Sonja Knapp

Dr. Sonja Knapp is a prominent researcher and Co-Head of the Department of Community Ecology at the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ) in Halle, Germany. She also leads the working group on Macroecology and Vegetation Science and is a member of the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig. Her work is central to understanding biodiversity in human-dominated landscapes.

Her primary research interests lie in Urban Ecology, where she investigates plant biodiversity in cities, including species, traits, and phylogenetic diversity, and its link to ecosystem services. Her expertise extends to Functional Ecology, analyzing how plant traits like morphology and phenology shape ecosystems, and Phyloecology, which uses evolutionary relationships to understand community assembly. She also conducts large-scale Macroecological studies on plant biodiversity across regional to national scales, focusing on the drivers of climate and land use.

Dr. Knapp's recent research portfolio reflects a strong focus on the intersection of urban development and biodiversity. Her publications analyze the functional diversity of urban floras over centuries, develop frameworks for multi-scale urban biodiversity, and explore the research agenda for urban biodiversity in the face of a global extinction crisis. Her work on nature-based solutions and the links between biodiversity and human health demonstrates a commitment to applied, interdisciplinary science that addresses pressing societal challenges. A recurring theme in her recent articles is the analysis of biological invasions and the functional traits of both native and alien species in urban environments.

Dr. Knapp holds editorial roles for several journals, including serving as a Topic Editor for Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution (Urban Ecology section) and as a member of the editorial boards of Urban Ecosystems, Urban Naturalist, and Web Ecology. She is actively involved in numerous current projects funded by organizations like the DFG, iDiv, and the Helmholtz Association, including 'Comparative urban ecology' and 'sGUBIK - Synthesizing Global Urban Biological Invasion Knowledge'.

She advises on urban planning through her research on functional traits and ecosystem services and leads teams within the UFZ and iDiv. Her work is instrumental in developing tools like the garden biodiversity index and advancing the science of urban green infrastructure for resilient cities.