Research Group: Plant Ecology

Research in the plant ecology group focuses on the factors that determine the abundance and distribution of plants, especially in landscapes highly influenced by humans.

 

We study the role of resource allocation, reproduction, competition, herbivory and disease for the growth and evolution of plant populations.

 

The interactions among plants and between plants and other organisms can increase or decrease plant populations' / species' distribution and abundance locally and globally, as well as crop yield and therefore food and fiber production. Studies of how these processes occur in natural, semi-natural and cultivated ecosystems can contribute to our understanding of the evolution of plants' competitive abilities and defenses against natural enemies. This knowledge can be used to increase the sustainability of plant production.

 

The plant ecology group's current research addresses:

 

• reproduction, hybridization and dispersal in small and isolated plant populations
• dispersal and local adaptation of invasive plant species
• interactions among plants, herbivores and diseases for plant evolution
• applying ecological and evolutionary theories to increase weed suppression by cereal crops, thus reducing the need for chemical and mechanical weed control
• hybridization between cultivated plants and wild relatives, especially in relation to genetically modified organisms and the conservation of genetic resources

 

For further information, contact Professor Jacob Weiner (www.jacobweiner.dk)

 

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Ongoing research projects:

 

Biosafetrain - capacity building for biosafety and ecological impact assessment of transgenic plants in East Africa  

 

Ecogenomics - interactions between plants, pathogens and insectsomics

 

Evolutionary Agoecology - applying evolutionary and ecological theories to improve plant

production

 

Frequencies and effects of hybridisation between two arctic plant species: Pyrola grandiflora and P. minor

 

Increasing the suppression of weeds by cereal crops

 

Modelling the development of a stand of plants

 

New initiatives in landscape architecture: inclusion of ecological principles in herbaceous planting design

 

Positive and negative correlations between neighbor sizes