Dipl.-Biol. Dr. Veronika E. Mayer
Assistant Professor (half-time)
4. floor, room 411
t: +43 (0)1 4277-540 81
m: veronika.mayer@univie.ac.at
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)
- 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
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)
Publications
2001
Stuessy, T., Hörandl, E., & Mayer, V. (Eds.) (2001). Plant Systematics: a half-century of progress (1950-2000) and future challenges. International Association for Plant Taxonomy (IAPT).
Stuessy, T., Hörandl, E., & Mayer, V. (2001). Preface. In T. F. Stuessy (Ed.), Plant systematics: a half-century of progress (1950 - 2000) and future challenges International Association for Plant Taxonomy (IAPT).
2000
Mayer, V., Ölzant, S., Krückl, B., & Manhart, M. (2000). Fruit differentiation, palynology, and systematics in Pterocephalus and Pterocephalodes, gen. nov. (Dipsacaceae). Linzer biologische Beiträge, 32, 677-678.
Mayer, V., & Ehrendorfer, F. (2000). Fruit differentiation, palynology, and systematics in Pterocephalus and Pterocephalodes, gen. nov. (Dipsacaceae). Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, 132, 247-278. www.botanik.univie.ac.at/morphology/morphology/pdf/publication_pterocephalus_mayer_2000.pdf
Stuessy, T., Hörandl, E., & Mayer, V. (2000). Innovations in plant classification and nomenclature. Taxon: international journal of plant taxonomy, phylogeny and evolution, 49, 633-634.
Fischer, R., Mayer, V., Richter, A., & Wanek, W. (2000). Interactions between species of Piper and Pheidole-ants. Linzer biologische Beiträge, 32, 626-627.
Mayer, V., Ölzant, S., Krückl, B., & Manhart, M. (2000). Myrmecochory in European plants. Linzer biologische Beiträge, 32(2), 677-678.
Stuessy, T., Hörandl, E., & Mayer, V. (2000). New and renewed sources of comparative data from plants. Taxon: international journal of plant taxonomy, phylogeny and evolution, 49, 400-400.
Mayer, V. (2000). Tetrathylacium macrophyllum (Flacourtiaceae): eine wenig bekannte Ameisen-Pflanze. In Abstracts zur 9. Österr. Botanikertagung in Illmitz/Burgenland (28.9.2000 bis 1.10.2000) (pp. 695-696). Biologiezentrum. Linzer biologische Beiträge
Stuessy, T., Hörandl, E., Mayer, V., & Buchner, R. (2000). The new TAXON crew. Taxon: international journal of plant taxonomy, phylogeny and evolution, 49, 3-4.
Stuessy, T., Hörandl, E., & Mayer, V. (2000). 50 years of the International Association for Plant Taxonomy. Taxon: international journal of plant taxonomy, phylogeny and evolution, 49(3), 397-398.
1998
Mayer, V., & Svoma, E. (1998). Development and function of the elaiosome in Knautia (Dipsacaceae). Plant Biology, 111, 402-410.
Mayer, V. (1998). Irreführung der Floristen: Eine bemerkenswerte Monstrosität von Knautia cf. arvensis (Dipsacaceae). Verhandlungen der Zoologisch-Botanischen-Gesellschaft in Österreich, 135, 141-149.