My research focuses on (1) the relationship between temporal stability, synchrony and plant strategies mediated via functional traits, (2) plant water economics explicitly linking physiological and morphological traits to soil water conditions along gradients and under the scenarios of climate change, and (3) plant behavior, decision-making and memory under competition. I combine fieldwork on semi-natural gradients with long-term field experiments and greenhouse experiments on individual, population and communtity level.

12/2018 – present | Assistant Professor
University of Tübingen, Plant Ecology Group, Germany (Prof. Katja Tielbörger)

11/2016 – 11/2018 | Postdoctoral Researcher
University of Tübingen, Plant Ecology Group, Germany (with Katja Tielbörger)
‘Selection for leaf symmetry along stress gradients’
‘Decision-making in plants under competition’ & ‘Memory in plants’

09/2014 – 10/2016 | Junior Lecturer
Comenius University in Bratislava, Department of Soil Science, Slovakia (Prof. Elena Masarovičová)
‘Mechanisms of physiological drought tolerance in plants’

09/2014 – present | Visiting Scientist
University of South Bohemia, Plant Functional Ecology Group, Czech Republic (with Jan Lepš and Francesco de Bello)
‘Plant functional traits as determinants of population and community stability’

10/2014 | PhD
Comenius University in Bratislava, Department of Soil Science, Slovakia
Mentors: E. Masarovičová, I. Vykouková, F. de Bello, J. Lepš
‘Plant functional traits as determinants of population and community processes and patterns’

05/2009 | MSc
Comenius University in Bratislava, Department of Soil Science, Slovakia
Mentor: I. Vykouková
‘Evaluation of phytosociologic and ecologic conditions of floodplain forests in the SE part of Bratislava’

Kramp, R. E., Liancourt, P., Herberich, M. M., Saul, L., Weides, S., Tielbörger, K., & Májeková, M (2022). Functional traits and their plasticity shift from tolerant to avoidant under extreme drought. Ecology, n/a(n/a), e3826. https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.3826

Braun, L., Kadmon, R., Tomiolo, S., Májeková, M., & Tielbörger, K (2022). Is more less? A comprehensive experimental test of soil depth effects on grassland diversity. Oikos, n/a(n/a), e08535. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1111/oik.08535

Albert, Á.-J., Götzenberger, L., Jongepierová, I., Konečná, M., Lőkkösné-Kelbert, B., Májeková, M., Mudrák, O., & Klimešová, J. (2021). Restoration of ecosystem functions: Seed production in restored and ancient grasslands. Applied Vegetation Science, 24(3). https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1111/avsc.12597

de Bello F, Lavorel S, Hallett LM, Valencia E, Garnier E, Roscher C, Conti L, Galland T, Goberna M, Májeková M, et al. (2021). Functional trait effects on ecosystem stability: assembling the jigsaw puzzle. Trends in Ecology & Evolution: 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2021.05.001

Májeková, M., Hájek, T., Albert, A. J., de Bello, F., Doležal, J., Götzenberger, L., Janeček, Š., Lepš, J., Liancourt, P., Mudrák, O. (2021). Weak coordination between leaf drought tolerance and proxy traits in herbaceous plants. Functional Ecology, 00(0), 000-000 https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2435.13792

Brown J.J., Mennicken S., Capichoni Massante J., Dijoux S., Telea A., Benedek A.M., Goetzenberger L., Májeková M., Lepš J., Šmilauer P., Hrček J., de Bello F (2019). A novel method to predict dark diversity using unconstrained ordination analysis. Journal of Vegetation Science 2019;00.  https://doi.org/10.1111/jvs.12757

Májeková M., Martínková J., Hájek T (2019). Grassland plants show no relationship between leaf drought tolerance and soil moisture affinity, but rapidly adjust to changes in soil moisture. Funct Ecol. 2019;00:1–12. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2435.13312

Lepš J., Májeková M., Vítová A., Doležal J., de Bello F. (2018). Stabilizing effects in temporal fluctuations: management, traits and species richness in high-diversity communities. Ecology 99(2): 360-371 https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.2065

Gruntman M., Groß D., Májeková M., Tielbörger K. (2017). Decision-making in plants under competition. Nature Communications 8(1). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-017-02147-2

Lewis R.J., de Bello F., Bennett J.A., Fibich P., Finerty G.E., Götzenberger L., Hiiesalu I., Kasari L., Lepš J., Májeková M., Mudrák O., Riibak K., Ronk A., Rychtecká T., Vitová A., Pärtel M. (2017). Dark diversity: Its potential application for nature conservation. Conservation Biology 31 (1): 40-47. https://doi.org/10.1111/cobi.12723

Májeková M., Paal T., Plowman N. S., Bryndová, M. Kasari L., Norberg A., Weiss M., Bishop T. R., Luke S. H., Sam K., Le Bagousse-Pinguet Y., Lepš J., Götzenberger L., de Bello F. (2016). Evaluating functional diversity: missing trait data and the importance of species abundance structure and data transformation. PLoS ONE 11(2):e0149270. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0149270

Májeková M., Janeček Š., Mudrák O., Horník J., Janečková P., Bartoš M., Fajmon K., Jiráská Š., Götzenberger L., Šmilauer P., Lepš J., de Bello F. (2016). Consistent functional response of meadow species and communities to land-use changes across productivity and soil moisture gradients. Applied Vegetation Science 19(2): 196-205. https://doi.org/10.1111/avsc.12223

Masarovičová E., Májeková, M., Vykouková I. (2015). Functional traits and plasticity in ecological research and education. Chemistry-Didactics-Ecology-Metrology 20(1-2): 59-65. https://doi.org/10.1515/cdem-2015-0006

Májeková M., de Bello F., Doležal J., Lepš J. (2014). Plant functional traits as determinants of population stability. Ecology 95(9): 2369-2374. https://doi.org/10.1890/13-1880.1

Májeková M., Vykouková I. (2011). Biomass of herbaceous leayer in floodplain forests (Suballiance Ulmenion Oberd. 1953) on the outskirts of Bratislava. Ekologia (Bratislava) 30(3): 315-321. https://doi.org/10.4149/ekol_2011_03_315

Mudrák, O., Hrabovský, A., Dvorský, M., Liancourt, P., Albert, A.-J., Doležal, J., Čierniková, M., Hölzel, N., & Májeková, M. (2022). Grassland restoration on former arable land: Fine-scale grass accumulation and damaged soil conditions limit species establishment. Applied Vegetation Science, 25(2), e12665. https://doi.org/10.1111/avsc.12665

Rauschkolb, R., Li, Z., Godefroid, S., Dixon, L., Durka, W., Májeková, M., Bossdorf, O., Ensslin, A., & Scheepens, J. F. (2022). Evolution of plant drought strategies and herbivore tolerance after two decades of climate change. New Phytologist, 235(2), 773-785. https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.18125