Institute of Plant Sciences

Staff

Dr. Deborah Schäfer

Science officer

Plant Ecology / Botanical Garden

Phone
+41 31 684 49 38
Phone2
+41 31 684 49 82
E-Mail
deborah.schaefer@unibe.ch
Office
T 102, main building, 1st floor
Postal Address
University of Bern
Institute of Plant Sciences
Plant Ecology
Altenbergrain 21
3013 Bern
Switzerland

Research

Research Interests

I am a plant ecologist and botanist with a main interest in biodiversity, conservation ecology and community assembly. I have previously been involved in a research project about the ex-situ cultivation of rare and endangered plant species and studied the influence of genetic diversity on the short-term success of reintroductions of rare and endangered plant species of Switzerland. My most recent research project was in the framework of the Biodiversity Exploratories program, where I studied the relative importance of plant species richness, land-use intensity and different community characteristics on the stability of ecosystem functions after different types of disturbances.

In my current position at the BOGA I am interested to study in more details, which factors lead to successful ex-situ collections (plants and seeds) and reintroductions of rare and endangered plant species of Switzerland. This position, at the intersection between science and public, offers the opportunity to communicate this important topic and to collaborate with other botanical gardens, scientists, conservation practitioners and the info flora to strengthen the role of botanical gardens in the protection and conservation of rare and endangered native plant species.

Publications

Jump to: Journal Article | Book Section | Working Paper
Number of items: 25.

Journal Article

Le Provost, Gaëtane; Schenk, Noëlle V.; Penone, Caterina; Thiele, Jan; Westphal, Catrin; Allan, Eric; Ayasse, Manfred; Blüthgen, Nico; Boeddinghaus, Runa S; Boesing, Andrea Larissa; Bolliger, Ralph; Busch, Verena; Fischer, Markus; Gossner, Martin M; Hölzel, Norbert; Jung, Kirsten; Kandeler, Ellen; Klaus, Valentin H; Kleinebecker, Till; Leimer, Sophia; ... (2023). The supply of multiple ecosystem services requires biodiversity across spatial scales. Nature ecology & evolution, 7(2), pp. 236-249. Nature Publishing Group 10.1038/s41559-022-01918-5

Oelmann, Yvonne; Lange, Markus; Leimer, Sophia; Roscher, Christiane; Aburto, Felipe; Alt, Fabian; Bange, Nina; Berner, Doreen; Boch, Steffen; Boeddinghaus, Runa S.; Buscot, François; Dassen, Sigrid; De Deyn, Gerlinde; Eisenhauer, Nico; Gleixner, Gerd; Goldmann, Kezia; Hölzel, Norbert; Jochum, Malte; Kandeler, Ellen; Klaus, Valentin H.; ... (2021). Above- and belowground biodiversity jointly tighten the P cycle in agricultural grasslands. Nature Communications, 12(1), p. 4431. Springer Nature 10.1038/s41467-021-24714-4

Le Provost, Gaëtane; Thiele, Jan; Westphal, Catrin; Penone, Caterina; Allan, Eric; Neyret, Margot; van der Plas, Fons; Ayasse, Manfred; Bardgett, Richard D.; Birkhofer, Klaus; Boch, Steffen; Bonkowski, Michael; Buscot, Francois; Feldhaar, Heike; Gaulton, Rachel; Goldmann, Kezia; Gossner, Martin M.; Klaus, Valentin H.; Kleinebecker, Till; Krauss, Jochen; ... (2021). Contrasting responses of above- and belowground diversity to multiple components of land-use intensity. Nature Communications, 12(1) Springer Nature 10.1038/s41467-021-23931-1

Neff, Felix; Brändle, Martin; Ambarlı, Didem; Ammer, Christian; Bauhus, Jürgen; Boch, Steffen; Hölzel, Norbert; Klaus, Valentin H.; Kleinebecker, Till; Prati, Daniel; Schall, Peter; Schäfer, Deborah; Schulze, Ernst-Detlef; Seibold, Sebastian; Simons, Nadja K.; Weisser, Wolfgang W.; Pellissier, Loïc; Gossner, Martin M. (2021). Changes in plant-herbivore network structure and robustness along land-use intensity gradients in grasslands and forests. Science Advances, 7(20), eabf3985. American Association for the Advancement of Science 10.1126/sciadv.abf3985

Bae, Soyeon; Heidrich, Lea; Levick, Shaun R.; Gossner, Martin M.; Seibold, Sebastian; Weisser, Wolfgang W.; Magdon, Paul; Serebryanyk, Alla; Bässler, Claus; Schäfer, Deborah; Schulze, Ernst‐Detlef; Doerfler, Inken; Müller, Jörg; Jung, Kirsten; Heurich, Marco; Fischer, Markus; Roth, Nicolas; Schall, Peter; Boch, Steffen; Wöllauer, Stephan; ... (2021). Dispersal ability, trophic position and body size mediate species turnover processes: Insights from a multi‐taxa and multi‐scale approach. Diversity and Distributions, 27(3), pp. 439-453. Wiley-Blackwell 10.1111/ddi.13204

Leimer, Sophia; Berner, Doreen; Birkhofer, Klaus; Boeddinghaus, Runa S.; Fischer, Markus; Kandeler, Ellen; Kuka, Katrin; Marhan, Sven; Prati, Daniel; Schäfer, Deborah; Schoning, Ingo; Solly, Emily F.; Wolters, Volkmar; Wilcke, Wolfgang (2021). Land-use intensity and biodiversity effects on infiltration capacity and hydraulic conductivity of grassland soils in southern Germany. Ecohydrology, 14(6) Wiley 10.1002/eco.2301

Freitag, Martin; Klaus, Valentin H.; Bolliger, Ralph; Hamer, Ute; Kleinebecker, Till; Prati, Daniel; Schäfer, Deborah; Hölzel, Norbert (2021). Restoration of plant diversity in permanent grassland by seeding: Assessing the limiting factors along land‐use gradients. Journal of applied ecology, 58(8), pp. 1681-1692. Wiley 10.1111/1365-2664.13883

Schäfer, Deborah; Vincent, Hugo; Fischer, Markus; Kempel, Anne (2020). The importance of genetic diversity for the translocation of eight threatened plant species into the wild. Global Ecology and Conservation, 24, e01240. Elsevier 10.1016/j.gecco.2020.e01240

Jochum, Malte; Fischer, Markus; Isbell, Forest; Roscher, Christiane; van der Plas, Fons; Boch, Steffen; Boenisch, Gerhard; Buchmann, Nina; Catford, Jane A.; Cavender-Bares, Jeannine; Ebeling, Anne; Eisenhauer, Nico; Gleixner, Gerd; Hölzel, Norbert; Kattge, Jens; Klaus, Valentin H.; Kleinebecker, Till; Lange, Markus; Le Provost, Gaëtane; Meyer, Sebastian T.; ... (2020). The results of biodiversity–ecosystem functioning experiments are realistic. Nature ecology & evolution, 4(11), pp. 1485-1494. Springer Nature 10.1038/s41559-020-1280-9

Dormann, Carsten F.; Bagnara, Maurizio; Boch, Steffen; Hinderling, Judith; Janeiro-Otero, Andrea; Schäfer, Deborah; Schall, Peter; Hartig, Florian (2020). Plant species richness increases with light availability, but not variability, in temperate forests understorey. BMC ecology, 20(1), p. 43. BioMed Central 10.1186/s12898-020-00311-9

Schäfer, Deborah; Klaus, Valentin H.; Kleinebecker, Till; Boeddinghaus, Runa S.; Hinderling, Judith; Kandeler, Ellen; Marhan, Sven; Nowak, Sascha; Sonnemann, Ilja; Wurst, Susanne; Fischer, Markus; Hölzel, Norbert; Hamer, Ute; Prati, Daniel (2019). Recovery of ecosystem functions after experimental disturbance in 73 grasslands differing in land‐use intensity, plant species richness and community composition. Journal of Ecology, 107(6), pp. 2635-2649. Blackwell 10.1111/1365-2745.13211

Boch, Steffen; Fischer, Beat; Föhr-Heiniger, Christine; Grob, Stefanie; Gygax, Andreas; Krneta, Guy; Lienhard, Luc; Meister, Gerhard; Möhl, Adrian; Schäfer, Deborah; Schneeberger, Ruedi; Simon, Christoph; Eggenberg, Stefan Peter (2019). Von Menschen und Pflanzen - 100 Jahre Bernische Botanische Gesellschaft. Mitteilungen der Naturforschenden Gesellschaft in Bern, 76, pp. 7-73. Naturforschende Gesellschaft Bern

Schäfer, Deborah; Prati, Daniel; Schall, Peter; Ammer, Christian; Fischer, Markus (2019). Exclusion of large herbivores affects understorey shrub vegetation more than herb vegetation across 147 forest sites in three German regions. PLoS ONE, 14(7), e0218741. Public Library of Science 10.1371/journal.pone.0218741

Busch, Verena; Klaus, Valentin H.; Schäfer, Deborah; Prati, Daniel; Boch, Steffen; Müller, Jörg; Chisté, Melanie; Mody, Karsten; Blüthgen, Nico; Fischer, Markus; Hölzel, Norbert; Kleinebecker, Till (2019). Will I stay or will I go? Plant species‐specific response and tolerance to high land‐use intensity in temperate grassland ecosystems. Journal of vegetation science, 30(4), pp. 674-686. Wiley-Blackwell 10.1111/jvs.12749

Heuss, Lisa; Grevé, Michael E.; Schäfer, Deborah; Busch, Verena; Feldhaar, Heike (2019). Direct and indirect effects of land‐use intensification on ant communities in temperate grasslands. Ecology and evolution, 9(7), pp. 4013-4024. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 10.1002/ece3.5030

Boeddinghaus, Runa S.; Marhan, Sven; Berner, Doreen; Boch, Steffen; Fischer, Markus; Hölzel, Norbert; Kattge, Jens; Klaus, Valentin H.; Kleinebecker, Till; Oelmann, Yvonne; Prati, Daniel; Schäfer, Deborah; Schöning, Ingo; Schrumpf, Marion; Sorkau, Elisabeth; Kandeler, Ellen; Manning, Peter (2019). Plant functional trait shifts explain concurrent changes in the structure and function of grassland soil microbial communities. Journal of Ecology, 107(5), pp. 2197-2210. Blackwell 10.1111/1365-2745.13182

Klaus, Valentin H.; Hoever, Christina J.; Fischer, Markus; Hamer, Ute; Kleinebecker, Till; Mertens, Désirée; Schäfer, Deborah; Prati, Daniel; Hölzel, Norbert (2018). Contribution of the soil seed bank to the restoration of temperate grasslands by mechanical sward disturbance. Restoration ecology, 26(S2), S114-S122. Blackwell 10.1111/rec.12626

Leimer, Sophia; Bischoff, Sebastian; Boch, Steffen; Busch, Verena; Escher, Peter; Fischer, Markus; Hänsel, Falk; Hölzel, Norbert; Kerber, Katja; Klaus, Valentin; Kleinebecker, Till; Michalzik, Beate; Nauss, Thomas; Schäfer, Deborah; Schöning, Ingo; Schwarz, Martin T.; Siemens, Jan; Thieme, Lisa; Wöllauer, Stephan and Wilcke, Wolfgang (2018). Does plant diversity affect the water balance of established grassland systems? Ecohydrology, 11(4), e1945. Wiley 10.1002/eco.1945

Kleinebecker, Till; Busch, Verena; Hölzel, Norbert; Hamer, Ute; Schäfer, Deborah; Prati, Daniel; Fischer, Markus; Hemp, Andreas; Lauterbach, Ralf; Klaus, Valentin H. (2018). And the winner is …. ! A test of simple predictors of plant species richness in agricultural grasslands. Ecological indicators, 87, pp. 296-301. Elsevier 10.1016/j.ecolind.2017.12.031

Klaus, Valentin H.; Schäfer, Deborah; Prati, Daniel; Busch, Verena; Hamer, Ute; Hoever, Christina J.; Kleinebecker, Till; Mertens, Désirée; Fischer, Markus; Hölzel, Norbert (2018). Effects of mowing, grazing and fertilization on soil seed banks in temperate grasslands in Central Europe. Agriculture, ecosystems & environment, 256, pp. 211-217. Elsevier 10.1016/j.agee.2017.11.008

Busch, Verena; Klaus, Valentin H.; Penone, Caterina; Schäfer, Deborah; Boch, Steffen; Prati, Daniel; Müller, Jörg; Socher, Stephanie A.; Niinemets, Ülo; Peñuelas, Josep; Hölzel, Norbert; Fischer, Markus; Kleinebecker, Till (2018). Nutrient stoichiometry and land use rather than species richness determine plant functional diversity. Ecology and evolution, 8(1), pp. 601-616. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 10.1002/ece3.3609

Klaus, Valentin H.; Kleinebecker, Till; Busch, Verena; Fischer, Markus; Hölzel, Norbert; Nowak, Sascha; Prati, Daniel; Schäfer, Deborah; Schöning, Ingo; Schrumpf, Marion; Hamer, Ute (2018). Land use intensity, rather than plant species richness, affects the leaching risk of multiple nutrients from permanent grasslands. Global Change Biology, 24(7), pp. 2828-2840. Blackwell Science 10.1111/gcb.14123

Klaus, Valentin H.; Schäfer, Deborah; Kleinebecker, Till; Fischer, Markus; Prati, Daniel; Hölzel, Norbert (2016). Enriching plant diversity in grasslands by large-scale experimental sward disturbance and seed addition along gradients of land-use intensity. Journal of Plant Ecology, rtw062. Oxford University Press 10.1093/jpe/rtw062

Book Section

Rembold, Katja; Junge, Anne-Laure; Amiet, Felix; Balzari, Carl’Antonio; Bergamini, Ariel; Blaser, Stefan; Boch, Steffen; Bürki, Markus; Eggenberg, Stefan; Eicher, Cécile; Ensslin, Andreas; Etter, Laurence; Friedli, Christina; Gattlen, Anne; Germann, Christoph; Gygax, Andreas; Hänggi, Ambros; Hertwig, Stefan T.; von Hirschheydt, Gesa; Hoess, René; ... (2020). Vielfalt bedingt Vielfalt - wildlebende Arten im Botanischen Garten der Universität Bern. In: Thalmann, Christoph (ed.) Zeitreisen. Mitteilungen der Naturforschenden Gesellschaft in Bern: Vol. 77 (pp. 24-68). Bern: Naturforschende Gesellschaft Bern 10.5169/seals-869443

Working Paper

Jochum, Malte; Fischer, Markus; Isbell, Forest; Roscher, Christiane; van der Plas, Fons; Boch, Steffen; Boenisch, Gerhard; Buchmann, Nina; Catford, Jane A.; Cavender-Bares, Jeannine; Ebeling, Anne; Eisenhauer, Nico; Gleixner, Gerd; Hölzel, Norbert; Kattge, Jens; Klaus, Valentin H.; Kleinebecker, Till; Lange, Markus; Le Provost, Gaëtane; Meyer, Sebastian T.; ... (5 August 2019). The results of biodiversity-ecosystem functioning experiments are realistic (bioRxiv). Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory 10.1101/725812

This list was generated on Mon Nov 27 22:38:55 2023 CET.