Our research and teaching are deeply rooted in organismal biology, i.e. the study of structure, function, and evolution at the level of the organism. We focus on questions of plant diversity – How have key structural features such as the angiosperm flower evolved? How is morphological diversity distributed among taxa? How are different structural features correlated with one another? Why are certain morphologies common and have evolved repeatedly while others are rare? We address these and related questions across a broad range of taxa and apply state-of-the art techniques as well as novel theoretical approaches to answer them.
News
- 2 PhD-positions available: see jobcenter 13934 and 13935 – 17. March 2023
- Science-News-Article:
"Plant turns suspected crop pest into pollinator" – 13. October 2022 - Science ORF.at (german):
"Blüten nutzen Parasiten als Bestäuber" – 6. October 2022 - Online-Article mediaportal University of Vienna (german):
"Aus Feind wird Freund: Schädlinge werden zu Pflanzenbestäubern" – 6. October 2022 - Publication in Current Biology:
"Evidence for the recruitment of florivorous plant bugs as pollinators" – 4. October 2022 - Young Researchers in Archaeometry 5 (Online Workshop):
Tutorial: Is pollen useful for achaeological research? The what, why, and how! - The Museumspodcast »Das Grüne Sofa« (german):
"Flower-Power: Vergangenen Ökosystemen auf der Spur – Die Erforschung von Pollen fossiler Blüten und Insekten" (Podcast mit Friðgeir Grímsson) - Online-Article mediaportal University of Vienna (german):
"Fossiler Fressrausch: 47 Millionen Jahre alte Fliege mit vollem Bauch gefunden" – 11. März 2021
Recent Publications 2020-2023
2023
Woutersen, A., Jardine, P. E., Silvestro, D., Bogotá-Angel, R. G., Zhang, H-X., Meijer, N., Bouchal, J., Barbolini, N., Dupont-Nivet, G., Koutsodendris, A., Antonelli, A., & Hoorn, C. (2023). The evolutionary history of the Central Asian steppe-desert taxon Nitraria (Nitrariaceae) as revealed by integration of fossil pollen morphology and molecular data. Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, XX. https://doi.org/10.1093/botlinnean/boac050
Geier, C., Bouchal, J. M., Ulrich, S., Uhl, D., Wappler, T., Wedmann, S., Zetter, R., & Grimsson, F. (2023). Collecting in situ/adhered pollen from fossil compressed angiosperm flowers. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, 310, 1-6. [104831]. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.revpalbo.2022.104831
Denk, T., Grimm, G. W., Hipp, A. L., Bouchal, J. M., Schulze, E-D., & Simeone, M. C. (2023). Niche evolution in a northern temperate tree lineage: biogeographic legacies in cork oaks (Quercus sect. Cerris). Annals of Botany. https://doi.org/10.1093/aob/mcad032
Gegenbauer, C., Bellaire, A., Schintlmeister, A., Schmid, M. C., Kubicek, M., Voglmayr, H., Zotz, G., Richter, A., & Mayer, V. (2023). Exo- and endophytic fungi enable rapid transfer of nutrients from ant waste to orchid tissue. New Phytologist. https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.18761
Denk, T., Bouchal, J. M., Güner, H. T., Coiro, M., Butzmann, R., Pigg, K. B., & Tiffney, B. H. (2023). Cenozoic migration of a desert plant lineage across the North Atlantic. New Phytologist. https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.18743
Denk, T., Bouchal, J. M., Güner, H. T., Coiro, M., Butzmann, R., Pigg, K. B., & Tiffney, B. H. (2023). Cenozoic migration of a desert plant lineage across the North Atlantic. New Phytologist, n/a(n/a). https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.18743
Vieira, M., Grímsson, F., Denk, T., & Zetter, R. (2023). Niche evolution versus niche conservatism and habitat loss determine persistence and extirpation in late Neogene European Fagaceae. Quaternary Science Reviews, 300, [107896]. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2022.107896
Pan, A. D., Jacobs, B. F., Bush, R. T., de la Estrella, M., Grímsson, F., Herendeen, P. S., van der Burgt, X. M., & Currano, E. D. (2023). First evidence of a monodominant (Englerodendron, Amherstieae, Detarioideae, Leguminosae) tropical moist forest from the early Miocene (21.73 Ma) of Ethiopia. PLoS ONE, 18(1 January), [e0279491]. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0279491
Halbwachs, H., Grimsson, F., Potapova, M., Dolezych, M., & LePage, B. (2023). Microfossils in resin from the middle Eocene Buchanan Lake Formation, Napartulik, Axel Heiberg Island, Nunavut, Canada. Palynology, 47(1), 1-13. [2127956]. https://doi.org/10.1080/01916122.2022.2127956
2022
Tenhumberg, B., Dellinger, A., & Smith, S. D. (2022). Modelling pollinator and nonpollinator selection on flower colour variation. Journal of Ecology. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2745.14057
Adroit, B., Grimsson, F., Suc, J-P., Escarguel, G., Zetter, R., Bouchal, J. M., Fauquette, S., Zhuang, X., & Djamali, M. (2022). Are morphological characteristics of Parrotia (Hamamelidaceae) pollen species diagnostic? Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, 307, [104776]. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.revpalbo.2022.104776
Geier, C., Bouchal, J. M., Ulrich, S., Gross, M., Zetter, R., Denk, T., & Grimsson, F. (2022). Paleovegetation and paleoclimate inferences of the early late Sarmatian palynoflora from the Gleisdorf Fm. at Gratkorn, Styria, Austria. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, 307, [104767]. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.revpalbo.2022.104767
Etl, F., Kaiser, C., Reiser, O., Schubert, M., Dötterl, S., & Schönenberger, J. (2022). Evidence for the recruitment of florivorous plant bugs as pollinators. Current Biology, 32(21), 4688-4698.E6. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2022.09.013
Artuso, S., Gamisch, A., Staedler, Y. M., Schönenberger, J., & Comes, H. P. (2022). Evidence for an evo-devo-derived hypothesis on three-dimensional flower shape modularity in a tropical orchid clade. Evolution, 76(11), 2587-2604. https://doi.org/10.1111/evo.14621
Nepel, M., Pfeifer, J., Oberhauser, F. B., Richter, A., Woebken, D., & Mayer, V. E. (2022). Nitrogen fixation by diverse diazotrophic communities can support population growth of arboreal ants. BMC Biology, 20(1), [135]. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12915-022-01289-0
Dellinger, A. S., Paun, O., Baar, J., Temsch, E. M., Fernández-Fernández, D., & Schönenberger, J. (2022). Population structure in Neotropical plants: Integrating pollination biology, topography and climatic niches. Molecular Ecology, 31(8), 2264-2280. https://doi.org/10.1111/mec.16403
Quan, Y., da Silva, N. M., de Souza Lima, B. J. F., de Hoog, S., Vicente, V. A., Mayer, V., Kang, Y., & Shi, D. (2022). Black fungi and ants: a genomic comparison of species inhabiting carton nests versus domatia. IMA Fungus, 13, 1-13. [4]. https://doi.org/10.1186/s43008-022-00091-5
Etl, F., Francke, W., Schönenberger, J., & Dötterl, S. (2022). Chemical Attraction of Gall Midge Pollinators (Cecidomyiidae: Cecidomyiinae) to Anthurium acutangulum (Araceae). Journal of Chemical Ecology, 48, 263-269. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10886-022-01349-3
Gao, J., Engel, M. S., Grimsson, F., Gu, L., Ren, D., & Gao, T-P. (2022). The first xiphydriid wood wasp in Cretaceous amber (Hymenoptera: Xiphydriidae) and a potential association with Cycadales. Fossil record, 24(2), 445-453. https://doi.org/10.5194/fr-24-445-2022
Vieira, M., Zetter, R., Coiro, M., & Grimsson, F. (2022). Pliocene Lythrum (loosestrife, Lythraceae) pollen from Portugal and the Neogene establishment of European lineages. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, 296, [104548]. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.revpalbo.2021.104548
Bao, T., Grimsson, F., Beutel, R. G., Wedmann, S., Seyfullah, L., Bao, L., & Jarzembowski, E. A. (2022). Was the kateretid beetle Pelretes really a Cretaceous angiosperm pollinator? Nature Plants, 8(1), 38–40. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41477-021-01044-3
Pedersoli, G. D., Staedler, Y. M., Schönenberger, J., & Teixeira, S. P. (2022). A comparative approach reveals diversity of floral developmental processes in Urticaceae. Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, 200(4), 465-490. https://doi.org/10.1093/botlinnean/boac028
Heřmanová, Z., Čepičková, J., Kvaček, J., von Balthazar-Schönenberger, A. M. L., & Schönenberger, J. (2022). A multicarpellate fruit from Late Cretaceous sediments of South Bohemia, Czech Republic. Palaeontologia Electronica, 25(1), 1-14. [a5]. http://doi.org/10.26879/1192
López-Martínez, A. M., Schönenberger, J., von Balthazar-Schönenberger, A. M. L., González-Martínez, C. A., Ramírez-Barahona, S., Sauquet, H., & Magallón, S. (2022). Integrating Fossil Flowers into the Angiosperm Phylogeny using a Total Evidence Approach. bioRxiv. https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.02.17.480913
Michelangeli, F. A., Dellinger, A., Goldenberg, R., Almeda, F., Mendoza-Cifuentes, H., Fernández-Fernández, D. M., Ulloa Ulloa, C., & Penneys, D. S. (2022). Phylogenetics and taxonomy of the Tribe Merianieae. In R. Goldenberg, F. A. Michelangeli, & F. Almeda (Eds.), Systematics, Evolution and Ecology of Melastomataceae (pp. 255-273). Springer International Publishing Switzerland. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-99742-7_11
Dellinger, A. S., Kopper, C., Kagerl, K., & Schönenberger, J. (2022). Pollination in Melastomataceae: A Family-Wide Update on the Little We Know and the Much That Remains to Be Discovered. In R. Goldenberg, F. A. Michelangeli, & F. Almeda (Eds.), Systematics, Evolution, and Ecology of Melastomataceae (pp. 585-607). Springer International Publishing Switzerland. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-99742-7_26
Helmstetter, A. J., Zenil-Ferguson, R., Sauquet, H., Otto, S. P., Méndez, M., Vallejo-Marin, M., Schönenberger, J., Burgarella, C., Anderson, B., de Boer, H., Glémin, S., & Käfer, J. (2022). Trait-dependent diversification in angiosperms: patterns, models and data. bioRxiv. https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.05.18.490882
2021
Asenbaum, J., Schäffler, I., Etl, F., Dötterl, S., Schönenberger, J., & Chartier, M. (2021). Comparative Pollination Ecology of Five European Euphorbia Species. International Journal of Plant Sciences, 182(9), 763-777. https://doi.org/10.1086/715759
Wolcott, K. A., Chomicki, G., Staedler, Y. M., Wasylikowa, K., Nesbitt, M., Schönenberger, J., & Renner, S. S. (2021). Three-dimensional X-ray-computed tomography of 3300- to 6000-year-old Citrullus seeds from Libya and Egypt compared to extant seeds throws doubts on species assignments. Plants, People, Planet, 3(6), 694-702. https://doi.org/10.1002/ppp3.10220
Artuso, S., Gamisch, A., Staedler, Y. M., Schönenberger, J., & Comes, H. P. (2021). Evidence for selectively constrained 3D flower shape evolution in a Late Miocene clade of Malagasy Bulbophyllum orchids. New Phytologist, 232(2), 853-867. https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.17643