Michael Rzanny

Dr. Michael Rzanny is a Scientist at the Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry in Jena, Germany, working within the Department of Biogeochemical Integration and the Biod.AI.versity Observation & Integration research group. His work focuses on leveraging technology and citizen science to advance ecological research.

• Email: mrzanny@...
• Location: Hans-Knöll-Str. 10, 07745 Jena, Germany

Dr. Rzanny's research spans several critical areas in ecology and biodiversity science. He specializes in plant phenology, using citizen science data and machine learning to monitor and predict plant life cycle events across Central European forests and grasslands. His work also explores multitrophic interactions, examining how plant diversity affects predator and herbivore specialization in complex ecosystems. Additionally, he contributes to digital taxonomy through mobile apps like Flora Incognita and Flora Capture, which enable automated plant species identification using smartphone technology. His research extends to functional diversity in grassland ecosystems, analyzing how species richness impacts ecological multifunctionality and food web stability.

Dr. Rzanny's publications demonstrate a strong trend toward integrating automated image analysis with ecological monitoring. His work on phenological dynamics combines observational networks, citizen science databases, and land surface models to understand climate change impacts on plant communities. He has developed methodologies for leaf shape analysis using deep learning, validated through geometric morphometrics. His projects like Flora Incognita and Flora Capture emphasize the potential of mobile applications in transforming biodiversity research and public engagement with natural environments.