News
PPE Group hosts workshop on hydrogen isotopes in plant organic compounds
On April 8, the PPE group hosted a workshop to discuss progress and challenges in analyzing hydrogen isotope values from plant organic compounds and interpreting the resulting data in the context of hydroclimatic changes in the environment…
New publication in Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment
Marie-Louise Schärer, Ansgar Kahmen & coauthors published a new study on whether organic farming influences ecohydrological properties and water relations of soils and crops compared to conventional farming. Long-term effects of organic…
New paper on post-drought tree damage in New Phytologist
In a study published with colleagues from the Universität Würzburg, PPE group members Matthias Arend, Cedric Zahnd, Guenter Hoch, and Ansgar Kahmen explored the physiological mechanisms behind the widespread occurrence of canopy decline in…/ Doctorate/PhD
2 open PhD positions at the Physiological Plant Ecology Group
The Physiological Plant Ecology group of the University of Basel investigates the ecophysiological processes in plants that determine the fluxes of water, nitrogen, and carbon in natural and agricultural ecosystems. The goals of our…
A new paper published on low root temperature effects on water and carbon transport in trees
Wenna Wang and Günter Hoch published a new study on low temperature limits of temperate tree species in Tree Physiology. The effects of low root temperatures on xylem conductance, photosynthetic C assimilation and phloem C transport were…
Congratulations to Rafael Pulfer for passing his master exam!
Rafael Pulfer successfully defended his MSc! In his work “Systematics and floral evolution of Dracula orchids”, he used a next generation sequencing technique to create a new species-level phylogeny based on whole chloroplast genomes. He…
New work on the impact of the historic 2018 heatwave published in Nature Communications
Richard L. Peters worked on a study within the DenDrought2018 initiative, an international team of researchers, to understand the impact of the 2018 heatwave on trees growing across Central and Atlantic Europe. Results of their joint effort…
PPE work highlighted in Nature Plants “Year in Review”
Matthias Arend's paper on the rapid hydraulic collapse of Picea abies trees during the 2018 extreme drought that we recently published in PNAS (https://www.pnas.org/content/118/16/e2025251118) was now highlighted with 23 other papers by…
Congratulations to Eva Morgner for successfully defending her master's thesis
In her master's project Eva examined the impact of elevated CO2 on plant isotopic systems. Her work provides important context for understanding plant physiological responses to environmental change. Eva defended her thesis on December…
Jurriaan de Vos speaks at the Basel Botanical Society
This year marked the 200 year anniversary of the Flora of Basel of CF Hagenbach. The publication was a landmark for the regional flora, of unprecedented detail, in three parts published over 25 years. It filled a void of 200 years since…
New paper on tree growth patterns published in Ecology Letters
Together with colleagues from WSL, we published a paper in Ecology Letters this week that highlights temporally highly resolved patterns in tree growth. The study shows that increment growth in trees occurs only on a few days in the growing…
Marie Louise Schärer wins best poster award at PSC symposium!
Congratulations to Marie-Loiuse for winning the best poster award at this year's Zurich Basel Plant Science symposium. In her poster, Marie-Louise presented the latest results from her PhD work where she investigates plant physiological and…
Ansgar Kahmen answers questions about the effects of climate change on vegetation in video interview
Following the UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, Ansgar Kahmen answered questions from the community about the effects of climate change on vegetation in a livestream in the "Ask Our Expert" series on November 8, 2021. Highlights are…
Congratulations to Raphael von Büren for successfully defending his master's thesis on November 10th!
Raphael von Büren has shown that winter frost (due to missing snow cover) and different frost resistance explain the occurrence of Carex curvula and Nardus stricta in the alpine belt. He made an important step to better understand the…