Most of our research is concerned with drivers and functional consequences of biodiversity change, with the ecology and evolution of rare and invasive plants, with Alpine ecology, with Botanical Gardens (Botanical Garden of the University of Bern), and with conservation biology.

  • A hierarchical inventory of the world's mountains for global comparative mountain science
    Snethlage, Mark A.; Geschke, Jonas; Ranipeta, Ajay; Jetz, Walter; Yoccoz, Nigel G.; et al.
    Scientific Data 10.1038/s41597-022-01256-y APR 1 2022
  • Stakeholder perspectives on nature, people and sustainability at Mount Kilimanjaro
    Masao, Catherine A.; Prescott, Graham W.; Snethlage, Mark A.; Urbach, Davnah; Rando, Amor Torre-Marin; et al.
    People And Nature 10.1002/pan3.10310 MAR 2022
  • The Evolution of Ecological Diversity in Acidobacteria
    Sikorski, Johannes; Baumgartner, Vanessa; Birkhofer, Klaus; Boeddinghaus, Runa S.; Bunk, Boyke; et al.
    Frontiers In Microbiology 10.3389/fmicb.2022.715637  FEB 2 2022
  • Potential of Airborne LiDAR Derived Vegetation Structure for the Prediction of Animal Species Richness at Mount Kilimanjaro
    Ziegler, Alice; Meyer, Hanna; Otte, Insa; Peters, Marcell K.; Appelhans, Tim; et al.
    Remote Sensing 10.3390/rs14030786  FEB 2022
  • Present and historical landscape structure shapes current species richness in Central European grasslands
    Scherreiks, Pascal; Gossner, Martin M.; Ayasse, Manfred; Bluethgen, Nico; Fischer, Markus; et al.
    Landscape Ecology 10.1007/s10980-021-01392-7 MAR 2022
  • Aboveground Deadwood Biomass and Composition Along Elevation and Land-Use Gradients at Mount Kilimanjaro
    Komposch, Armin; Ensslin, Andreas; Fischer, Markus; Hemp, Andreas
    Frontiers In Ecology And Evolution 10.3389/fevo.2021.732092
    PublishedJAN 5 2022
  • Assessing the impact of grassland management on landscape multifunctionality
    Neyret, M.; Fischer, M.; Allan, E.; Hoelzel, N.; Klaus, V. H.; et al. 
    Ecosystem Services 10.1016/j.ecoser.2021.101366 DEC 2021
  • Area modulates the effect of elevation but not of land use or canopy on tropical plant species richness
    Hemp, Andreas; Del Fabbro, Corina; Fischer, Markus
    Biodiversity And Conservation 10.1007/s10531-021-02304-6 DEC 2021
  • Species richness is more important for ecosystem functioning than species turnover along an elevational gradient
    Albrecht, Joerg; Peters, Marcell K.; Becker, Joscha N.; Behler, Christina; Classen, Alice; et al.
    Nature Ecology & Evolution 10.1038/s41559-021-01550-9  DEC 2021
  • Among stand heterogeneity is key for biodiversity in managed beech forests but does not question the value of unmanaged forests: Response to Bruun and Heilmann-Clausen (2021)
    Schall, Peter; Heinrichs, Steffi; Ammer, Christian; Ayasse, Manfred; Boch, Steffen; et al.
    Journal Of Applied Ecology 10.1111/1365-2664.13959  SEP 2021
  • Contrasting responses of above- and belowground diversity to multiple components of land-use intensity
    Le Provost, Gaetane; Thiele, Jan; Westphal, Catrin; Penone, Caterina; Allan, Eric; et al.
    Nature Communications 10.1038/s41467-021-23931-1  JUN 24 2021
  • Land-use intensity and biodiversity effects on infiltration capacity and hydraulic conductivity of grassland soils in southern Germany
    Leimer, Sophia; Berner, Doreen; Birkhofer, Klaus; Boeddinghaus, Runa S.; Fischer, Markus; et al.
    Ecohydrology 10.1002/eco.2301 SEP 2021
  • Plant diversity effects on plant longevity and their relationships to population stability in experimental grasslands
    Roeder, Anna; Schweingruber, Fritz H.; Ebeling, Anne; Eisenhauer, Nico; Fischer, Markus; et al.
    Journal Of Ecology10.1111/1365-2745.13661 JUL 2021
  • Recent hybrid speciation at the origin of the narrow endemic Pulmonaria helvetica
    Gruenig, Sandra; Fischer, Markus; Parisod, Christian
    Annals Of Botany 10.1093/aob/mcaa145 JAN 2021
  • Dispersal ability, trophic position and body size mediate species turnover processes: Insights from a multi-taxa and multi-scale approach
    Bae, Soyeon; Heidrich, Lea; Levick, Shaun R.; Gossner, Martin M.; Seibold, Sebastian; et al.
    Diversity And Distributions,10.1111/ddi.13204, MAR 2021
  • Direct and Indirect Effects of Management Intensity and Environmental Factors on the Functional Diversity of Lichens in Central European Forests
    Boch, Steffen; Saiz, Hugo; Allan, Eric; Schall, Peter; Prati, Daniel; et al.
    Microorganisms,  10.3390/microorganisms9020463 FEB 2021
  • Effects of fertilization and irrigation on vascular plant species richness, functional composition and yield in mountain grasslands
    Boch, Steffen; Kurtogullari, Yasemin; Allan, Eric; Lessard-Therrien, Malie; Rieder, Nora Simone; et al.
    Journal Of Environmental Management, 10.1016/j.jenvman.2020.111629  FEB 1 2021
  • Insights from regional and short-term biodiversity monitoring datasets are valuable: a reply to Daskalova et al. 2021
    Seibold, Sebastian; Hothorn, Torsten; Gossner, Martin M.; Simons, Nadja K.; Bluthgen, Nico; et al.
    Insect Conservation And Diversity, 10.1111/icad.12467  JAN 2021
  • Globally, plant-soil feedbacks are weak predictors of plant abundance
    Reinhart, Kurt O.; Bauer, Jonathan T.; McCarthy-Neumann, Sarah; MacDougall, Andrew S.; Hierro, Jose L.; et al.
    Ecology And Evolution, 10.1002/ece3.7167  FEB 2021
  • National Forest Inventories capture the multifunctionality of managed forests in Germany
    Simons, Nadja K.; Felipe-Lucia, Maria R.; Schall, Peter; Ammer, Christian; Bauhus, Juergen; et al.
    Forest Ecosystems, 10.1186/s40663-021-00280-5  JAN 27 2021
Fischer Markus

Prof. Dr. Markus Fischer
University of Bern
Institute of Plant Sciences and Botanical Garden
3013 Bern

Tel: +41 (0)31 631 49 43

Research topics

  • Evolutionary Ecology
  • Functional Biodiversity Research
  • Conservation Biology
  • Invasion Biology
  • Alpine Ecology

 

Interdisciplinary

Often in the framework of several larger research units in Switzerland, Germany, China and Africa we collaborate with

  • Molecular biologists
  • Population geneticists and biologists
  • Biodiversity and ecosystem researchers of all kinds
  • Modelers, mostly on plant interactions with other organisms.