Christiane Roscher

Christiane Roscher is a plant ecologist leading the Physiological Diversity research team at the German Center of Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv), affiliated with the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ) in Leipzig. She holds an Associate Professor position and directs multiple long-term biodiversity experiments including the Jena Experiment and Biodiversity Exploratories.

• Core Research Focus: Biodiversity-ecosystem functioning relationships, plant functional traits, trait variation, and plant-plant interactions in grassland ecosystems.
• Methodology: Combines large-scale field experiments (e.g., Nutrient Network, DragNet, DroughtNet) with trait-based approaches and global change manipulations.
• Current Leadership: Central Coordination for Research Unit FOR5000 (Jena Experiment), plant trait variation projects within Biodiversity Exploratories.

Her research demonstrates how biodiversity loss affects ecosystem stability through trait-mediated mechanisms, with particular emphasis on how plant communities respond to nutrient enrichment, drought, and land-use change. Recent work reveals that nutrient interactions govern global grassland biomass responses to precipitation, and that non-vascular plants significantly contribute to biodiversity loss estimates under eutrophication. She pioneers methodological innovations including smartphone-based 3D biomass scanning and phytometer-based trait monitoring across experimental gradients.

Current projects investigate plant nutrient responses (FOR5000/2), land-use effects on plant regeneration strategies (Biodiversity Exploratories), and trait variation in biodiversity-ecosystem functioning context (FOR5000/1). Her collaborative work spans 15+ countries through networks like NutNet and PlantPopNet, with 24 publications in 2025 alone focusing on grassland biodiversity mechanisms under global change.

As Principal Investigator for multiple DFG projects since 2010 (including a Heisenberg Fellowship), she has secured continuous funding for experimental grassland research. Her work integrates field observations with trait databases like TRY and experimental platforms including the Global Change Experimental Facility (GCEF).

Research Infrastructure: Leads the Physiological Diversity team within iDiv's Ecosystems of the Future research program, utilizing the Jena Experiment (one of world's longest-running biodiversity experiments), Biodiversity Exploratories, and GCEF climate manipulation facility. Her group maintains extensive phytometer datasets tracking plant performance across diversity gradients.