Martin Schädler

Dr. Martin Schädler is a Senior Researcher at the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ) in Germany, where he heads the Global Change Experimental Research working group in the Department of Community Ecology. His research focuses on experimental exploration of global change impacts on plant-invertebrate-microbe systems, with emphasis on above-belowground interactions, rhizosphere ecology, and biotic soil processes in agro-ecosystems.

His core research interests include:

• Climate change effects on ecosystem functions and species interactions
• Soil microbial and faunal responses to land-use intensification
• Plant defense mechanisms mediated by soil microbiota
• Sustainable land management under future climate scenarios
• Biodiversity-ecosystem functioning relationships in agricultural landscapes

Schädler's publications demonstrate strong thematic coherence around climate-land use interactions, with recent work emphasizing:

• Soil microbial resilience to heat stress and drought extremes
• Land-use impacts on soil fauna (earthworms, nematodes, Collembola)
• Biodegradable plastic decomposition in agricultural systems
• Multi-trophic interactions in experimental climate manipulation facilities
• Advanced monitoring techniques for ecosystem responses

He leads significant research initiatives including the Global Change Experimental Facility (GCEF) in Halle, which investigates climate change impacts under different land-use regimes, and the GLIMPSE project studying microbiota-plant-soil processes in agricultural ecosystems. His team employs cutting-edge approaches from molecular ecology to remote sensing, maintaining collaborations across the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv).