Department of Terrestrial Ecology
Biological invasions, biodiversity loss or changing land use? The department of Terrestrial Ecology knows what that can do to plants and all other life forms below- and aboveground.
The scientists of the department of Terrestrial Ecology are experts in the ecology, physiology and chemistry of plants, and in soil ecology, entomology and behavioural biology. They investigate the interactions between plants, the animals and diseases that damage plants above and below the ground, and the natural enemies of these attackers.
Central to researching the interactions between the soil and aboveground affect biodiversity and ecosystem functioning are two questions:
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How do plants in the wild defend themselves?
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How do the interactions evolve?
These questions are investigated in relation to altered land use, loss of biodiversity, biological invasions and climate change.
