecology, 10.1111/1365-2745.13631   MAR 2021
• …

• Evaluating the Potential of Legumes to Mitigate N2O Emissions From Permanent Grassland Using Process-Based Models
• Fuchs, Kathrin; Merbold, Lutz; Buchmann, Nina; Bellocchi, Gianni; Bindi, Marco; et al.
  Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 10.1029/2020GB006561    DEC 2020
• Rethinking temperature effects on leaf growth, gene expression and metabolism: Diel variation matters
  Kronenberg, Lukas; Yates, Steven; Ghiasi, Shiva; Roth, Lukas; Friedli, Michael; Ruckle, Michael E; Werner, Roland A; Tschurr, Flavian; Binggeli, Melanie; Buchmann, Nina; Studer, Bruno; Walter, Achim
  Plant Cell And Environment   DOI: 10.1111/pce.13958 DEC 2020
• Plant traits alone are poor predictors of ecosystem properties and long-term ecosystem functioning
  van der Plas, Fons; Schroeder-Georgi, Thomas; Weigelt, Alexandra; Barry, Kathryn; Meyer, Sebastian; et al.
  Nature Ecology & Evolution  DOI: 10.1038/s41559-020-01316-9  DEC 2020
• COSORE: A community database for continuous soil respiration and other soil-atmosphere greenhouse gas flux data
  Bond-Lamberty, Ben; Christianson, Danielle S.; Malhotra, Avni; Pennington, Stephanie C.; Sihi, Debjani; et al.
  Global Change Biology   DOI: 10.1111/gcb.15353  DEC 2020
• The results of biodiversity-ecosystem functioning experiments are realistic
  Jochum, Malte; Fischer, Markus; Isbell, Forest; Roscher, Christiane; van der Plas, Fons; Boch, Steffen; Boenisch, Gerhard; Buchmann, Nina; Catford, Jane A; Cavender-Bares, Jeannine; Ebeling, Anne; Eisenhauer, Nico; Gleixner, Gerd; Hoelzel, Norbert; Kattge, Jens; Klaus, Valentin H.; Kleinebecker, Till; Lange, Markus; Le Provost, Gaetane; Meyer, Sebastian T.; Molina-Venegas, Rafael; Mommer, Liesje; Oelmann, Yvonne; Penone, Caterina; Prati, Daniel; Reich, Peter B.; Rindisbacher, Abiel; Schaefer, Deborah; Scheu, Stefan; Schmid, Bernhard; Tilman, David; Tscharntke, Teja; Vogel, Anja; Wagg, Cameron; Weigelt, Alexandra; Weisser, Wolfgang W.; Wilcke, Wolfgang; Manning, Peter
  Nature Ecology & Evolution Nov 2020, DOI: 10.1038/s41559-020-1280-9
• SoilTemp: A global database of near-surface temperature
  Lembrechts, Jonas J; Aalto, Juha; Ashcroft, Michael B; De Frenne, Pieter; Kopecky, Martin; et al.
  Global Change Biology  DOI: 10.1111/gcb.15123  Published: NOV 2020
• Altered energy partitioning across terrestrial ecosystems in the European drought year 2018 
  Graf, Alexander; Klosterhalfen, Anne; Arriga, Nicola; Bernhofer, Christian; Bogena, Heye; et al.
  Philosophical Transactions Of The Royal Society B-biological Sciences  DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2019.0524  OCT 26 2020
• Physiological response of Swiss ecosystems to 2018 drought across plant types and elevation
  Gharun, Mana; Hoertnagl, Lukas; Paul-Limoges, Eugenie; Ghiasi, Shiva; Feigenwinter, Iris; Burri, Susanne; Marquardt, Kristiina; Etzold, Sophia; Zweifel, Roman; Eugster, Werner; Buchmann, Nina
  Philosophical Transactions Of The Royal Society B-biological Sciences   10.1098/rstb.2019.0521  OCT 26 2020
• Adaptation to drought is coupled with slow growth, but independent from phenology in marginal silver fir (Abies alba Mill.) populations
  Csillery, Katalin; Buchmann, Nina; Fady, Bruno
  Evolutionary Applications  DOI: 10.1111/eva.13029  OCT 2020
• Nitrate and ammonium differ in their impact on delta C-13 of plant metabolites and respired CO2 from tobacco leaves
  Ghiasi, Shiva; Lehmann, Marco M.; Badeck, Franz-W; Ghashghaie, Jaleh; Haensch, Robert; et al.
  Isotopes In Environmental And Health Studies   DOI: 10.1080/10256016.2020.1810683 SEP 2020
• Stomatal response to decreased relative humidity constrains the acceleration of terrestrial evapotranspiration
  Xiao, Mingzhong; Yu, Zhongbo; Kong, Dongdong; Gu, Xihui; Mammarella, Ivan; et al.
  Environmental Research Letters   DOI: 10.1088/1748-9326/ab9967  SEP 2020
• Canopy photosynthesis of six major arable crops is enhanced under diffuse light due to canopy architecture
  Emmel, Carmen; D'Odorico, Petra; Revill, Andrew; Hortnagl, Lukas; Ammann, Christof; et al.
  Global Change Biology  DOI: 10.1111/gcb.15226 SEP 2020
• The results of biodiversity-ecosystem functioning experiments are realistic
  Jochum, Malte; Fischer, Markus; Isbell, Forest; Roscher, Christiane; van der Plas, Fons; Boch, Steffen; Boenisch, Gerhard; Buchmann, Nina; Catford, Jane A; Cavender-Bares, Jeannine; Ebeling, Anne; Eisenhauer, Nico; Gleixner, Gerd; Hoelzel, Norbert; Kattge, Jens; Klaus, Valentin H.; Kleinebecker, Till; Lange, Markus; Le Provost, Gaetane; Meyer, Sebastian T.; Molina-Venegas, Rafael; Mommer, Liesje; Oelmann, Yvonne; Penone, Caterina; Prati, Daniel; Reich, Peter B.; Rindisbacher, Abiel; Schaefer, Deborah; Scheu, Stefan; Schmid, Bernhard; Tilman, David; Tscharntke, Teja; Vogel, Anja; Wagg, Cameron; Weigelt, Alexandra; Weisser, Wolfgang W.; Wilcke, Wolfgang; Manning, Peter
  Nature Ecology & Evolution Early Access: AUG 2020, DOI: 10.1038/s41559-020-1280-9
• Biodiversity increases multitrophic energy use efficiency, flow and storage in grasslands
  Buzhdygan, OY; Meyer, ST; Weisser, WW; Eisenhauer, N; Ebeling, A; Borrett, SR; Buchmann, N; Cortois, R; De Deyn, GB; de Kroon, H; Gleixner, G; Hertzog, LR; Hines, J; Lange, M; Mommer, L ; Ravenek, J; Scherber, C; Scherer-Lorenzen, M; Scheu, S; Schmid, B; Steinauer, K; Strecker, T; Tietjen, B; Vogel, A; Weigelt, A; Petermann, JS
  Nature Ecology & Evolution 2020, 10.1038/s41559-020-1123-8
• The FLUXNET2015 dataset and the ONEFlux processing pipeline for eddy covariance data
  Pastorello, Gilberto; Trotta, Carlo; Canfora, Eleonora; Chu, Housen; Christianson, Danielle; et al.
  Scientific Data  DOI: 10.1038/s41597-020-0534-3  JUL 9 2020
• Carbon allocation to the root system of tropical tree Ceiba pentandra using C-13 pulse labelling in an aeroponic facility
  Mannerheim, Neringa; Blessing, Carola H.; Oren, Israel; Grunzweig, Jose M.; Bachofen, Christoph; et al.
  Tree Physiology  DOI: 10.1093/treephys/tpz142  Published: MAR 2020
• Do biodiversity-ecosystem functioning experiments inform stakeholders how to simultaneously conserve biodiversity and increase ecosystem service provisioning in grasslands?
  Klaus, Valentin H.; Whittingham, Mark J.; Baldi, Andras; Eggers, Sonke; Francksen, Richard M.; et al.
  Biological Conservation   DOI: 10.1016/j.biocon.2020.108552 Published: MAY 2020
• Carbon-nitrogen interactions in European forests and semi-natural vegetation - Part 1: Fluxes and budgets of carbon, nitrogen and greenhouse gases from ecosystem monitoring and modelling
  Flechard, Chris R.; Ibrom, Andreas; Skiba, Ute M.; de Vries, Wim; van Oijen, Marcel; et al.
  Biogeosciences  DOI: 10.5194/bg-17-1583-2020, Published: MAR 26 2020
• Carbon-nitrogen interactions in European forests and semi-natural vegetation - Part 2: Untangling climatic, edaphic, management and nitrogen deposition effects on carbon sequestration potentials
  Flechard, Chris R.; van Oijen, Marcel; Cameron, David R.; de Vries, Wim; Ibrom, Andreas; et al.
  Biogeosciences  DOI: 10.5194/bg-17-1621-2020, Published: MAR 26 2020
• Plant diversity effects on forage quality, yield and revenues of semi-natural grasslands
  Schaub, S; Finger, R; Leiber, F; Probst, S; Kreuzer, M; Weigelt, A; Buchmann, N; Scherer-Lorenzen, M
  Nature Communications 11(1) Article Number: 768 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-14541-4  FEB 7 2020
• Assessing the response of forest productivity to climate extremes in Switzerland using model-data fusion
  Trotsiuk, Volodymyr; Hartig, Florian; Cailleret, Maxime; Babst, Flurin; Forrester, David I.; Baltensweiler, Andri; Buchmann, Nina; Bugmann, H; Gessler, A; Gharun, M; Minunno, F;  Rigling, A; Rohner, B; Stillhard, J; Thurig, E; Waldner, P; Ferretti, M; Eugster, W; Schaub, M
  Global Change Biology 10.1111/gcb.15011 FEB 2020
• Light and VPD gradients drive foliar nitrogen partitioning and photosynthesis in the canopy of European beech and silver fir
  Bachofen, Christoph; D'Odorico, Petra; Buchmann, Nina
  Oecologia, 10.1007/s00442-019-04583-x, FEB 2020
• TRY plant trait database - enhanced coverage and open access
  Kattge, Jens; Boenisch, Gerhard; Diaz, Sandra; Lavorel, Sandra; Prentice, Iain Colin; et al.
  Global Change Biology, 10.1111/gcb.14904, JAN 2020
• Multimodel Evaluation of Nitrous Oxide Emissions From an Intensively Managed Grassland
  Fuchs, Kathrin; Merbold, Lutz; Buchmann, Nina; Bretscher, Daniel; Brilli, Lorenzo; et al.
  Journal Of Geophysical Research-biogeosciences   DOI: 10.1029/2019JG005261  JAN 2020
• Economic benefits from plant species diversity in intensively managed grasslands
  Schaub, Sergei; Buchmann, Nina; Luscher, Andreas; Finger, Robert
  Ecological Economics,  DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2019.106488  2020
• Adaptation to local climate in multi-trait space: evidence from silver fir (Abies alba Mill.) populations across a heterogeneous environment
  Csillery, Katalin; Ovaskainen, Otso; Sperisen, Christoph; Buchmann, Nina; Widmer, Alex; Gugerli, F
  Heredity,  DOI: 10.1038/s41437-019-0240-0, 2020
• Limited evidence for spatial resource partitioning across temperate grassland biodiversity experiments
  Barry, Kathryn E.; van Ruijven, Jasper; Mommer, Liesje; Bai, Yongfei; Beierkuhnlein, Carl; Buchmann, N; de Kroon, H; Ebeling, A; Eisenhauer, N; Guimaraes-Steinicke, C; Hildebrandt, A; Isbell, F; Milcu, A; Nesshover, C; Reich, PB; Roscher, C; Sauheitl, L; Scherer-Lorenzen, M; Schmid, B; Tilman, D; von Felten, S; Weigelt, A
  Ecology,  DOI: 10.1002/ecy.2905, 2020
• Transferring biodiversity-ecosystem function research to the management of 'real-world' ecosystems
  Manning, Peter; Loos, Jacqueline; Barnes, Andrew D.; Batary, Peter; Bianchi, Felix J. J. A.; et al.
  Mechanisms Underlying The Relationship Between Biodiversity And Ecosystem Function, 10.1016/bs.aecr.2019.06.009, 2019
• …

• Plant and Ecosystem Ecophysiology
• Biogeochemistry
• Greenhouse Gas Exchange (CO₂, H₂O, CH₄, N₂O)
• Biodiversity & Ecosystem Functioning
• Stable Isotope Ecology
• Policy Advice

• Global change biology
• Sustainable and efficient resource use.
• Ecosystem Ecology