Research interests

At the core of my research lies the complex and dynamic connectivity of plants linking them to their environment. I am particularly fascinated by mutualisms between plants and insects and their structural adaptation and reciprocal interaction. Currently, I am working on plants living with mutualistic ants (myrmecophytes) and investigating (a) the intriguing role of fungi as third partner in ant-plant associations, and (b) the sophisticated forms of communication between host plants and their inhabiting ants. The model systems I am focusing on are the Cecropia spp.-Azteca spp. ant-plant mutualism and Piper spp.-Pheidole bicornis system.

Besides ants and plants, the functional aspects of accessory fruit structures are still fascinating to me. Specifically, I address the structural background and radiation processes in several Dipsacaceae groups.

Projects

• Species interactions and their impact on nutrient recycling in ant-made fungal patches (FWF-Project P 31990-B) - finished
• Phylogeny and evolution of ant-cultivated Chaetothyriales (Ascomycota)
• Microbial community analysis in the neotropical ant-plant association: Azteca spp. – Cecropia spp.
• Ecological processes in the fungal patches cultivated by arboreal ants
• Food sources in the Cecropia-Azteca ant-plant association
• Volatiles in myrmecophytic host-plants and their impact on ant-behaviour

 Teaching

Current Courses

 Cooperations

• Rumsais Blatrix, Centre d'Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive, CNRS, Montpellier, France
• Stefan Dötterl, Organismic Biology, Department of Ecology, Biodiversity and Evolution of Plants, University of Salzburg, Austria
• Lena Fragner, Department of Ecogenomics and Systems Biology, University of Vienna, Austria
• Sybren de Hoog, Westerdijk Fungal Biodiversity Institut, Utrecht, The Netherlands
• Christina Kaiser, Department of Microbiology and Ecosystem Science, Division Terrestrial Ecosystem Research, Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
• Adrián Pinto Tomas, Centro de Investigación en Estructuras Microscópicas (CIEMIC), Universidad de Costa Rica, Costa Rica
• Andreas Richter, Department of Microbiology and Ecosystem Science, Division Terrestrial Ecosystem Research, Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
• Hermann Voglmayr, Department of Systematic and Evolutionary Botany, University of Vienna, Austria
• Dagmar Woebken, Research network CMM, Department of Microbiology and Ecosystem Science, Division Microbial Ecology, University of Vienna, Austria

 Curriculum Vitae

Current position

• 1997– Assistant professor (half-time)

Education and scientific career

• 1999–2005 Associate Editor of the journal TAXON and Regnum Vegetabile (IAPT)
• 1993–1996 Research assistant in projects on systematics and morphology of Dipsacaceae, and the function of their fruit structures at the University of Vienna (Austria)
• 1988–1993 Dissertation at the University of Vienna (Austria)
• 1989–1991 Fellow of the "Studienstiftung des Deutschen Volkes"
• 1981–1987 Study of Biology at the LMU Munich and FU Berlin, Diploma from the FU Berlin (Germany)
• 1986/87 DAAD Fellow at the UC Berkeley (USA)