Inger de Jonge

Inger de Jonge is a Visiting Professor at the Department of Systems Ecology, Faculty of Science, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. Her research focuses on ecological processes, plant functional traits, climate change impacts, and biodiversity dynamics. She has contributed to studies on lichen defense strategies, termite-plant interactions, woody plant encroachment, and microbiome roles in nutrient recycling.

Her work spans diverse ecosystems, including Antarctic vegetation, African savannas, and temperate grasslands. Key topics include climate adaptation, trophic interactions, and ecosystem resilience. Notable collaborations include the Antarctic biota count project, examining biodiversity scaling in polar regions.

Publications highlight interdisciplinary approaches to ecology, integrating field experiments, trait-based analyses, and microbiological insights. Her research underscores the importance of functional traits and microbial networks in ecosystem functioning.

She has been a Project Researcher in the ABC initiative (2021–2025), exploring Antarctic biodiversity through functional traits. This project emphasizes ground-cover and vegetation dynamics in polar regions, with implications for conservation and climate modeling.