Katja Tielbörger

Katja Tielbörger is a Professor of Vegetation Ecology at the University of Tübingen, within the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences and the Department of Biology. She has held this position since 2004 and has served as the Director of the Botanical Garden of the University of Tübingen since 2012.

Education:

• Ph.D. (1997) from Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
• Diploma in Biology (1993) from Ludwig-Maximilians University Munich.

Research Focus: Her work investigates biotic interactions (e.g., plant-plant, plant-soil biota, plant-pollinator) in a changing climate. She combines experimental field/greenhouse studies with long-term ecological research to understand plant responses to stress, invasive species dynamics, and community stability. Her projects span semi-arid shrublands (Israel, Namibia) and temperate ecosystems (Europe), integrating molecular and chemical methods.

Publications: Recent articles (2023–2025) emphasize drought resilience, invasive species impacts, global dryland ecology, and plant trait evolution. Common themes include climate adaptation, community dynamics, and biogeochemical processes, often leveraging large-scale collaborations and meta-analyses.

Research Group: She leads a team focused on vegetation ecology, with collaborators including Dr. Maria Májeková, Dr. Max Schmid, and Dr. Sara Tomiolo. Her group explores niche partitioning, phenotypic diversity, and ecological stability under environmental stress.