Oliver Bossdorf

I am a plant ecologist with a broad interest in ecological and evolutionary questions. I am intrigued by the variation that exists within species, the different underlying causes of it (phenotypic plasticity, maternal effects, genetic and epigenetic variation), and its relevance for basic and applied ecological questions. Currently, I mostly work on (1) rapid evolution in changing environments, (2) ecological epigenetics, (3) invasive plants, (4) plant microbe-interactions, or combinations thereof.

•  Evolutionary adaptation to global change in a key plant group (South African Proteaceae) (Hohenheim-Tübingen seed grant for joint Africa project, with Frank Schurr, since 2022)
•  Ecology of the core microbiome in natural Lotus corniculatus populations (DFG SPP 2125, with Eric Kemen, 2019-2024)
•  Effects of microbiome, host and pathogen genotype, and environment on the interaction between Pseudomonas isolates and plants (DFG SPP 2125, with Detlef Weigel, 2019-2024)
•  ForGenDiv: The influence of forest management on genetic diversity of plant and animal species: a cross-species study (DFG SPP 1374, with Henri Thomassen, 2020-2024) 
•  Evolution of plant defenses during a plant invasion (DFG, joint Sino-German research project, with Christina Richards and Bo Li, 2020-2023)
•  Genomics and epigenomics of plant invasion (DAAD MOPGA-GRI, "Make Our Planet Great Again", MOPGA fellow Christina Richards, 2019-2023)

For a list of my publications, please check my Google Scholar profile.