Univ.-Prof. Dr. Jürg Schönenberger
Head of Division
4. floor, room 415
t: +43 (0)1 4277-540 80
m: juerg.schoenenberger@univie.ac.at
Research interests
Our primary research interests are in organismal evolution and phylogenetics of angiosperms. We have particular interests in the comparative analysis of floral structure and function, both of extant and of fossil angiosperms, the study of floral ontogeny, and the analysis of character evolution in a phylogenetic framework. We integrate results from comparative morphology, palaeobotany, and molecular phylogenetics in order to shed light onto the early evolution and diversification of the angiosperms and their flowers. Systematically, our current research focuses on the order Ericales. However, we am involved in a series of research projects in other phylogenetic lineages including Acanthaceae, Araceae, Malvaceae, Melastomataceae, and Orchidaceae). Three topics that we have become interested only more recently and that we hope to develop further in the coming years include pollination biology (particularly in the tropics), novel technical approaches to the study of floral structure (High Resolution X-Ray Computed Tomography) and modern theoretical approaches (morphospace analysis) for the analysis of plant evolution and diversity.
Projects
- The Late Cretaceous Flora of South Bohemia (FWF-Projekt I 6402-B)
- The eFLOWER initiative: A framework for understanding the evolution and diversification of flowers
- Development of novel applications of x-ray computed tomography in plant science
- Floral evolution and diversification in the light of morphospace analyses (FWF-Projekt P 25077-B16)
- Floral diversity and evolutionary history of Ericales
- Pollinator shifts and floral Evolution in the Merianieae (Melastomataceae) (FWF-Projekt P 30669-B29)
Teaching
Curriculum Vitae
Current position
- 2009– Professor in Structural Botany
Education and scientific career
- 2007 Docent in Plant Systematics, Stockholm University, Sweden
- 2004–2009 Lecturer in Plant Systematics, Department of Botany, Stockholm University, Sweden
- 2002–2004 Department of Botany, University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA
Funded through a fellowship from the Swiss National Science Foundation - 2000–2002 Institute of Systematic Botany, University of Zurich, Switzerland
- 1998–2000 Department of Palaeobotany, Swedish Museum of Natural History, Stockholm, Sweden
- 1998 Dr. phil. (PhD) in Systematic Botany, University of Zurich, Switzerland
- 1994 Diplom (MSc) in Systematic Botany, University of Zurich, Switzerland
Publications
2023
López-Martínez, A. M., Schönenberger, J., von Balthazar-Schönenberger, A. M. L., González-Martínez, C. A., Ramírez-Barahona, S., Sauquet, H., & Magallón, S. (2023). Integrating Fossil Flowers into the Angiosperm Phylogeny Using Molecular and Morphological Evidence. Systematic Biology, 72(4), 837-855. https://doi.org/10.1093/sysbio/syad017
Dellinger, A. S., Hanusch, D., Oswald, M., Fernández-Fernández, D., & Schönenberger, J. (2023). Using geometric morphometrics to determine the “fittest” floral shape: A case study in large-flowered, buzz-pollinated Meriania hernandoi. American journal of botany, 110(6), e16183. [e16183]. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajb2.16183
Anderson, B., Pannell, J., Billiard, S., Burgarella, C., de Boer, H., Dufay, M., Helmstetter, A. J., Méndez, M., Otto, S. P., Roze, D., Sauquet, H., Schoen, D., Schönenberger, J., Vallejo-Marin, M., Zenil-Ferguson, R., Käfer, J., & Glémin, S. (2023). Opposing effects of plant traits on diversification. Iscience, 26(4), [106362]. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2023.106362
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. (2023). Trait-dependent diversification in angiosperms: Patterns, models and data. Ecology Letters, 26(4), 640-657. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.14170
López-Martínez, A. M., Magallón, S., von Balthazar-Schönenberger, A. M. L., Schönenberger, J., Sauquet, H., & Chartier, M. (2023). Angiosperm flowers reached their highest morphological diversity early in their evolutionary history. New Phytologist. https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.19389
Geier, C., Bouchal, J. M., Ulrich, S., Uhl, D., Wappler, T., Wedmann, S., Zetter, R., Schönenberger, J., & Grimsson, F. (2023). Potential pollinators and paleoecological aspects of Eocene Ludwigia (Onagraceae) from Eckfeld, Germany. Palaeoworld. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palwor.2023.07.003
Herting, J., Schönenberger, J., & Sauquet, H. (Accepted/In press). Profile of a flower: How rates of morphological evolution drive floral diversification in Ericales and angiosperms. American journal of botany, 110(8), [e16213]. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajb2.16213
Heřmanová, Z., Kvaček, J., Čepičková, J., von Balthazar-Schönenberger, A. M. L., Luthardt, L., & Schönenberger, J. (2023). Slavicekia gen. nov., a New Member of the Normapolles Complex from Late Cretaceous Sediments of the Czech Republic. International Journal of Plant Sciences, 184(3), 201-213. https://doi.org/10.1086/724155
2022
Herting, J., Schönenberger, J., & Sauquet, H. (2022). Profile of a flower: How rates of morphological evolution drive floral diversification in Ericales. bioRxiv. https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.11.28.518258
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
Delpeuch, P., Jabbour, F., Damerval, C., Schönenberger, J., Pamperl, S., Rome, M., & Nadot, S. (2022). A flat petal as ancestral state for Ranunculaceae. Frontiers in Plant Science, 13, [961906]. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2022.961906
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
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
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. [25.1.a5]. https://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
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
Dellinger, A. S., Artuso, S., Fernández-Fernández, D. M., & Schönenberger, J. (2021). Stamen dimorphism in bird-pollinated flowers – investigating alternative hypotheses on the evolution of heteranthery. Evolution, 75(10), 2589-2599. https://doi.org/10.1111/evo.14260
Leme, F. M., Staedler, Y. M., Schönenberger, J., & Teixeira, S. P. (2021). Floral morphogenesis of Celtis species: implications for breeding system and reduced floral structure. American Journal of Botany: the journal for all plant biologists, 108(9), 1595-1611. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajb2.1724
Schindler, F., Fragner, L., Herpell, J. B., Berger, A., Brenner, M., Tischler, S., Bellaire, A., Schoenenberger, J., Li, W., Sun, X., Schinnerl, J., Brecker, L., & Weckwerth, W. (2021). Dissecting metabolism of leaf nodules in Ardisia crenata and Psychotria punctata. Frontiers in Molecular Biosciences, 8, [683671]. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmolb.2021.683671
Dellinger, A. S., Pérez-Barrales, R., Michelangeli, F. A., Penneys, D. S., Fernández-Fernández, D. M., & Schönenberger, J. (2021). Low bee visitation rates explain pollinator shifts to vertebrates in tropical mountains. New Phytologist, 231(2), 864-877. https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.17390
Chartier, M., von Balthazar-Schönenberger, A. M. L., Sontag, S., Löfstrand, S., Palme, T., Jabbour, F., Sauquet, H., & Schönenberger, J. (2021). Global patterns and a latitudinal gradient of flower disparity: perspectives from the angiosperm order Ericales. New Phytologist, 230(2), 821-831. https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.17195
Kanduth, L., Chartier, M., Schönenberger, J., & Dellinger, A. S. (2021). Red and white clover provide food resources for honeybees and wild bees in urban environments. Nordic Journal of Botany, 39(3), 1-11. [e03005]. https://doi.org/10.1111/njb.03005
2020
Schönenberger, J., von Balthazar-Schönenberger, A. M. L., Lopez Martinez, A., Albert, B., Prieu, C., Magallon, S., & Sauquet, H. (2020). Phylogenetic analysis of fossil flowers using an angiosperm-wide data set: proof-of-concept and challenges ahead. American Journal of Botany: the journal for all plant biologists, 107(10), 1433-1448. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajb2.1538
Leme, F. M., Schönenberger, J., Staedler, Y. M., & Teixeira, S. P. (2020). Comparative floral development reveals novel aspects of structure and diversity of flowers in Cannabaceae. Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, 193(1), 64-83. https://doi.org/10.1093/botlinnean/boaa004